CHEEKY Londoner Lily Allen toned down her cynical cockney lyrics

LILY ALLEN
The Forum, June 12
Reviewer Kylie Northover

CHEEKY Londoner Lily Allen toned down her cynical cockney lyrics and ska influences on her second album, It's Not Me It's You, and Friday night's sold-out show, while met with enthusiasm from her (mainly female) fan base, felt more restrained than the Allen we saw in 2006. Gone is her sundress-and-trainers ensemble and also, it seemed, some of her edgy irreverence.

Opening the show with Everyone's at It, Allen, backed by a full band, emerged to a rock star welcome, looking more Stevie Nicks than streetwise hipster.

Her voice was strong and she rushed out a couple of songs from her new album, exhorting the "girls" to sing along. Her version of the Kaiser Chief's Oh My God got the crowd amped, although she quickly moved into second-album material, dedicating the ballad Chinese to "new couples" and losing the crowd a little with her faux-philosophical God song, Him.

One of the first pop stars to break through on MySpace without the help of the mainstream industry, Allen continues to be an early adopter of technology: those following her on Twitter before Friday night's show would know Allen spent the day on the set of Neighbours, filming a cameo. She continued this informal relationship on stage, chiding someone for smoking — but only because she'd been specifically told not to. She was promptly bombarded with ciggies.

Her matey banter was old-school Allen — she singled out a fan who had been at her Brisbane and Sydney shows, asking if he was a "stalker or just a Lily Allen investor" — but the overall vibe was more breezy pop than the geezer chic that made her so endearing.

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