Lily Allen at the Hordern Pavilion, Sydney

LILY ALLENMIAMI HORROR
The Hodern Pavilion, 21/01/10

Melbourne DJ/producer Benjamin Plant, otherwise known as Miami Horror, performed live as part of a four piece band which offered dance-fuelled indie disco. While it was sleek enough and boasted occasional uplifting moments, for the most part it was a pretty uninspiring set.

When Lily Allen first played in Sydney, she had the aesthetic of a typical English backpacker, bounding around in white trainers, so it is an indication of how much of a star she has since become that she slinked onstage looking every part the diva in massive heels and proceeded to make two costume changes during the show. Indeed, her huge marketability can also be indicated by the fact she told the crowd she was celebrating her album "going quadruple platinum". Drinking "disgusting" wine through a straw, the Brit got the ball rolling with Everyone's At It and LDN, while also throwing in a few covers, including The Kooks' Naive, Britney's Womanizer and a version of Just Be Good To Me featuring UK rapper Professor Green.


Her songs were delivered in the kind of bubblegum pop style that has ensured her records have sold by the truckload, yet it is her lyrical content that separates her from her mainstream contemporaries. Her stories contained plenty of acerbic wit and adult themes which offered a nice juxtaposition to the radio-friendly tunes they were wrapped in. The pleasing honesty to her subject matter was constant, whether she was talking about a lover's ineptitude in bed (Not Fair) or going on anti-war rants (the brilliantly-titled Kabul Shit). Okay, sometimes her wordplay may lack subtlety, but there is nothing wrong with using pop songs to smack people around the face with a bit of morality, and anyone who writes an anti-Bush song called Fuck You deserves plenty of credit. The Fear, though, was the standout track of the night. Not only is it Allen's best song, but one of the finest pop offerings of the last few years with its knowing swipe at celebrity culture.

She may be platinum-plated nowadays, but, delightfully, this rapturously received show proved she is still the same old Lily. Charismatic, bursting with energy and telling everyday truths in her songs; when it comes to pop stars, Lily Allen is as real as they get.

Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You

Sometimes, an album comes out of the blue and belies all preconceptions. Alright, Still, Lily Allen's debut, was one such record. On the surface, a collection of bubblegum pop songs from the daughter of odious celebrity ligger Keith Allen didn't appear to be worth bothering with, but, upon closer inspection, it burst with wit and honesty (not to mention radio-friendly, ska-influenced tunes) in its stories of the trials of modern life. It was like a breath of fresh air, and certainly one of the albums of 2006. Following that unexpected gem, Allen's new album is burdened by the considerable weight of expectation.

Though Allen is truly now a marketable pop star with an army of teenage fans to cater for and record company sales forecasts to deal with, It's Not Me, It's You stays pretty loyal to the uncompromising nature of her debut. Swear words are still unapologetically littered throughout and she deals with issues that other pop acts wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. While subtlety is sometimes absent as she wallops us over the head with her words, her occasionally overt morality is still applaudable and there is pleasing wry commentary. Opening track Everyone's At It is a lament to drug taking, while The Fear offers lines that are equally straightforward and knowing digs at the culture of celebrity: "I’ll take my clothes off and it will be shameless/Cos everyone knows that’s how you get famous." There are other acerbic moments, like the line-dancing Not Fair, which treads the familiar ground of a lover's ineptitude in bed.

Even though there is nothing on It's Not Me, It's You to match the quality of the best parts of Alright, Still, it is still a slickly produced album of catchy-as-fuck pop, and Lily Allen's personality shines through enough for her to to easily leap the Difficult Second Album hurdle. One gets the impression that, if you went for a beer with her, you would encounter exactly the same cheeky, witty, gutsy, truthful character you hear in her songs. For a mainstream pop star, Lily Allen is as genuine as they get.