“I hope it feels like a warm hug.” Olivia Dean’s address to the crowd between songs was true for her entire performance as the artist justified her recent successes on tour and in the release of her 2023 debut album Messy. With a mix of songs, percussion, dancing, and beautiful vocals, Dean wowed the packed crowd at Manchester’s Albert Hall on Saturday April 27.
Walking onto the stage to perform ‘UFO’, Dean both looked and sounded angelic. As a debut album, Messy is a relaxing and comforting record, yet hearing it live felt like it was exactly as the artist imagined. Despite touring to celebrate her debut, the set continued to begin strongly with earlier fan favourites ‘OK Love You Bye’ and ‘Echo’. Next launching into ‘Danger’, the gig felt like a joyful celebration of Olivia Dean’s music old and new.
As well as performing the majority of her album across the gig, Olivia also treated fans to a selection of older tracks. The crowd were particularly loud for ‘Be My Own Boyfriend’, described by Dean as “a song about the idea of another half. I don’t really believe in that as a concept, I don’t think you’re half a person.” The message was as uplifting as the performance and provided a nice contrast to some of the more obvious love songs Dean has produced. It was also a lovely factor of Dean’s performance that she spoke often to the crowd throughout her time in the Albert Hall, explaining the stories behind tracks and creating a real sense of connection with her fans in attendance.
The Saturday-night party atmosphere of the start and end of the set was punctuated by a quieter series of four songs in the middle of the gig. Dean first treated the audience to an unreleased track called ‘Touching Toes’, a heartfelt love song accompanied simply by two acoustic guitars. Even though Messy is less than a year old, it’s exciting to know that Olivia is creating new music she feels ready to share with an audience. ‘Touching Toes’ was a moment to be still and reflect surrounded by Dean’s vocals, before the crowd joined in once more with ‘Everybody’s Crazy’.
Dean had made her way to the left of the stage to play piano for ‘Everybody’s Crazy’, and continued by playing the short Messy track ‘I Could Be A Florist’. The piano interlude finished with ‘Dangerously Easy’, a song described by Dean as being about following her exes on social media even when they’ve unfollowed her. Dean wasn’t the only one playing the piano to this track, as she sat at a right angle to her keyboard player in a sweet moment of calm.
A moment does need to be taken to properly appreciate Olivia’s band. Surrounded by seven musicians on the relatively small Albert Hall stage, the sound throughout the night was joyfully loud and layered. During ‘Ladies Room’, Dean took time out from singing for solos from each band member, with the three brass performers particularly standing out. As well as the singer’s dancing, varied percussion playing (somehow making a banana shaker look cool), and stunning vocals, the big-band sound provided by her musicians is what truly made the live experience special.
Even though the gig ended without an encore, the atmosphere in the crowd was electric. Dean looked visibly emotional as the audience gave a 30-second long ovation after ‘Reason To Stay’, the first song she released. For many artists, it would be rare to still be proudly performing your first single years into your career, never mind eliciting such a strong reaction from the audience.
The night concluded with ‘Carmen’ and ‘Dive’, two singles from Messy which emphasise Dean’s ability to mix the heartfelt with the energetic and joyful. ‘Carmen’, a tribute to the artist’s grandmother and immigrants more widely, was especially emotional before the audience launched into one final dance. After recent sets at Coachella and selling out her headline UK and EU Tour, the sky truly is the limit for Olivia Dean.
