It’s not often that I’m asked to review a gig that I’ve not attended, but because of a mix up with the tickets, meaning that we only had one between 2 of us that’s exactly the case with this Lily Allen review. Normally this would pose a major stumbling block in detailing the events of Thursday night at Nottingham’s Trent FM Arena, but fear not. My partner in crime, Bianca “I’ve got a Canon 5D MKII and a massive great lens and I’m gonna use it” Barrett, is ever the professional and not only did she manage to capture the moment pictorially with some rather splendid shots, but ever the intrepid reporter had her virtual note pad at the ready (courtesy of her iPhone) to capture in great detail the evening’s entertainment. See me as her ghost writer if you please…

Just over a week after Lily appeared on Radio One’s Live Lounge with Sara Cox where Lily announced that she intends to take a year or so off from music and writing. So tonight’s gig/tour has even more excitement around it as we’re all wondering how long it will be before we see Lily strutting her stuff on stage again? Despite being a poorly girl (suffering with laryngitis) during her Live lounge performance her voice sounded great tonight, powerful yet sweetly angelic, not a croak was heard.

The enigmatic and exuberant Miss Allen rose from the top step of a very impressive stage, amidst atmospheric dry ice dressed in a bowler hat and sparkly jacket – a little bit Roxy from Chicago? She opened the show with ‘Everyone’s at it’ and ode to antidepressants – kind of apt for a cold December evening and by the reaction of the crowd the very pick me up they needed!

Back to the impressive stage… it’s a much a bigger production this time around for Lily Allen. Huge screens projecting the show (for the nose bleed section) intermixed with retro graphics, a large central illuminated staircase, with platforms for her band either side.

Amidst her banter, giggles and puffs on an electronic cigarette, Lily weaved her way through the best bits of both her albums ‘It’s not me, it’s you’ and ‘Alright, still’.  She also found time to perform some of her trade mark covers – namely the Kooks ‘Naive’ and ‘Oh My God’ by the Kaiser Chiefs as well as a simply splendid rendition of ‘Dub be Good to Me’ alongside a rapping cohort.

There was a more ‘rockier’ feel to this gig compared to the last time we saw her, Highlights of the night’s performance included  classics like ‘The Fear’ this got a great crowd reaction as did ‘Smile’ which was accompanied by old school smartie tube top graphics spelling out the words to the song… very cute, we like…

Britney’s ‘Womaniser’ kicked off the encore as Lily made her way to the stage in a delectable sexy Basque which I have to say she carried off with aplomb. This led delightfully into people’s fav girly rant ‘Fuck You’.

Lily Allen always puts on a great show and although I wasn’t there to see it, I hope you, like me, feel as though you were there through the photos… Don’t stay away for too long Lily!

Words by Zak Edwards
Photos by Bianca Barrett