ANNE-MARIE // FIRST DIRECT ARENA, LEEDS
ANNE MARIE MOVES UP THE LADDER OF POP DIVAS AND SHE’S NOT FALLING OFF AGAIN
★★★★☆ (4/5)
ANNE-MARIE // FIRST DIRECT ARENA, LEEDS
PHOTOCREDIT : JOHN HAYHURST
We had Dua Lipa here a few weeks ago and that was a show of huge proportions, bright lights, costume changes, catwalk runways, and dancers galore, clearly evidencing her status as Number 1 UK Pop Diva on the leader board. Anne Marie, to keep it in a football analogy, is definitely in a Europa spot but now pushing for Champions League with this short run of arena shows. This is a step up from anywhere she has played before, and a brave move perhaps, but her celebrity status from being a judge on The Voice, and that ‘Fall and Recovery’ on The Brits earlier in the year, warrants arena shows now, rather than the academy circuit again. So we find ourselves in the FD Arena in Leeds, which is strangely all seated for a pop gig, and the top tier is blocked off as it hadn’t totally sold out.
First though we have Gracey, who I last saw on a small stage at Latitude Festival last year in the middle of the 2nd Lockdown. Tonight she is still that effervescent energetic up and coming popster, who will be playing bigger venues herself in the not too distant future. She is backed by some synths, guitar and drums from her small duo of a band, one of whom is wearing a ‘Thrasher Magazine’ shirt and would probably rather be drumming for Slipnot than Gracey. However, this girl owns the stage, is in constant motion, and succeeds in getting this crowd moving. Some devoted fans stand up near the front of the barrier calling out her name and singing along. It is a curious mix of parents with younger children, teenage girls and some much older fans. Gracey has already written plenty of songs for others, most notably Rita Ora, and she includes her own version of Ora’s ‘Ritual’ during her short but impressive set. This Brighton student of the Brits School is going places, so expect to hear a lot more in the next 18 months.
This gig is part of the ‘Dysfunctional’ Tour supporting Anne Marie’s ‘Therapy’ album and there are mental health charities collecting tonight, the Anne Marie show though is far from dysfunctional, there is a warmth and friendliness emanating from her which contravenes the ‘Diva’ tag. She does talk in-between the songs, and whilst it is a strong production with athletic balaclava’d dancers throwing themselves everywhere, there is a more honest and welcoming touch from Anne Marie when she lets you in to her private world, discussing mental health and wellbeing topics, body consciousness and how to accept yourself. That trademark cackle is there though too, to break up the seriousness, the laugh is a bit marmite but the fans here love it.
There are 3 costume changes tonight, first she is wearing what can only be described as ‘binbag fashion’ – if anyone can make bin bags look cool its Anne Marie. She has blonde hair in plaited pigtails and the biggest boots this side of Gene Simmons from KISS. How she manages to dance around the stage in those, I’ll never know but she does and no one is falling over tonight. She does a nice high kick on one of the dancers during ‘Tell Your Girlfriend’ and he proceeds to fake fall like a good one, but nobody misses a beat in this tightly choreographed opening set. Whilst she is getting changed into her White and Pink outfit and white platformed boots, messages are scrawled on the back screen, one says ‘Confronting all my issues has transformed my life’ and then Anne Marie is back to prove it, as she blasts through the title track of her new album ‘Therapy’.
The whole show is telling a story of the progression from dark times in her life – hence the black outfits, and then having tackled those issues, returning to the light and it’s not too long before the front rows are covered in confetti from the cannons that burst during ‘Birthday’. By then she has changed costume again into mini skirt, shorts and bodysuit. My only gripe really is that the show was too short at just over an hour, but I guess she wanted to leave everyone wanting more.
This was a truly great pop show, and whilst it didn’t quite match the Dua Lipa experience for pizzazz, but it had a USP which was Anne Marie herself - being a true, honest and personable star, something that those other Divas need to learn.
REVIEW + PHOTOS //
JOHN HAYHURST
SETLIST
FIRST DIRECT ARENA, LEEDS
CIAO ADIOS
X2
ALARM
TELL YOUR GIRLFRIEND
THEN
ROCKABYE
THERAPY
OUR SONG
BREATHING
BEAUTIFUL
PERFECT
BETTER OFF
2002
KISS MY (UH-OH)
WAY TOO LONG
DON’T PLAY
ENCORE:
FRIENDS
BIRTHDAY
TOUR DATES:
11TH MAY 2022
LONDON // OVO WEMBLEY