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Within the past 18 months, Pixie Lott has achieved two number one singles, gained an entry into the Guinness World Book of Records, had a line of clothing endorsed by Lipsy, begun a career in the movies and kept her debut album, Turn It Up, in the Top 40 for the best part of 60 weeks. Still in her teens, the youngster has successfully become one of the country’s rising stars. This, her first headline tour, is the result of a great deal of hard work over the past few years; anticipated greatly by fans who ensured that the dates were sell-out events.
Having just re-released her debut, Ms Lott had quite a back-catalogue of material and took centre stage for almost a whole 90 minutes. Opening with debut ‘Mama Do’, sung whilst lying on a bed in some red pyjamas, the popstress belted out strong vocals, hitting every note as on her album. She quickly moved straight from the sensual rolling around into the upbeat ‘Doing Fine’, not stopping, but instead having her backing dancers rip the pyjamas from her on stage to reveal a close fitted corset and mini skirt. In quick succession, album favourites ‘Gravity’, and ‘The Way The World Works’ followed, with the show being held by the developing love story between the backing dancers.
Not to be outdone, ‘Broken Arrow’ was the first triumph of the show, where a sultry vocal not only added depth to the performance, but was the first where the audience all sung in unison with their star. Moreover, Pixie performed the elaborate dance sequence seen in the music video herself, showcasing her many skills.
Covers of ‘She Said’ and ‘Forget You’ were crowd-pleasers; however, Pixie seemed to keep such show-fillers coming throughout the middle section of the gig. She stopped to explain that this was the music she grew up with thanks to her parents; but whilst ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’ and a medley of ‘You Keep Me Hanging On’, ‘Reach Out’ and ‘Ain't No Mountain High Enough’ were handled with care, there was always a slight unease that the Motown revival should hold such a key position in her show; not broken up throughout the performance. Part of the problem was the sudden change from use of whole stage and dancers, to the more typical lounge-singer set-up of Pixie and her backing singers stood solidly in centre.
Direction was resumed when new release ‘Can’t Make This Over’ began and Pixie even managed to find time to thank and applaud her crew. ‘Turn It Up’ gave some much needed energy to the proceedings and had many on their feet. The party pop song was delivered in some flirty yet soulful manner and was clearly enjoyed by the artist, who could be seen smiling throughout. Not to lose this sudden rush, ‘Rolling Stone’ had a tap number and ‘Cry Me Out’, a ballet routine from the lead herself; each flawless sequences.
An encore of ‘Catching Snowflakes’ and ‘Boys and Girls’ saw a costume change for each song, finishing with Pixie in a skin-tight leotard, complete with cat ears (for what she has dubbed ‘The Crazy Cats Tour’).
Powerful to the end, there is no question as to the talent of the nineteen year old. However, a full tour may have been better saved for a second album (Turn It Up is 15 months old now), when a few more tracks may have alleviated the middle stagnation and childhood nostalgia. Nonetheless, Pixie delivered a complete show; from hidden gems to album favourites and dance routines to match.
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