Lily Allen West End Girl Tour Review: No Fan Could Leave Feeling Short-Changed

If there was any nervousness around exactly what fans should expect from Lily Allen’s current live show, no one at Newcastle’s O2 City Hall on Sunday night was showing it.

Lily kicked off her latest tour last week, with critics’ reviews split down the middle. Commentators had a lot to say about certain aspects of the show, most notably its abridged runtime, which proved to be one particular point of contention.

As the title suggests, the Lily Allen Performs West End Girl tour sees the Brit Award winner bringing her latest hit album to life on stage, with the setlist consisting solely of the songs from the new album, running from start to finish.

Those who were won over by the confessional break-up album (heavily inspired by Lily’s split from her ex-husband David Harbour) upon its release last year will know already that this is the best way to enjoy West End Girl, rather than by cherry-picking individual tracks, as it conveys a linear narrative over the course of 14 tracks.

However, this approach also means that Lily’s time on stage clocks in at under an hour, sparking some heated debate among fans and critics about whether ticket-holders were getting their money’s worth.

This debate clearly didn’t discourage those at Lily’s Newcastle stop, though, where a sea of people sported homemade merch emblazoned with slogans inspired by her new album like “who the fuck is Madeline?”, “Dallas Major” and “4chan Stan”.

Others were decked out in polkadot everything as far as the eye could see (I clocked shirts, dresses, jumpers, cross-body bags and, of course, the obligatory puffer jackets, but I’m sure there was plenty else) and, as my friend informed me, a zealous few were taking part in an impromptu group singalong of Pussy Palace in the ladies’ loos, an hour before the night’s proceedings had even began.

It’s worth stating that fans on social media who’ve actually seen West End Girl live have been almost unanimous in their praise – and having now seen the concert for myself, I’m right there with them.

Those hoping to hear the classics as well as cuts from West End Girl were treated to a run of hits before curtain up, provided in remixed form by a group of cellists dubbed the Dallas Minor Trio.

Warming up the crowd, the trio provided Bridgerton-esque instrumental backing for number ones The Fear and Smile, as well as fan-favourites LDN, Not Fair and Hard Out Here. Fans were encouraged to provide their own vocals for the performance, with the aid of lyrics that were projected onto the back of a screen at the front of the stage.

As for how effective the Dallas Minor Trio were as an opening act, I have somewhat mixed feelings. There’s no denying that once fans were used to being their own vocalist, they sang along to the hits with gusto (Fuck You was probably the stand-out, affording fans the chance to gleefully belt out timely lines like “you’re just some racist who can’t tie my laces”, “we hate what you do and we hate your whole crew so please don’t stay in touch” and “you say, you think we need to go to war, well, you’re already in one”). But the whole auditorium gazing up at song lyrics while seated in rows did put me more in mind of a year 6 assembly than a raucous karaoke party, even if some of the more enthusiastic fans were already on their feet by the first chorus of The Fear.

Attention did audibly start to drift during some of the lesser-known songs from Lily’s catalogue (one deep cut from fourth album No Shame has already been culled from the setlist), but it should be stressed that the trio left the stage to a standing ovation from the crowd, so clearly had the room on their side by the end.

Then came the main event, and any doubts in my mind had already been dispelled by the end of opening track West End Girl.

One early review already indicated that the show is “less a gig than a piece of cathartic performance art”, which sums things up succinctly. The West End Girl tour leans into the album’s more theatrical elements, with Lily performing the whole thing framed by a deliberately artificial-looking stage setting, as she breezes through some of 2025’s most talked-about songs.

Impressively, each of the album’s 14 songs is conveyed completely differently to what came before it, with the aid of projections, costume changes, props and abrupt set changes thanks to stage hands who seamlessly redesign the set in exciting and imaginative new ways between numbers, turning West End Girl into a one-woman show of sorts rather than your traditional pop concert.

What’s interesting, too, is that so many of the supposed criticisms of the West End Girl tour – zero talking to the audience, the setlist not featuring any other songs, the lack of backing dancers or live band – are actually some of its strengths. Lily’s pivot to acting is what inspired the events of West End Girl, and in its live form, it feels like she’s taking everything she’s learned and playing a role with her latest live venture.

So, given she’s fully in character throughout, why would she break from that to talk to the audience? With the West End Girl album effectively being turned into a script, why would she want to dilute it with irrelevant songs just to keep more casual fans happy? And, indeed, why would she want to take away or distract from the jaw-dropping piece she and her team have created by sticking in a hits set before or after the main event?

Lily is also the only performer on stage for the entirety of her set, but still manages to re-enact the story of her latest album West End Girl flawlessly – which is no mean feat considering she’s made no secret of how painful and personal a story that it is. Far from the stage feeling bare or stark, the chart-topping singer holds your attention the entire time she’s on stage, leaving you feeling every ounce of the album’s paranoia, anxiety and, finally, catharsis along every step of the way.

Particular high points include Pussy Palace, already a cinematic experience thanks to Lily’s unfiltered and descriptive lyrics, but to which she manages to add even more while performing it live, and the double-punch of Tennis into Madeline, with every cry of “who’s Madeline?” from the crowd becoming more frenzied as our support for the show’s heroine grows.

It’s not a perfect show, admittedly. West End Girl’s stand-out banger Nonmonogamummy sees Lily pretty much rooted to one spot delivering TikTok-friendly choreo with varying levels of conviction, when she probably could have sold better if she were able to just freestyle it and use the space more.

This was then followed by the heartbreaking ballad Just Enough, performed behind a beaded curtain in near-darkness with projections swirling around her. Unfortunately, this made Lily’s delivery a little difficult to see, which jarred given this is one of the album’s more vulnerable and raw moments.

Conversely, West End Girl’s other key ballads, including the desperate Beg For Me and the sobering Let You W/in, were staged much more effectively, before ending on a high with the somewhat optimistic Fruityloop.

After breaking character for the first and only time, taking a small bow before leaving the stage, she returned to the stage for a curtain call, taking out her in-ear monitors to allow her to soak up the rapturous reception from the Geordie crowd, which left her visibly touched.

Last week, Lily made a point of shooting down journalists’ (including, indeed, my own) suggestions that West End Girl lasted just 45 minutes, the same length as the album that inspired it.

Taking the opening act out of the equation, Lily is actually on stage for closer to 55 minutes, which is, of course, still on the shorter side for a concert. But given everything that’s gone into West End Girl – the imaginative stage design, the elaborate sets and, most pressingly, what has to be an emotional performance from its central star night after night – no one who loves the album could leave feeling short-changed.

As for anyone else… well, what are you doing at a show called Lily Allen Performs West End Girl in the first place?

Quite how the night will translate to the arenas she’s scheduled to perform at later this year remains to be seen – at the moment, it seems perfectly suited to the smaller venues she’s playing on both sides of the Atlantic, but some tweaks might be required to help it fill bigger spaces.

For now, though, the intimate and unflinching show is an ambitious high-point in Lily’s 20-year career. The show is frank, unapologetic and emotionally resonant, all while never losing its sense of humour – in other words, all of the qualities that have kept Lily at the top of her game.

Lily Allen Performs West End Girl continues on Tuesday night in Manchester, with shows scheduled at intimate venues around the UK for the rest of March, culminating in two nights at the iconic London Palladium. She’ll then take the show overseas, before returning in June for a string of arena shows across the UK and Ireland.