Indie-pop rocker Beabadoobee brings her Beatopia tour to Rock City…
You can tell that Rock City is busy when there is absolutely no phone reception in the venue. Doors opened at 7pm, and fans had already completely filled the venue by the time I arrived at 8pm, just in time to catch Pretty Sick, who brought their 90s inspired grunge sound to the stage for a thirty-minute support set.
The crowd showed huge enthusiasm for Pretty Sick, but still managed to reserve the majority of their energy for Beabadoobee’s performance, which began promptly at 9pm. The reaction when she walked out on stage was unlike anything I have ever witnessed in Rock City before; with the sheer amount of noise that erupted from the crowd, it was difficult to believe that we weren’t in an arena.
Beabadoobee kicked things off with 10:36, a track from her most recent album Beatopia, before going on to play an array of her older tracks, including fan-favourites Apple Cider and Care. I would have liked to hear her play more songs from Beatopia, since I believe this is her strongest body of work to date, but it is undeniable that the crowd reacted most favourably to her older tracks, most likely due to their more energetic, guitar-heavy nature.
Having said that, the heaviest moment of the set was perhaps the chaotic and unhinged instrumental breakdown towards the end of the Beatopia track Fairy Song, which was unexpected and gave the song a new edge that elevated it in the live setting. Another highlight was Last Day On Earth, which had an upbeat, pop-feel to it that got everyone in the crowd dancing.
Hearing Beabadoobee perform with a full band was impressive, but she still shone just as bright during the acoustic encore of Coffee (her first ever song, which you have probably heard sampled in death bed (coffee for your head) by powfu, a track that was popular on TikTok) and Ripples, which was performed as a duet with her guitarist Jacob Bugden before the full band re-joined for the final track of the set, Cologne.
If Beabadoobee’s performance at Rock City proved anything, it’s that there has been a definitive shift in the rock genre in recent years. The modern day rockstar is no longer an old white man with anonymous band members stood behind him. It’s one 22-year-old Filipino-British girl, stood centre stage, holding a guitar.
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