MABEL // O2 ACADEMY, GLASGOW
Mabel’s sell out Glasgow show was a soaring display of upbeat dance tracks with perfect execution, but was it distinctive enough to keep her fans’ mad love for her everlasting?
MABEL PERFORMING AT GLASGOW’S O2 ACADEMY - 01.02.2020
PICTURE BY: | STUART WESTWOOD PHOTOGRAPHY
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5)
Punchy R&B sensation Mabel is riding high at the moment. The 23 year-old, Mabel McVey, struck out hard in 2017 with huge breakthrough track ‘Finders Keepers’ but it wasn’t until 2019 that she really began to make her mark. Her debut album High Expectations charted well and saw acclaim across the globe. Mabel has also thrown herself into touring. In years gone by she supported Harry Styles before she began to tour her own headline show. The Scottish crowd had been enticed with her highly praised TRNSMT performance last summer and now, as Mabel’s tracks seem to punctuate the airwaves, it’s no surprise the fans had come to see her in their thousands.
The venue was packed; fans had trekked through a miserable Scottish winter’s night to heat the bones with Mabel’s bubbly R&B. They filed in and quickly a large, cheerful, preppy crowd swarmed every space in front of the stage. Support for the night was London singer Kali Claire. This young lady is a talented vocalist and her cover-filled set did build a brilliant hype, however, she looked uncomfortable on the stage. She asked for the crowd to get down and enjoy themselves yet she stood awkwardly. Stage fright does not suit a hip-hop performer and it’s something Claire will need to shake if she wants to shake the crowds.
First and foremost, Mabel is an astoundingly talented vocalist. As she blasted it out with tracks ‘Mad Love’ and ‘Bad Behaviour,’ it was clear that she is a singer who does not rely on auto-tune software. Favourite ‘Finders Keepers’ turned the room to a dancehall and when Mabel held the mike out to the fans, they sung out to her with a deafening force. The problem is that just a great singer isn’t enough to hold up the night and the middle section of the show bordered on bland and forgettable. The Not3 cover ‘My Lover’ was jumbled in between ‘Selfish Love’ and ‘Cigarette’ yet each track seemed non-distinct from the last. Mabel threw in an ode to Destiny’s Child by sliding in a few lines of ‘Say My Name’ and that brought the energy back up, only for it to fall into murky waters with ‘Stckhlm Syndrome’ and ‘Trouble.’
Mabel’s stage design for the night was humble with a few vertical LED bars placed towards the front of the stage. She wore a bright orange leotard with a matching, shoulder padded, power suit jacket. Unfortunately, this outfit was gregarious, hard to look at and seemed better suited to a midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The performance’s saving visual aspect was the dance troop that supported Mabel with a tight routine to every number. Even with her dancers however, the set up and presentation looked somewhat novice and unsurprising.
Mabel closed the night on a huge high with current single ‘God Is a Dancer’ and an encore that included ‘Ring Ring’ and Mabel’s massive track ‘Don’t Call Me Up.’ It’s no doubt that her fans in the audience enjoyed themselves - they had witnessed Mabel and she had delivered killer vocals. But overall, the night fell flat with no sense of humour or real personality. With nothing more surprising than a small sprinkling of Beyoncé, the show lacked connection to the crowd. The new album’s filler tracks sunk the set and it was the big hits that saved the show. Mabel is an incredible singer songwriter but she need to find a way to set herself apart in a time where R&B artist everywhere.
SETLIST: | MABEL : O2 ACADEMY, GLASGOW - 01.02.2020
High Expectations: INTRO
Mad Love
Bad Behaviour
Finders Keepers
INTERMISSION: Band Interlude
We Don’t Say
Selfish Love
My Lover - (Not3s cover)
Ciagrette
One Shot
Come Over
DANCE INTERLUDE: - Say My Name (Destiny’s Child)
Thinking Of You
Stckhlm Syndrome
Trouble
Put Your Name on It
Ok (Anxiety Anthem)
Fine Line
God Is a Dancer
ENCORE:
Ring Ring - (Jax Jones cover)
Don’t Call Me Up! - (Extended)