Lizzo, O2 Academy Brixton review: a joyous evening with the cheeky queen of self-love
Lizzo’s first major UK performance, at Glastonbury’s Other stage in June, had men and women of all ages clutching each other under the baking sun; some were crying, others laughing. The 31-year-old Detroit-born rapper, R'n'B singer and classically trained flautist - majestic in a white wedding veil attached to glittering gold sunglasses and wearing a shiny purple bodysuit - preached both flippant and resonant aphorisms about self-love and body positivity from her podium, having just comically married herself on stage in homage to her 2017 breakout hit, Truth Hurts, about men letting her down.
The weird and wonderful moment became instantly glorified via countless memes and Lizzo - who had only just released her debut album, Cuz I Luv You - saw her cult US-centric following jump to worldwide mass adoration. And you don't often see a rapper play the flute with such panache.
Truth Hurts, a bawdy feminist pop anthem underpinned by a quirky piano loop, which, when released in 2017, had been so ambivalently received Lizzo considered returning to her original ambition of playing flute in a symphony, swiftly climbed the Billboard charts, and remained at number one for seven weeks straight.
Everyone from McCauley Culkin to Lady Gaga declared themselves disciples of Lizzo’s “church”, which preaches an invigorating mindset of audacious self-belief and zero-tolerance for self-pity. A sassy cameo opposite Jennifer Lopez in September’s pole-dancing blockbuster Hustlers continued to blow up Lizzo's name, as did a remix with Ariana Grande and a viral Instagram video of Lizzo pretend auditioning for the role of Ursula in the Little Mermaid remake. “‘I went to a Lizzo concert and now I love myself”, freshly converted fans would declare on social media.
In fact, over the last six months, Lizzo has become so much more than an artist that when she arrived on stage at Brixton Academy last night for the first of two London shows, the audience was momentarily stunned by the magnificent vocals bellowing invisibly from beneath a giant puff of pink smoke.
With Lizzo’s extraordinary personality often stealing the limelight, it’s easy to forget the quality of her voice: so roaringly bolshy it threatens to bowl you over like a gale. Once recovered, fans chanted Lizzo’s name with such euphoria the star sat down on the stage and cried. It has, after all, been a whirlwind trip to the top.
Minutes later, she was back on her feet, ceremoniously removing her sparkling dress to reveal a tight gold bodysuit, before lovingly caressing her own curves. “This is high tea, honey,” she flirted in a British accent, as her four female backing dancers assembled around her to begin an hour of perfectly choreographed twerking.
Lizzo whizzed through her album’s hits (from sex-loving anthem Boys to break up balm Good as Hell), pausing momentarily to down Patron tequila from a bottle decorated in black and gold diamante to match her sequined trousers, and to once again don the wedding veil. The sheer cheek and fun of it all had the venue in such a joyous state of delirium, I’ve never seen so many people madly grinning under one roof.
Ever the savvy entertainer, Lizzo kept her best trick until the encore: a furiously energetic and proficient solo of her song Juice on her flute, nicknamed Sasha after Beyoncé’s fearsome alter ego (and so loved it even has its own Instagram fan account, SashaBeFlutin). It was an apt finale for a musician who truly can do it all, prompting the biggest screams of the evening and leaving no room for doubt: Lizzo’s bombastic confidence is utterly deserved.
Lizzo plays O2 Academy Brixton tonight, as part of the Cuz I Love You Too European tour
