Having reviewed the lead single ‘Talk’ from Beatopia, and the album itself, this concert had been a long time coming. Beabadoobee did not disappoint. With the Beatopia Tour, Beabadoobee shows that she knows who she is, and that she knows how to put on a good show.
Beabadoobee roared onto stage with ‘10:36’, following the swelling ‘Beatopia Cultsong’ and seldom has a crowd been so reverent when an artist has come on stage, with the cheers lasting for more than a long time. Having strutted onstage with an airy cry of “Manchester!”, the sudden shout of “get down!” during ’10:36’ after the audience hadn’t responded to her hand movements to get down was hilariously unexpected. Attitude and stage presence is something Beabadoobee has in spades, and something we would see again when she playfully told the crowd to “shut the f*ck up” during the encore.
As the concert continued to progress and the mosh pits began to grow in size, I was jostled from somewhere in the middle, right to the very front. The crowd were dynamic and eager to say the least. The show featured lots of heavy guitar, some songs being amped up, so to speak, in how heavy they were, making it a fiery set. The setlist overall traversed much of her now rich discography, featuring tracks like ‘Yoshimi, Forest, Magdalene’ from Fake It Flowers, ‘He Gets Me So High’ from Our Extended Play and ‘Sunny Day’ from Beatopia.
The indisputable highlight of the show was ‘Talk’, the aforementioned lead single for the album. It closed out the set, before the encore, with its characteristic force and energy. Another highlight was ‘Last Day on Earth’ where Beabadoobee gestured for the crowd to sing louder to the song’s refrains of “yeah“, making it one of the most crowd-rousing songs of the set. Perhaps the crowd’s very favourite though was the bossa-nova inspired ‘The Perfect Pair’, with its infectious groove inviting concertgoers to dance.
The encore included ‘Coffee’, a song that introduced many to her, as well as ‘Ripples’ and ‘Cologne’, showing us the Beabadoobee of then and the Beabadoobee of now.
Overall, the show was an excellent one, fierce in lots of places, but equally emotional as it slowed down for more acoustic and downtempo songs. Beabadoobee welcomed the crowd to her world – the world of Beatopia – and, judging by how loud the crowd was singing along, I’d say they absolutely adored it.
You can check out tour dates and get the album on Beabadoobee’s website here. Alternatively, you can stream the album here:
https://open.spotify.com/album/2rhNQbqRNxiNQkDXTffe1V
