Lily

On Tuesday night, Rich and I went to see Lily Allen play the Birmingham National Indoor Arena.   Neither of us felt particularly up for it (Rich bought the tickets on a whim) but after Rich rushed back from London, we managed to get up to the Mailbox in Birmingham to park (I really want to have a proper look around the Mailbox – it’s very posh).

We hadn’t eaten so we were desperately trying to find something vaguely healthy to eat but we just didn’t have enough time to eat somewhere proper so we ended up scorfing a sub-par hotdog / cheeseburger (me the hotdog, him the cheeseburger) with chips and a drink in the NIA.

We got down into the standing area in time for the support act, Example.  I had never heard of this dude but he was surprisingly good and he was also a bit dorky (and excited to play such a big crowd) which endeared me to him.  I recognised at least one of his songs and will non doubt be checking out more of his stuff.

We then hung around waiting for Lily to come on.  I’ll give her this – she does play some good tunes  to her waiting fans – Nirvana, Oasis, some old Ska…

The gig itself was very enjoyable – we don’t have her newer album but her tunes are very catchy and she is entertaining.  She was clearly very nervous and not used to performing to such a large audience.  She also managed to piss off half her audience by calling the people in the seated areas ‘posh’ and ‘moody’!  I think she was just overwhelmed by the large arena and it must be very weird having so many people sitting there watching you prance about (very few people in the seated areas were up on their feet dancing). With the bigger venue came a bigger budget for the gigs and when asked what she would like for her tour, she asked for a Guinness pump on stage so she could serve pints to her loyal fans who spend hours at the front before the gig to reserve their place (thus missing out on the bar!).  It was a nice idea but a little clunky especially since one of her songs ended while she was still pulling a pint, meaning it was a little anti-climactic.

She got into her swing though and despite her worrying about her poorly voice, she sounded great.  I wasn’t too keen on her backing musicians who at times drowned her out and generally made bit of a racket.  For me, the best bits were when the music was kept simple and her voice could shine.

At one point, Lily had to stop mid-song to get help for someone at the front who was ill.  She was visibly shaken by it and it threw her for just a moment but then she was back on form.  She performed a few covers: Oh my God (originally the Kaiser Chiefs which she covered for Mark Ronson), Naive (by The Kooks – I loved this!).

She also sang a version of Dub be Good to Me (originally Beats International) with special guest Professor Green (I am not nearly cool enough to know who this person is).

We left at the end of the main gig before her encore so we just missed her version of Womanizer (by Britney Spears, as if  I need to tell you) although we heard it through the door as we walked around the outside of the arena.  She also played my two favourite of her songs, Little Things and The Fear, before we left, so I was happy.