The singer kicked off the latest leg of the tour in The Toon and gave a West End worthy performance
Lily Allen performing her West End Girl tour at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena(Image: ChronicleLive)
Lily Allen brought her West End Girl tour to Newcastle on Tuesday night and gave a masterclass in female rage and captivating an audience.
Following a successful run at smaller venues including Newcastle’s City Hall, Lily kicked off the latest leg at the Utilita Arena to a packed and enthusiastic crowd.
The tour concept is unique as Lily just performs her latest album West End Girl in its entirety as a one woman show on an elaborate set – a West End show if you will. It’s theatrical, bold and feels oddly intimate despite being in an arena setting.
There have been criticisms of the show being short and not including any of her other hits but I for one loved the concept and when the show is this good, it’s more than enough! It is worth mentioning that the support act is the Dallas Minor Trio who perform classical versions of Lily’s big hitters and the crowd is encouraged to sing along karaoke-style by a conductor. It’s another novel and fun concept that sets it apart from other tours and does get the crowd nice and warmed up.
The West End Girl album is as sensational as it is salacious, telling the brutally honest story of the dissolution of her marriage to Stranger Things actor David Harbour.
Some lyrics are enough to make you blush but there’s no doubt that being a woman scorned was the perfect formula to make a fantastic and successful comeback album.
The show opens with the titular song West End Girl where she sets out how the relationship began to fall apart when he allegedly wanted an open marriage. Lily looked radiant and stepped onto the stage in full 60’s glam. She’s sleek, sophisticated and oozes confidence as she slinks across the stage, effortlessly stripping off and changing costumes on stage while singing the whole time – it truly does feel like a West End Show.
Lily simultaneously gives an award-worthy acting performance, re-enacting devastating phone calls and text exchanges and having a breakdown while puffing on a vape.
Standouts of the setlist are Tennis followed by Madeline, which vividly paint the picture of Lily discovering and confronting the “other woman” – including transcripts of real messages between the pair.
Lily kept all the receipts – literally – and she wraps herself in a dress made of the list of items her now ex-husband allegedly bought other women as she performs 4Chan Stan.
I struggle to think of a more iconic song released in the last few years than P***y Palace – the most revealing song on the album – and it’s performed sprawled on a bed with a number of interesting props – I’ll leave it at that.
The show takes you on a journey with parts being truly raw and vulnerable and others being camp, tongue in cheek and outrageous. Lily truly does give it her all and delivers an innovative and thoroughly entertaining concert.
Take a bow West End Girl!
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