Lilly Allen
Austin City Limits Music Festival, Miller Lite Stage
Austin, TX, Friday, October 12, 2018
Review by Jim Chapin
As the show was about to begin, the crowd started chanting: “Lilly… Lilly… Lilly Fucking Allen!”
Lilly Allen walked on to the Miller Lite stage on Friday afternoon of the second weekend of ACL Fest clad in what looked like powder pink pajamas. With her silver ponytail and matching platform shoes, It was a fitting outfit for her music – a blend of laid-back, danceable numbers with sing-songy lyrics full of sarcasm and attitude, yet they leave you feeling good.
She opened the set with “Come On Then” from her latest album No Shame. The chorus “I’m a bad mother, I’m a bad wife, you saw it in the socials, you read it online” directly addresses her knack for showing up in the tabloids over the years, and gives a bit of a “fuck you” to people who think they know her as a result. “If you go on record saying that you know me…Then why am I so lonely? ‘Cause nobody fucking phones me!”
Like many of her songs, the lyrics run counter to the mood of the song. And that’s the point. Allen’s onstage performance basically consists of wandering around the stage while she sings/speaks the lyrics. The songs are the focus. For those listening to the lyrics, they hit hard. Allen is, above all, honest and has no problem putting it all out there. She has a story and wants to tell it.
The set was heavy on songs from No Shame, but also included such crowd pleasers as 2006’s “Smile” and “LDN” The audience swayed and bounced along with Allen, enjoying an afternoon of weather as chill as the songs.
As a bit of a surprise, She performed “I’m Always On a Mountain When I Fall,” a Merle Haggard track she saw on Austin City Limits.
Allen dedicated her final song to U.S. President Trump. “This one’s for you, Donald,” she exclaimed, and launched into 2009’s “Fuck You.” The crowd ate it up, middle fingers in the air.
Overall her set was perfect in its mid-afternoon time-slot. It was relaxed, comfortable, fun, and a bit edgy. Like a nice pair of pink pajamas with silver heels.
SETLIST: Come on Then, Waste, LDN, My One, What You Waiting For?, Knock ‘Em Out, Lost My Mind, Smile, Party Line, The Fear, Who’d Have Known, I’m Always on a Mountain When I Fall (Merle Haggard cover), Not Fair, Trigger Bang, Fuck You
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