Photo: Alexia Arrizabalaga
Over the past few years, Lianne La Havas has firmly stapled herself within the stars. She’s received nods from the Mercury Prize, Ivor Novellos and Grammys, not to mention a budding friendship with Prince.
Tonight shows the embodiment of her star persona, shedding her indie singer-songwriter skin. The show is the culmination of second LP, Blood, which is laced with grooves, sonic sparkles and studio trickery - but does she have what it takes to hit the same bar live?
Instead of using the Royal Albert Hall's grandiose walls as an excuse to open with a bombastic introduction, La Havas walks on alone, playing the guitar in heels (an impressive feat in its own right) to portray startling intimacy on 'No Room For Doubt'. She gently cascades the guitar neck with her vocals floating closely over the top to a phenomenally tuned-in crowd.
A tightly-knit band joins the singer to help bring those huge moments from Blood to the audience, such as the deep melancholic groove of 'Green & Gold'. The song pulls you in to the rhythmic churn as La Havas sings of her Jamaican ancestry. ‘Is Your Love Big Enough?’ is up next, rings of familiarity ripple through the crowd in the huge chorus.
An acoustic section of the show is exhibited, starting with new song ‘Fairy Tale’ which is charmingly dedicated her family. This part of the show allows every aspect of her performance to be heard in intricate detail, making those flourishes on the guitar even more impressive. La Havas later allows us to hear the full extent of her vocal range in the closing moments of 'Tokyo'. The show is also beefed out with superb covers. She performs her version of Everything Everything's 'Final Form' which takes Jonathan Higg's cartoonish vocal and injects it with soul. Later on she even rattles out soul classic ‘I Say A Little Prayer’.
A major factor to the uplifting mood was in creating a 'homecoming' atmosphere. As a nod to her London roots, La Havas welcomes the Norbury High School Choir – of which she was a member while at school – onto the stage. The beautiful sounds are led by her first singing teacher, which is a touching gesture. They accompany her on several songs throughout the evening, most impressively on set centrepiece 'Unstoppable'. The track starts with an immense choral rise, which resonates around the hall only to be trumped by that hypnotic groove.
Blood has expanded her vocal performance, which she certainly proves tonight, tapping into that ability to feign striking vulnerability and rocketing intensity. The juxtaposing acoustic verse and heavy distorted chorus of ‘Never Get Enough’ didn’t quite translate on record, but the performance tonight proves it was designed for the live setting.
The set is mostly outweighed by downbeat and slower songs as opposed to the upbeat, and you can’t help but feel that if a few more chipped in there would have been more dimensions to tune in to – lead single ‘What You Don’t Do’ doesn’t even get an airing. However, in that absence is some genuinely beautiful work – La Havas re-joins the choir for ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ which holds the audience in awe and generates the most rapturous response.
As the show wraps up, amongst the sing along of ‘Forget’, she beams and shouts “I’ll be back with new music and shows very soon. Playing here has been a dream come true”. There’s no doubt these spaces can get used to facilitating this unbelievable talent.
No Room For Doubt
Green & Gold
Au Cinema
Is Your Love Big Enough?
Wonderful
Fairytale
Ghost
Lost & Found
Tokyo
Don't Wake Me Up
Unstoppable
Final Form (Everything Everything cover)
Age
Good Goodbye
Grow
Never Get Enough
Midnight
Somewhere Over The Rainbow
I Say A Little Prayer
Forget
