Live Review: Dagny - Lafayette, London 17/09/2022
Few artists could evoke so much enthusiasm from a crowd that it feels like the room might collapse from the buzz, yet Dagny proves again that she’s no ordinary musician as she delivers a stellar performance in London.
London is always heaving on a Saturday night, as everyone welcomes the weekend with open arms and lets their hair down with ample time for recovery on Sunday. However, this particular Saturday night was all the more memorable and energetic as Norwegian pop artist Dagny returned to the capital for the first time in two years. Immediately embracing the crowd with sincerity, her absence was immediately forgiven and forgotten as she took over with her bubbly demeanour and delivered a racing set that made 1.5 hours pass in the blink of an eye – they say that time flies when you’re having fun, and that feels like a more-than-apt description of the evening.
However, before Dagny dominated the main stage, Norwegian musician Andrea took the crowd through their paces with a mesmerising opening set. With no shortage of general jokes about the opening set being more of a filler, anyone making such jokes would put them to rest if they saw Andrea. Not only did she warm up the crowd, but she gave everyone a good run for their money with a mesmerising performance that could easily have been a main set. Showing a bit of cheekiness as she bantered with the crowd, Andrea presented herself as a magnetic presence as she tugged on heartstrings with the ukulele-led ‘Dumb’, presented her heart on her sleeve with ‘tell her that too’, then switched up the sensuousness with ‘Be like’. Matching her vocals with equally impressive dance moves, Andrea showed she was more than capable of taking on her role and is ready for the much bigger shows that are sure to come her way.
Bouncing onto stage with ‘Let Me Cry’, the tone of the track could not have been further from the exuberant mood of the crowd as they joined Dagny with a strong singalong, which revealed itself to be a persisting feature of the night. Commanding the stage in an eye-catching monochromatic jumpsuit, Dagny exuded an irresistible confidence that crackled through the air and kept everyone on their toes. As the pounding percussion of ‘Backbeat’ thundered through, the venue almost seemed to visibly shake from the energy, and there were points where I was genuinely concerned about whether the floor could hold the weight of everyone’s enthusiastic stamping. Yet this is also further testament to Dagny’s ability to work with her fans to create something so high-energy and magical that you can’t help but want to join in.
Pausing for a moment to reflect on the eagerness of the fans before her, Dagny mused that it can be ‘so easy to forget to be in the moment’, and earnestly encouraged everyone to ‘leave everything outside of the door and just enjoy’ and diving into the appropriately named ‘Moment’. It seems that her pleading did pay off, as the following run of tracks from her debut album, ‘Strangers / Lovers’ seemed to flash by in a heartbeat. The adrenaline levels never wavered for a moment as she powered through ‘Please Look At Me’, conducted the audience through a split crowd singalong in ‘Coulda Woulda Shoulda’, and channelled disco energy in ‘Bye Bye Baby’.
A poignant moment of the evening came in an acoustic form of ‘Pretty’, where Dagny’s vocals pierced the atmosphere and sent shivers down everyone’s spine. The party didn’t take long to restart though, as one of her first hits, ‘Fool’s Gold’, generated some of the most enthusiastic jumping to be seen all evening, and an outfit change into a sparkly top to transition into ‘Love You Like That’ kept the crowd guessing as to what else would unfold throughout the evening. The mystery was solved as Dagny joked that that we had reached the point where we had to pretend to be sad that the night was over, before she inevitably returned for an encore. Even with that knowledge in mind, it almost felt like an earthquake struck King’s Cross as the crowd forcefully stomped to show their support, and only the uplifting beats of ‘Brightsider’ provided a different outlet for the audience’s unyielding passion. Announcing that she only has three shows left before she pauses touring to focus on music-writing, finale ‘Somebody’ felt like the perfect wrap-up; Dagny certainly felt like that somebody who could light our nerve-endings on fire with her electrifying performance, and while we eagerly anticipate her next return to the capital, we’re sure that it will feel just as familiar as tonight.
Words and Photography by Athena Kam
