Beyonce at O2 Arena, London

Beyonce at O2 Arena, London

16th November 2009

I have to admit that this isn’t the usual kind of gig that I find myself going to. If you scan through a few of my other reviews you’ll see a definite indie/country/folk/new band theme to things. However, I also have to admit that I was pretty excited to see what kind of show Beyonce would be putting on.

Beyonce had been playing at the O2 Arena on the previous two nights and was joined by her hubby, Jay Z, and Kanye West on the preceding evenings. With rumours of such guest artists making their way around the venue, excitement in the arena was immense. My best celebrity spot of the night was Lemar, the man who won third place in BBC One’s Fame Academy back in 2002.

My wife spotted some members of Boyz II Men but I can’t verify this as I wouldn’t recognise them even if they stood naked in front of me whilst giving a rendition of ‘I’ll Make Love To You’. They were wearing sunglasses, and it was pretty dark so I’m guessing they were famous. Shane Ritchie was also slouching not too far away from us looking a bit miffed that his seats were basically behind the stage. As Jay Z and Kanye West decided not to put in a performance, I think Shane Ritchie was about as good as it got on the celeb front.

After sitting through a set from an American lady called Nikki Jane singing karaoke to a backing track and with four dancers who were dancing like they were in the ‘Doll on a Music Box’ scene from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, I thought it wouldn’t be long until Beyonce came on.

I was wrong. A chap called Julian Peretta and his band put on such a terrible show that the bar beckoned. They were a bit like a poor man’s Maroon 5 but without the tunes or charisma. Just for the record, I can’t really stomach Maroon 5. Sorry.

Anyway, eventually the Beyonce extravaganza started at about 9.35pm after the fat ‘2 seat’ lady behind me had been saying stuff like ‘Come on love, you might be a superstar but some of us have got a train to catch – this is real diva behaviour, I’ve got a right mind to walk out. That would show her’. I doubt it would have?

As expected, the show was pretty spectacular. Beyonce oozed class, charm and charisma. Along with her massive female band and entourage of (ridiculously 6-packed) male and (far less revealing) female dancers, Beyonce was on stage for well over 2 hours.

She interacted superbly with the 20,000 crowd and I got the feeling that even those at the back of the top tier felt involved in the show. When she started singing Irreplaceable she urged the crowd to sway their arms in time with ‘to the left, to the left’ and even I fancied joining in. I’m in no way a dancer and this showed as a little bit of arm swaying proved way too complicated. I resumed my arms folded position. However, it was no mean feat by Sasha Fierce to engage with such a big audience and even to tempt crowd participation from me.

Other highlights from the show included Beyonce flying across the arena with a couple of token somersaults before launching into a Destiny’s Child medley on the central circular second stage. There was also a highly amusing montage of ‘Single Ladies’ taken from YouTube performances from households across the world followed by a breathtaking live version. Beyonce even did a bit of crowd surfing and unleashed the rock chick inside her:



There was perhaps a disproportionate number of cheesy ballads in the early stages of the show which weren’t my cup of tea (including Ave Maria in a wedding dress – didn’t quite get this) but I only had to look at members of the audience around me to see how captivated they were. I was definitely in the minority so I’m in no place to criticise.

Part of me went to the show wanting to pick it apart and fault her, but in truth there was nothing to fault. She’s an incredible singer, a fantastically suggestive dancer, and was exceptionally humble and very likeable.

Beyonce really is a superstar. The show was slick and (ballads aside) fast paced. She is larger than life and lives up to everything that you’d expect from a brand as big as the one that she has created.

The set was:
'Déjà Vu'
'Crazy In Love'
'Work It Out'
'Let Me Clear My Throat'
'Pass The Peas'
'Naughty Girl'
'Freakum Dress'
'Get Me Bodied'
'Smash Into You'
'Ave Maria'
'Broken-Hearted Girl'
'If I Were A Boy'
'Diva'
'Radio'
'Me, Myself and I'
'Ego'
'Hello'
'Baby Boy'
'Irreplaceable'
'Check On It'
'Bootylicious'/'Bug A Boo'/'Jumpin' Jumpin''/'Upgrade U'/'Video Phone'
'Say My Name'
'At Last'
'Listen'
'Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)'
'Halo'

Bright Eyes at London Astoria

Bright Eyes (with Rilo Kiley)

London Astoria on Monday 14 March 2005

It was the final night of the Bright Eyes and Rilo Kiley combination and anyone who managed to get tickets to this tour will know how lucky they were. The usual celebrities were out in force at the Astoria tonight, namely Kelly Osborne. She looked a lot prettier in real life than she does on the telly. Not sure of the relevance of that comment to this review but an interesting fact nevertheless!

Rilo Kiley kicked off the night. If Kelly Osbourne looked vaguely pretty then there is no way that Jenny Lewis, the lead singer of the band, could fail to grab my attention. She is fit! She has a voice of an angel. Rilo Kiley have a bunch of awesome tunes! Winning formula. Wonderful pop songs that are catchy, inventive and humourous with a definite dark twist within many of the lyrics.

It took me a couple of songs to stop dribbling at Lewis. Then just when I had stopped the 6-piece band launced into their new single "Portions for Foxes". Lewis sang "the talking leads to touching, and the touching leads to sex, and then there is no mystery left". It's a brave call but I think that this song was the highlight of the whole night. Jangling guitars and harmonies from heaven. Pure pop genius.

Time for Bright Eyes to take to the stage led by their super skinny, supergeek talisman, Conor Oberst. Having recently released two new albums on the same day I was expecting a bulk of material to come from these. I was nearly correct. The bulk of the material came from new album "I'm Wide Awake It's Morning" with not one song from the other new album "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn". Slightly disappointing but it took nothing away from a fantastic show.

The upbeat acoustic opener, "At the Bottom of Everything", was the first of many effortless crowd pleasers. It was maybe the most optimistic song of the night even though the lyrics focus on a plane plunging from 30,000ft. "Lua" was a beautiful solo performance from Oberst that silenced the crowd to an extent that I have had never before heard at the Astoria. "Another Travelin' Song" bounded along describing the difficulty of settling anywhere whilst on the road. "First Day of my Life" is a genuine love song with Oberst wearing his emotions on his sleeve. Although he hasn't the greatest of voices it often has a delicate and crumbling edge that can send a shiver down the spine.

The encore all became a little too political for my liking. I only came to listen to a bit of music and not to be lectured about politics. However, each to their own and the crowd lapped it up. Oberst came back to the stage alone to sing a rousing solo performance. He sang "When the President spoke to God...did he smell his own bullshit? I doubt it, I doubt it". Subtle.

"Road to Joy" was the final song of the night. Rilo Kiley were invited back on stage to "fuck it up and make some noise!" - which they did. Three drummers, three keyboard players, 4 guitar players and a trumpet all made massive noise around the same incessant guitar line. My ears broke but the night had been superb.

Two brilliant bands. If you ever get a chance to see either, then I advise you to do so.