More about: Baby QueenAbby Roberts

Taking to the stage with just about 24 hours’ notice, Colours Hoxton hosted a line-up of TikTok teen royalty. Triple billed and balancing about equal set times, Baby Queen, Abby Roberts and Georgia Twinn present their mutual brand of angsty rock pop in two very different ways. The experience is...interesting. Are music careers for TikTokers the new book deal for YouTubers? 

It feels immediately important to separate Baby Queen from the rest. Using the opportunity to test out her set for her upcoming American tour dates, this is a whole new side of the hotly-tipped artist as she matches the intimate setting with a cosy, interactive set. Going it solo without a band, it's refreshing getting to see her play guitar and return to her old Avril Lavigne-loving roots, serving as a reminder that Baby Queen, aka Bella Latham, is legit.

Despite cracking jokes about her poor guitar playing, the set never falters as her old fan-favourites and unreleased demos all receive the same high-energy treatment. It's a display in showmanship in the best way—Bella is undeniably charming and has built a dedicated fan base through nothing other than being talented and funny, a fact shown as she chats to the audience with so much ease you feel like her best friend. Able to control her crowd with even the tiniest instructions, getting everyone on the floor, dancing or laughing on cue, Bella’s set feels full and proper enough to make you forget that, really, this is just a rehearsal. 

Baby Queen has what the others wish they had.

Despite being at wildly different stages in their career, Baby Queen has a solid back-catalogue under her belt now, while Abby Roberts has just released her second single. It's odd seeing how each of the acts are treated. I’ve never seen a room empty after a support act, but it seems like the people that are there for Abby don’t feel the need to stick around for Baby Queen. Maybe the overtime they were working at that gig didn’t stretch that far...

Leaving the room after Abby’s set and re-entering for Bella’s feels like two different crowds, the age somehow dropping (strange considering Abby’s TikTok origins) as the room both empties and reshuffles. Bella looks down into a pool of fans pushing close to the front and dancing, whereas Abby’s room is full and stationary as a lesson in fans vs observers. Meanwhile, Georgia Twinn’s room is silent, even when she asks people to sing along…

By the headliner, I'm thankful for the vibe shift. Reflecting on the night, it feels hard to differentiate Georgia and Abby. Sharing the same hair, same clothes, same on-stage movements and even the same guitar player, it all feels like watching the industry in action, like we were being presented two clones in an experiment to see who we responded to best. Given slightly different tones as Abby’s music strays more into Lana del Rey territory in comparison to Georgia’s new-punk sound, both move like they’d been placed in front of a dance studio mirror and told to practice being on stage. In all our talks about industry plants and the way TikTok is skewing the industry, watching two strangely similar acts hit poses on stage while a five-person camera crew film anyone who looked like they were enjoying it, I started to understand the term for once.

There are moments of hope too. Georgia Twinn’s track ‘Moth’ is undeniably catchy and at points her voice rivals that of WILLOW as it flips between rock belting and soft spoken silk. Similarly, Abby clearly has an amazing voice, shown especially when she merges a stripped back cover of The Cardigan’s ‘Lovefool’ with an unreleased demo, or lets her accent shine on the almost Pinkpantheress-y ‘Pink Champagne’. Abby has something that’s missing from our current soundscape. I’m ready for a new British Lana; give me the Leeds equivalent of Phoebe Bridgers! 

But as quickly as moments where the two singers can show off their genuine talent come, something about the experience steals it from them. Both feel like victims of their own mechanics as the crowd end up distracted by cameras being randomly pointed in their face, or some other odd addition that would never usually happen at a young, new artist’s first gigs. 

Theres a reason why musicians gig, why the traditional route to fame is down a long path of bad gigs. Like bambis on stage, Abby Roberts and Georgia Twinn have real potential to dominate British rock-pop when they’ve found their feet. But until then, someone should tell their people to tone it down a bit: they don’t quite need a full production of lights, backing tracks and videographers yet. 

For the final words, I want to dedicate a moment to the band. Like incredibly skilled pillars for the revolving door of new stars, Georgia and Abby’s shared guitarist is amazing. In the strangeness of the experience, there are points where none of the music felt real or live as it was swallowed by a track. But then when a brief guitar solo comes through or the drums kick in, it's nice to have a refuge in some good old-fashioned live music. Pinning down the singers and no doubt guiding them through the technicalities of how to do their first gigs, bands like this never get the credit they deserve for how much they hold it all together. So here’s to them.

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More about: Baby QueenAbby Roberts