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Jill's Take:
I was so jazzed to see Lily Allen in concert last night, even though I'd heard from a number of sources that she's not as good live as on her record. I wanted those sources to be wrong. Unfortunately, they really weren't. Lily Allen took the microphone at the top of her show with great aplomb, but it was one of the most energetic things she did all night. The first two songs ("LDN" and "Nan You're a Window Shopper") were way too low-key. The audience seemed more jazzed by the knowledge of what she was performing than the actual performance itself. Her third song of the set ("Knock 'Em Out") showed a pretty significant increase in energy, but it wasn't really enough, and didn't make up much for the fact that she didn't really establish much of a rapport with her audience.
The thing is, she's aware that she doesn't have much stage presence. At one point, after making a failed political joke, she confessed: "This is my first tour. I'm new at this. And I ain't a Dixie Chick." It would have been a better confession if she'd looked anywhere at the audience while making it. But she spoke into her drink, her brass musicians, and her synthesizer. Ditto the rest of the evening. As we left the concert, Katie offered to be her acting coach. Teach her how to be on stage.
I have infinite faith that, if Lily Allen is still making music in a few years, she'll grow into her audience interaction. There were glimpses of it, last night. Like when she grabbed a drink from someone offstage and then told us: "I've had a bad sore throat, lately. And drinking hard liquor really seems to help." Then a pause. "Because I'm over twenty-one. Liquor is bad if you're not twenty-one." More of the repartee, and less of the not looking at the audience, would do Lily some good. I definitely want to follow her career and see her grow and improve as a performer.
Before I throw you over to Katie's review, I just want to mention that Lily's band was fantastic. I felt a little bad for them: she dresses her band identically (while she wears what looks like a housedress and blue jeans), but their talent and experience shines. Without them, Lily would probably have been more lost in front of her audience than she already was. If she sticks with them, they can help her a lot. I'd also like to acknowledge DJ Aaron LaCrate, whose pre-show set I really enjoyed. He's one of those increasingly rare DJs who scratches. There's a laptop there, but also the traditional two turntables and a microphone. That made me so happy. And despite what Katie thinks, I dug the eighties music. I could have done without the slow songs that reminded me of middle school dances, though.
Katie's take, after the jump...
Katie's Take:
When we first got to the TLA, Aaron LaCrate was already spinning and I was happy. He was playing what I expected to hear from him: club beats mixed with rap lyrics. But as his part of the show went on, he started playing poppy eighties songs and random indie rock. Other people were dancing around and loving it, but I'm an asshole with stubborn expectations: When I go to a show expecting to hear something specific, I get bitter when it doesn't happen. I won't disown an artist over this (I saw The Roots open for 311 a few years ago and wanted to throw things at them when they played "Iron Man" for 25 minutes. Still love and adore them, just didn't at the time), but I will be bitter for the time being.
When Lily Allen took the stage, my hopes for the show crashed and burned. She opened with "LDN" and "Nan, You're A Window Shopper," which are two of the better songs on her album... and performed them in a style that brought to mind visions of Gwen Stefani popping an Ambien and donning a Madonna-esque faux British accent before taking the stage. Quite frankly, Allen seemed like she was terrified of the audience. She did warm up as the show went on, but I felt like she would have preferred to run and hide. I kept wanting to jump the stage, pull her aside and say "We're all here to see YOU! Just have fun!!!!" though I don't think security would have gone for that.
I feel like that sounds too harsh, though. Like, as I write it, I feel like a bad person. After the show, I explained how I felt by likening watching Allen performing to having friends who aren't so good at the art they create. I don't like to go to their shows because I feel badly lying when they ask how they did. The best moments of the show were when she stopped to actually talk to the audience between songs about the reaction she was having to the Philly cheesesteak she tried earlier in the day, her cold, and her feelings on current affairs. She does have the ability to engage a crowd, I just think she hasn't fully realized it.
On the bright side, her band was excellent (and had great stage presence). And, um, bass player in the grey hat? I see you. Hit me up next time you tour Philly.
As rule-following members of the press, we left our cameras at home. But we saw plenty of cameras at the TLA, and if you were one of those camera owners, please feel free to link us to your photos in the comments, or tag them with "Phillyist" on your Flickr photostream!
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