Lily Allen turns David Harbour’s betrayal into a one-woman spectacle

Lily Allen’s West End Girl tour isn’t a concert – and you’ll be disappointed if you’re expecting one.

Like listening to her critically acclaimed album of the same name, this tour will be therapy for every scorned woman; except this is your penultimate session and you’re finally ready to laugh instead of cry over your awful ex.

Lily arrives on stage for the first date of the tour at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall to a roaring applause, and it’s clear the warmth for her after 20 years in the industry is still there – after all, we’ve just seen her four-year marriage to David Harbour unravel in the most brutal way possible.

Lily owns her one-woman show, which will have your eyes glued to her as she performs the album in its entirety in a theatre packed full of fans still wondering: ‘Who the f**k is Madeline?’

You can barely hear the first lines out of her mouth through the cheering – a support for her which is palpable in the room through such a public betrayal.

West End Girl is what you’ll get from Lily – nothing more, nothing less. In fact, she doesn’t even stop to speak to the audience as she powers through the album front to back in the format of a play. And she doesn’t need to.

She specifically chose theatre venues to showcase her newest material, and while it feels like you’re watching her perform while sitting in Year 3 assembly, the intimacy of the show is something I’ve never experienced before, especially for such an enormously successful album.

So much so that she’s ditched an opening act in favour of Dallas Minor Trio. Never heard of them? Well, me neither.

Her ‘surprise’ opener is a trio of musicians comprised of Amy Langley, Jess Cox, and Klara Romac, who perform instrumental versions of some of her biggest earlier hits, including Smile, LDN, and The Fear, with the lyrics displaying on the screen for the audience to sing along to – like millennial karaoke.

This could be seen as disappointing to anyone expecting Lily to perform the anthems which shaped her career herself. But there’s something about hearing those hits so stripped back in a Bridgerton-style cover which works as a warmup act – and it certainly didn’t stop the crowd from belting out her 2009 dancepop track F**k You.

There’s also something hysterical about hearing a string trio play Not Fair, a song about Lily’s former lover’s lacklustre skills in the bedroom, so elegantly.  

Thanks to her stint on the West End in 2:22: A Ghost Story, which landed her an Olivier nod (and left her former husband seemingly hostile), Lily’s pain comes to the forefront of her performance.

She hunches over a bed and writhes in pain during Relapse, a song about wanting to feel numb after her relationship breakdown by using drugs and alcohol, and she acts out the opening track’s phone call detailing Harbour’s desire to have an open marriage so convincingly that her voice trembles in sorrow.

The set design of the show is so impressive that Lily effortlessly floats between outfits and songs with different backdrops which mimic her storytelling lyrics.

For Pussy Palace she jumps up and down on a bed, acts out finding another woman’s hair amid her husband’s indiscretions, and yes – she even has a prop of that Duane Reade bag with all of those things inside.

During her more up-tempo song, Nonmonogamummy, Lily gets the crowd on their feet, even while hers are crammed into sky-high Louboutins, to perform a TikTok-style dance – the only choreography you’ll see during her set. You completely forget for a moment that the song is about her reluctantly giving in to keeping her side of her marriage open.

I can’t help but feel nostalgic for her dress and trainer wearing Glastonbury days when she reaches over to take a puff of her vape during Dallas Major – it’s like catching a glimpse of her cheeky former self from the era of Myspace and massive heart-shaped gold hoop earrings.

Lily is in her element being back on stage for the first time in seven years. While it feels like she’s been through the ringer in her personal life, it feels like West End Girl is exactly what she needed to heal.

Lily Allen’s West End Girl Live tour continues in the UK until 22 March before returning later this year; as well as the US, Europe and Australia.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.