LIVE:
LIZZY MCALPINE’S SECRET CAMDEN SHOW
We headed down to London to help celebrate the release of Lizzy’s new record.
Photo: Courtesy of Lizzy McAlpine.
It goes without saying the world has been a bit of a mess these last two years. There genuinely was a point where I questioned if live music would ever return. So, when the lights dimmed and a beaming Lizzy McAlpine took the stage at Camden Assembly, the excitement in the room was palpable. The show’s tickets were exclusively made available to her mailing list, so the fact the audience was composed of her most die-hard, loyal fans made it all the more special.
Lizzy, the 22-year-old singer-songwriter from California, has been going from strength to strength - and her recently released sophomore album, ‘five seconds flat’, feels like the the culmination of something big. She writes love songs that contain such beautiful prose that it feels like she has already lived a million lives.
This wasn’t a standard setlist, as when she walked on stage she gleefully announced she was going to play the entirety of the album in tracklist order, just 3 days after its release. From the opening somber chords of ‘doomsday’, through to the final note of ‘orange show speedway’, the audience were captivated. Before each song, she gave some insight and context as to its meaning, which made the show feel somewhere between traditional gig banter and a cosy bedtime story.
Mid-set, her guitar broke - which led to an impromptu Q&A while her tech fixed it. She took it in her stride and answered questions about loves lost, the songwriting process for the album, and how she blends her personal narrative into her songs.
The show ended with an encore of her performing some older songs culminating in a group singalong to her hit “Pancakes for Dinner”, and that final magical moment was a reminder of how in these strange times, the world needs live music more then ever.
Lizzy, the 22-year-old singer-songwriter from California, has been going from strength to strength - and her recently released sophomore album, ‘five seconds flat’, feels like the the culmination of something big. She writes love songs that contain such beautiful prose that it feels like she has already lived a million lives.
This wasn’t a standard setlist, as when she walked on stage she gleefully announced she was going to play the entirety of the album in tracklist order, just 3 days after its release. From the opening somber chords of ‘doomsday’, through to the final note of ‘orange show speedway’, the audience were captivated. Before each song, she gave some insight and context as to its meaning, which made the show feel somewhere between traditional gig banter and a cosy bedtime story.
Mid-set, her guitar broke - which led to an impromptu Q&A while her tech fixed it. She took it in her stride and answered questions about loves lost, the songwriting process for the album, and how she blends her personal narrative into her songs.
The show ended with an encore of her performing some older songs culminating in a group singalong to her hit “Pancakes for Dinner”, and that final magical moment was a reminder of how in these strange times, the world needs live music more then ever.