Live Review: Lily Allen, Japanese Wallpaper

Japanese Wallpaper and his lush soundscapes started the night. Gab Strum, along with a pair of guitars and synths, produced a sound that feels familiar but fresh. This was certainly the case with a cover of Don't Dream It's Over, featuring the tender voice of Georgia Smith. Fooling Around is a power-pop piece of electronica that sees the big early crowd swaying in appreciation. Between Friends closes out a neat and polished set – a nice choice to set the scene at Enmore Theatre.

Lily Allen's album of last year, No Shame, was a real return to form and proved that she can still craft personal songs with that biting wit we've come to know and love. She returns to Australia after four years and this, her first show of the Australian leg, was an all-ages event pretty much filling Enmore Theatre, but with hardly any underage punters.

The pre-recorded “Lily Fucking Allen” chant was suitable for the feel of the night – not too serious, a bit of fun and a little loose.

She started with No Shame opener Come On Then, which, like most of her new tracks, has Allen wearing her heart on her sleeve (“Yeah, I'm a bad mother, I'm a bad wife/You saw it on the socials, you read it online"). Even on the night, despite an obvious cough and sore throat, she still managed to charm us.

Ldn, the third song, brought out the old fans, but this show was clearly about the new album, Allen performing 12 of 14 tracks from it. Mind you, with a lot of the songs only a few minutes long and not a huge amount of banter on the night, she got through 21 tracks in all.

Using a throat spray in between tracks and turning to let out a cough occasionally, the singer would be excused for not hitting the notes, but Lost My Mind proved that nothing would stop her from getting through the show -  let alone the tour, nailing the high notes. A cover of Lykke Li’s deep end, first performed on triple j’s Like A Version, was a lovely inclusion.

Her banter was somewhat stilted. She discussed her ex-husband and his new girlfriend, which may be playing on her mind - “If any journalists are here, don’t report on this!”, but this lead into the beautifully bittersweet track, Three, sung from her daughter’s perspective.

The Fear saw the lounge area standing up and singing, bringing a smile to Allen’s face. Her own onstage dancing was a little awkward, but endearing, never really cutting loose, but clearly enjoying the closeness to the audience.

She introduced her band, each playing a couple of instruments. “I have one instrument. It's slightly fucked at the moment,” admitted Allen.

Yes, it was a little messy - she forgot to sing the final verse of final song, Fuck You, having to restart it - and she wasn’t at the top of her game, but her talent, personality and self-deprecating humour shone through.