Live Review: Baby Queen - Omeara, London 10/11/2021
Electrifying bangers, devoted fans, countless mosh pits, and flying Pikachus?… everything self-confessed narcissist Baby Queen could ever ask for her first headline shows and more!!!
It is just after 9pm on a Wednesday at one of London’s most beloved venues, OMEARA, and the unapologetically young sold-out crowd gathers closer and closer to the stage eagerly awaiting for the main act. After having just witnessed what can only be described as a brilliant performance by the support act, Molly Payton, whose effortlessly great vocals and provocatively confessional tunes left the audience craving for more; the buildup and hype can be felt in the air.
A couple minutes go by and the crowd grows impatient as they stand under purple neon lights; you can feel the anticipation. However… as a wise human once said… ’a queen is never late, everyone else is just early’, and with that exact same energy, self-confessed narcissist Baby Queen jumps on stage ready to give her fans what they’ve been waiting for and more.
Opening her set with one of her biggest tracks ‘Internet Religion’, Baby Queen sets the tone and encourages the crowd to let loose. Unafraid of being themselves, her fans - some of which have even flown in from places like Ireland just for this - follow suit and begin to dance. Pretty much immediately, there’s a loud cheering coming from the corner of the stage as a massive Pikachu stuffed animal suddenly rises… but wait, there’s not just one, multiple gigantic Pikachus start emerging and fans certainly understand the assignment. In a matter of seconds, every single Pikachu was flying around being thrown from one person to the other - you know, pretty standard thing to do at a gig really (LOL).
It is really during her next song when you start to realise you’re in for a ride. As Bella Latham (better known as Baby Queen) showcases her incredibly wide vocal range while singing ‘Raw Thoughts’, you start noticing how everything on about her image is intentionally curated to match the music. From the pink guitar she was playing to her very Gen Z white outfit covered in colourful doodles (which I may or may not be in the process of recreating for myself). At the same time, you pick up on the fact that whole thing has been put together for her fans to feel comfortable and accepted as she constantly leans to interact face to face with everyone and even jumps off stage to be shoulder to shoulder with the people that support her the most.
The array ironically self deprecating anthems - which are high key inspired on the experience that the younger generations have in regards to interpersonal relationships and the relationship with themselves - continues and gets better as the gig goes on. Even the tunes that are kinda meant to have a ballad vibe are head bopping bangers! This is when you start to notice another really cool thing: even the people who are unfamiliar with her music have pretty much been successfully converted into stans as they start singing their lungs out to some of her best lyrics like “there’s a hole inside of me and it’s shaped like you!”.
Baby Queen is a natural when it comes to stage presence, there was not a single inch of the OMEARA stage that wasn’t used at it’s full potential. However, even the greatest acts have small things they need to be reminded of, and in this case, that is DRINKING WATER. As Bella shamelessly admits to the audience her team is asking her to keep hydrated through her in-ears, she also shares that the drummer James Compton has requested to be called fit which fans seem to agree with as they start cheering for him. All jokes aside, Baby Queen’s energy was equally matched by all her bandmates. All excellent musicians and really cool performers.
Having just performed another one of her best tunes ‘Narcissist’, the wave of shameless commentary continues as the artist requests a drink to be brought to her by one of her friends (that’s some Leo energy indeed). And as soon as she’s done with a zip of it, she goes on to sing “my biggest flaw is a total lack of self-control” and that’s it… the crowd has actually lost it as they know one of the most awaited songs of the night has started ‘Buzzkill’. There’s no words to describe the collective feeling of rage and freedom that song brought to the table.
Edging the crowd towards the very last chorus in the last official song of the set ‘American Dream’, Baby Queen says good night to the crowd and winks mischievously. Everyone knew what that meant, she was getting ready to come back with a killer encore which did not disappoint.
At this point there’s only one thing this gig as missing: mosh pits… and there were certainly LOADS! - yep, that’s right, mosh pits, at a post teen pop gig. As the very last song of the encore ‘Want Me’ comes on, every single person on the floor - even mosh pit virgins - has the same mentality: to get ready to bounce against each other to the lyrics “I’ll go anywhere you wanna go. Why don’t you swap me for your shadow? So I’ll be everywhere that you’ll be, and I’ll go anywhere you want me”.
I know what you’re wondering tho, and the answer is yes! Yes, the Pikachus were still there, bouncing in the mosh pit like that’s where they’ve always belonged. That’s definitely the perfect ending to an unbelievable gig, certainly one of the best performances by an up-and-coming artist. Baby Queen is undoubtably the queen of up beat sadness and even tho she just released one of the best albums by a British newcomer in 2021, we cannot wait to see what else she has prepared for us in the future.
Words by Nicole Otero
