Review and Photo Copyright © Mark Ellis
In a fitting end to a music filled bank holiday weekend, Leeds welcomed a people’s favourite pop princess, Anne-Marie to the O2 Academy, ably supported by rising star Lennon Stella.
Fans of the TV Series “Nashville” will of course immediately recognise the name Lennon Stella as being the actress who played, often troubled teenager, Maddie Conrad. On stage she is accompanied only by a keyboard player, however this allowed the quality of her vocal to shine through. As a fan of the TV series it was nice to hear Lennon sing live and she did not disappoint. With setlist comprising mostly of her already released material, the Leeds crowd were singing along. Highlights included the latest release “Bitch” and “Polaroid” (Originally recorded with Liam Payne and Jonas Blue)
By the end of Lennon’s set the capacity crowd was now in the venue. It appears that some fans had been queuing since 5 am and they were ready. It is a while since I have seen young fans hold an artist in such high esteem, however Anne-Marie’s fans did just that tonight. From the opening chords of Bad Girlfriend the audience were close to signing louder than the PA system. The question to be asked however was who was having the best time.
As a performer Anne-Marie is maturing and there is no doubt that she knows how to work and audience. She also now has the solo material to fill out a setlist .. even if there occasionally lacks some originality to the material, but that will come there is no doubt about it. Her 2018 debut LP was of course the backbone of the set and in particular her latest Single “Perfect to Me”. Anne-Marie kept up the energy throughout the whole performance and was rewarded with the perfect crowd sing along to “Rockabye” ..and boy were the Leeds crowd responsive.
Whilst many of the dates on this tour have now sold out there are still some tickets available. If you are a fan of a perfect pop performance then this is, without a doubt, a show you should not miss as the “Speak Your Mind” tour continues around the UK.
Lennon Stella
