A burst of light and blaring synthesizers were exposed to view as a single white sheet fell from stage at April 18th's sold out Lily Allen concert. The full crowd at the Theater of Living Arts in Philadelphia started to scream as Allen emerged from the bright, white light singing the lyrics of “Everyone’s At It.”
Wearing a strapless one-piece outfit and lens-less, hot pink sunglasses courtesy of opening band, Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head, Allen commented on how uncomfortable her outfit was. The British singer commended Philadelphians on their cleverness during her ritual day-of-the show ticket giveaway. Allen was going to post clues on Twitter for her scavenger hunt, but before she even posted the clues, fans were already waiting at the planned location, Love Park, for the free tickets.
The night was full of antics and Allen’s witty remarks. Halfway through the show, Allen even held a cheesesteak eating contest, which involved two audience members Josh and Mike competing to be the first one to finish eating an infamous Philadelphia cheesesteak. The winner won, of course, a free cheesesteak, which led into Allen’s song “Not Fair.”
Surprisingly, the audience contained a lot of middle aged men (and their cameras). Allen managed to spot three children in the audience. Maybe her explicit lyrics kept parents from letting their children out on that Saturday night. During her song “F*** You”, Allen encouraged the crowd to throw up their middle fingers as she did the same with a beer and lit cigarette in hand.
After Allen left the stage with an “I hope you’ve enjoyed the show so far,” she returned in a new outfit and sang her hit “Smile” from her debut album Alright, Still. Five cigarettes, two beers, and a stomach flashing later, Allen ended the show with Britney Spears’ “Womanizer.” This might be seen as a risk, ending your concert with another artist’s song. But whether Lily Allen ends with her song, or any one else’s song, her performance is sure to leave an impression. How many other pop stars can you name who flip off their 10-year-old fans without any complaints from the parents?