3 Reasons You Should See Lily Allen Live

This past Saturday I made the trip to the West Side of NYC to see Lily Allen at Terminal 5. Her new album, No Shame is brilliant, and I was really interested in hearing her perform some of those songs live, as well as hear her thoughts on both her music, and the world at large, as she’s never exactly been shy about revealing what’s on her mind.

Flanked by two musicians who kept to their stations on the far right and left hand sides of the stage, Allen impressed at every turn as she powered through sickness for a 90+ minute set that began with “Come On Then” from No Shame, and closed with “Fuck You” from 2009’s It’s Not Me, It’s You.

I arrived a fan of her music, and left extremely happy with the live experience.

Here are three reasons why you should see Lily Allen live.

1. There’s at least one tour-exclusive song in her set

One of the best aspects of seeing an artist live is getting to hear something you wouldn’t be able to hear anywhere else. Allen gives this to fans during her set, performing a song titled “Party Line” that she said she’d just written a little over a month ago.

From an artist’s perspective it can be tough performing a song you know nobody can sing along to, but from a fan’s perspective it’s really cool to hear something nobody else has heard before, and can’t simply be looked up on Spotify.

For another non-album choice, Allen performed a cover of Lykke Li’s “Deep End.” It’s a song Allen first performed for an Australian radio station, and she liked it so much she decided to take it on the road with her. After hearing her version, I think she made a great choice!


2. Her set includes numerous classics

As a veteran artist, Allen understands that mixing in some of her classics alongside her newer material gives fans everything they want (while still promoting the new album), and she did just that by performing “Smile,” “LDN,” and “Knock ‘Em Out” from her 2006 debut LP Alright, Still, and closing with the aforementioned “Fuck You” from 2009’s It’s Not Me, It’s You.

I don’t think a single person left without having heard their favorite song of hers performed, and that’s pretty damned impressive.


3. She’s incredibly endearing

Sure, she’s sold somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 million albums, but with her latest album revealing so much of her very human side, much of Allen’s 90+ minute set felt beautifully personable, and this carried over into the mic breaks.

A perfect example of this came three songs into her time on stage, as she was having technical difficulties with her microphone pack and had to ask someone to help fix it. She announced this to the crowd, while also noting this would require someone to unzip her dress for her. Once a tech had unzipped her, she turned around to show her now exposed back to the crowd, and with the tech still working on her microphone pack, she laughed and said, “Taylor Swift doesn’t do this!”

No, she doesn’t, but Lily Allen does, and it’s one of the many reasons she’s awesome.

(Side note – I’m not saying Taylor Swift isn’t also awesome. Chill, yo!)


To find out when, and where, Lily Allen will be performing next, check out her website for show dates.