Live Review: Lily Moore - Omeara, London 02/10/2018
The day before todays sold out show at London’s Omeara, Lily Moore released a brand new EP entitled ‘I Will Never Be’ and it’s going down well with fans of Moore and is sure to gain her some new ones as it’s played across various outlets and as she he plays all across her headline tour.
As I arrived at the Omeara I was greeted by the line stretching round the block into a nearby beer garden as the crowd waiting for what seemed like an eternity to get in but the whole night was worth the wait. First up we had the lovely hometown boy Plested, and his set was a how to guide on how to be a fantastic support act. His set was a slow builder with stripped versions of songs such as his latest single ‘Ribcage’, but we dived deeper into the set he got the crowd pumped with such songs as a song he wrote but was picked up by Little Mix called ‘Touch’. The formerly mentioned ‘Ribcage’ was superb with its raw emotion, and it captured the room to the point where I was so engrossed in the song I didn’t know what was happening around me, I was just completely focused on Plested at that time.
Next up was Lily Moore. This was the first time I had seen Moore perform live and I was not disappointed. During the performance of her songs, her perfectly rounded voice will dominate the room beautifully but also outside of the songs she is quirky, funny and had the crowd's attention at all times, a rare asset.
Moore walked onto stage to huge round of cheers and applause and dived straight into ‘Showed Up.’ It’s at this point the power of Moore’s voice hit me as I stood at the front, totally in awe of strong her voice is. This was a running feature throughout the night, of being staggered by how truly great her voice is. The only person that springs to mind as a comparison is Tom Grennan but still Moore is completely unique. Following ‘Showed Up’ a was trio of songs, ‘All Day’ , ‘Lying To Yourself’ and ‘Walking Away.’ Before the start of this though Moore joyfully mentioned that ‘If you want to have a really good night, have a drink every time I say All Day.’ If you have listened to ‘All Day’ (which I strongly recommend) you will know that phrase ‘All Day’ is said quite often.
Whilst the songs that followed were again exceedingly excellent, it’s these little moments between songs that helps to make Moore’s shows complete. She makes you feel relaxed between songs, just as she clearly is on stage, allowing you to enjoy her music even more. We moved to onto what seemed to be the crowd’s favourite song of the night in ‘17.’ As soon as the song started, the crowd were singing along to every word, which was met by Moore smiling from ear to ear. ‘17’ was funky but still had the emotional lyrics that you expect from a Lily Moore song. The jazz/ballad style of music continued through songs ‘10 ways’, newly released ‘Do This For Me’ and ‘Breaking My Own Heart’ leading us straight onto the title track of her brand-new EP ‘I Will Never Be’. Lily Moore has this amazing talent, which few people have, to sound exactly the same live as she does on a studio recording and this was particularly on show here. ‘I Will Never Be’ helped the crowd find their voice again and it’s cross of blues and modern songwriter style was brilliant. As we moved into the closing stages of the set, we had two songs left, ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ and ‘Now I Know’. The latterly mentioned ‘Now I know’ was Moore at her absolute best, mixing her emotional stories she tells through her songs whilst still keeping the pace up to send the crowd home happy.
Overall the night was excellent. Plested was a great support acting as a great warm up act and Lily Moore was funny, intriguing and pitch perfect throughout. The perfect way to spend a wet evening in central London.
Words and Photography by Alfie Drake