Live Review: Charlotte Lawrence

Blue light bounced off Deaf Institute’s huge disco ball as it hung over the excited audience, the anticipation palpable ahead of Instagram “It girl” Charlotte Lawrence’s arrival.

The set started with amused laughter after a clumsy entrance onto the smoke-filled stage, but Lawrence regained composure and immediately captivated the crowd with the natural beauty of her voice. As she sang the lyrics to ‘Sleep Talking’, it became instantly apparent Lawrence knew how to work a crowd.

Being the daughter of actress Christa Miller and Scrubs producer Bill Lawrence, Charlotte Lawrence is no stranger to the spotlight. With natural good looks and a lithe figure, it is also unsurprising that Lawrence has been signed to IMG Models since she was a child, counting fellow young stars Kendall Jenner and Kaia Gerber among her closest friends. While Lawrence was as stunning as you’d expect in person, it was clear to anyone in the room, her musical talent certainly shone brighter.

After a brief introduction to the crowd, Lawrence and her bandmates Scott and Andrew launched into a fun dance number called ‘Seventeen’, which describes that feeling of night-out euphoria. “Now it’s 5 AM and I feel something / You’re that something / You’re my something / 5 AM and we’re still dancing / Only us but we’re still dancing”, the crowd sang as they jumped up and down to the beat. Effortlessly, the band merged straight into ‘Young & Reckless’, one of Lawrence’s best songs, which talks of forbidden attraction. Clearly a real crowd-pleaser, at times it was almost hard to hear Lawrence’s strong vocals.

There is a confessional tone to much of Lawrence’s work as she writes her own lyrics, meaning she can talk about personal topics, like in ‘Keep Me Up’ where she describes her struggle with anxiety. Following this emotional track, Lawrence performed ‘Psychopath’, her song with Nina Nesbitt and Sasha Sloan. Asking the audience to “get angry”, she sang about regaining control after a breakup, blending sugar-sweet vocals with harsher lyrics.

While the set was plagued with multiple microphone mishaps, the quality of Lawrence’s performance remained, highlighting her genuine talent – proving she could more than hold her own when she was forced to sing ‘Wait Up’ without a microphone. This solo performance led in perfectly to Lawrence’s personal favourite ‘Everybody Loves You’, for which she took to the keyboard to deliver a haunting melody. Switching to the guitar, Lawrence then played her unreleased track ‘Bloodstream’, which was first shown on the Youtube Vevo DSCVR channel last November.

Switching things up, Lawrence provided a unique, slow cover of ‘Mr. Brightside’, which she told the audience was her Dad’s favourite song. “My dad would start every day by blaring that song in the car on the way to school. This one’s for him because I miss him”. Lawrence looked just like any other 18-year-old as she danced freely across the stage, reaching down to sing with her fans and peers.

Deep bass boomed through the room as the mood changed for the penultimate song ‘Just The Same’, while flashes from above bathed the audience in white light. Announcing to the crowd there would be “one more song”, Lawrence chose to close out her set with the dance anthem ‘Stole Your Car’. Watching the smiles of the crowd reflected in the expressions of the band, it was clear to see everyone was having an absolute blast. The small venue meant there was no ‘us’ and ‘them’ – just a sea of music lovers losing themselves in a perfectly crafted pop anthem.

Charlotte Lawrence’s star is surely set to continue rising if she continues to wow with quality performances like that – proving she is far more than another pretty face on Instagram.

9/10