Lil-Ya-4-Ever? | livemusic.fm

If I was truthfully honest I was probably a bit more excited about the prospect of Lily Allen rather than Muse. But to be honest I wasn't expecting much from either  ... the missus was very keen to see Lily though as she a) likes her music and b) is very similarly mid-term pregnant.

That being said, I have to admit, on a stereo I kinda like her street-girly-rap-kinda-sung thing ... but I wasn't sure how it was gonna work in a stadium. Add to that, the fact that she's cancelled most of her tour and is only a playing a few gigs (am I cynical in thinking 'contractually obliged' to play?) I'm not sure she really wanted to play the warm-up act to Muse, and what seemed like a good idea 6 months ago, seemed less of a good idea when you're four or five months pregnant.

To give her her due she sang pretty well and her streetwise-saucy lyrics were well delivered with a band of competent (but uncharismatic) session musicians backing her up. But there wasn't much connection with the audience, she almost looked a bit bored, and had soon jettisoned her 4" heels ( what I guess might have at one time been called "Fuck me Pumps" - except when worn by a pregnant woman they just kinda look uncomfortable and inappropriate!!) Even her usual mad cavorting dances were kept to a bare minimum - probably because of worries about her "pregnancy support tights" gathering about her ankles! To be fair she said as much herself.

Even the classic 

chas-n-dave-singalonga-hits  "Fuck You" and "Not Fair" failed to really engage Lily herself - she seemed dwarfed by the stadium and frequently isolated from her band of unemotional session musicians ( although the guitarist made some attempts to engage her ... I may have even been supposed to recognise him as an ageing rock legend ... anyone know who he actually was?)

The highlight was undoubtedly when rapper Professor Green took to the stage for their duet  "Just be Good to Green" ... but even then Lilly skulked at the back of the set like a little lost (and tired) girl in her older sister's too-big dress. By the end of the song though, with the end of the set in sight maybe, she did perk up for a bit and for some reason I thought they were both going to go into a massive (and unexpected) Baby D "Let Me Be Your Fantasy" duet ... which would have been awesome ... unfortunately that didn't materialise, and after "The Fear" she picked up her high-heeled pumps and high-tailed it off the stage. I think the timing was right for both parties by then though - her and the crowd.

To be fair to Lily it can't have been easy doing a warm-up act for Muse at any time, and I could imagine on a sunny afternoon at Glastonbury or somewhere more intimate like Ireland's Electric Picnic, I think her songs and cheeky, more endearing qualities would really have worked (although i confess I'm more of a Kate Nash fan at the end of the day!)  In summary,  she sang OK & she looked OK, but the sassy lyrics & dub rhythms just weren't 'BIG' enough for Wembley. She did look a bit lost (or bored) and I think she was glad to get it over with ... fair play for sticking with her commitment but I'm not sure it was a great gig to go out on for her (given that's it now on the live music front until new baby has arrived!) I don't think she lost any fans but I doubt she gained many new ones ... that being said the missus enjoyed her and thought her very plucky for playing the gig whilst 5 months-or-so pregnant. And she liked her big white dress and thought she looked pretty good. No small compliment from my old lady to another woman - I can tell you!

Not sure what will happen in the future to Lil ... will she go on forever and become the Noughties Brit institution she has occassionally threatened to be? Or will she just transform herself into being a settled mum and disappear into contented All Saints-esque obscurity once the patter of tiny feet are heard around her home. On the strength of the Wembley gig I'm tempted to say the latter ... but with someone as mercurial as the progeny of Keith Allen... you never know!

Photo by FlipFlop on Flickr