Emily Campbell
On the 10th of October, Beabadoobee stopped off at Nottingham’s Rock City on the 5th date of her UK/IE Beatopia Tour. After releasing her album ‘Beatopia’ back in July, fans finally got the opportunity to hear the album in an intimate live setting. Impact’s Emily Campbell reviews.
After interviewing Bea back in July, I got the opportunity to head down to Rock City to check out her set and it is safe to say I was not disappointed. I regularly attend concerts at Rock City, however when I arrived it was more packed than I had ever previously seen it. It was tricky to find a suitable spot to watch! Many fans in the crowd were clearly waiting excitedly in anticipation, like me, to hear Bea’s new album ‘Beatopia’ live for the first time.
THEY SANG EVERY LYRIC BACK TO BEA AND SCREAMED WITH ENTHUSIASM
Bea began her set by playing 10:36, one of the first tracks off her new album, and the crowd was ecstatic. They sang every lyric back to Bea and screamed with enthusiasm in the instrumental breaks. It was great to see a wide age range in the audience at the concert with typical students heading down to their local venue but also younger and older people enjoying the show. It demonstrated Bea’s talent at making music for all to enjoy.
Towards the middle of the show Bea performed Perfect Pair and the jazzy melody and poignant lyrics were played by the band and sung by Bea with style. Perfect Pair has been the song from Bea’s new album that I have returned to time and time again, so hearing it live was a highlight of the concert. Bea had a brilliant stage presence throughout the concert, she danced and interacted with fans in the instrumental breaks and thanked fans for their support between songs. This presence was particularly seen in her performance of He Gets Me So High, she made full use of the stage, which allowed her to interact with fans across the venue.
MELANCHOLIC BALLADS BUT ALSO UPBEAT SONGS WITH MOMENTS OF ROCK AND COMPLEX GUITAR RIFFS
It was also great to see Bea returning to the beginnings of her career in the music industry with songs like He Gets Me So High and Sorry, she performed them with energy and spirit. Bea, however, confessed See You Soon was her personal favourite and is a song which many may know from Taylor Swift’s famous use of it in her graduation reel. This is fitting considering Bea has just been announced as a support act for Taylor Swift’s American ‘The Eras Tour’ next year. The chorus of the song showed off her vocal range with the melody becoming increasingly higher.
The concert ended with a short encore in which she played an acoustic version of her most popular single Coffee, a firm fan favourite which started the encore off with a bang. It was then followed by Ripples from ‘Beatopia’ and Cologne from her EP ‘Our Extended Play’ which were suitable choices to finish with. They showed off Bea’s ability to write melancholic ballads but also upbeat songs with moments of rock and complex guitar riffs.
Overall, Bea’s performance was full of passion, she is a musician who is clearly committed to her craft. It will be interesting to see what she releases next after the success of ‘Beatopia’ but I am sure there are great things to come.
Emily Campbell
Featured image courtesy of Alex Watkin. Permission to use granted to Impact. No changes were made to this image.
In-article video courtesy of @radvxz via Instagram.com. No changes were made to this video.
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