Live Review: FLETCHER - Eventim Apollo, London 13/05/2024
Selling out two nights at London’s Eventim Apollo, heartbreak has never sounded so good as screaming ‘wish I could get a little undrunk so I could uncall you / At five in the morning, I would unfuck you’ with FLETCHER.
“We need to outdo last night - you think you can do that, London?” smirked FLETCHER as she played the second of her sold-out shows in the capital. If the crowd’s deafening roar was anything to go by, they were certainly up for the challenge and made a valiant effort with singing, jumping, and dancing along to every beat. The American singer powered through an extensive set which spanned the whole of her discography in her biggest solo headline shows to date, and fans were treated to a potent mix of her killer vocals and heart-on-sleeve lyricism which left no thoughts unspoken.
To ready the crowd for this, alt-rock duo ARXX opened with a candid set as vocalist and guitarist Hannah Pidduck and drummer Clara Townsend crack jokes and share antidotes between punchy riffs. ‘Deep’ plunged the crowd into the grungier side of their sound, with drum rim-clicks and acerbic guitar riffs before catchy ‘oohs’ in the chorus took over with an irresistible swagger. Flicking over to ‘The Last Time’, a breezier melody lifted the mood of the room with a nostalgic tinge of electronic harmonies, before ARXX moved onto new track ‘Good Boy’ which was so new that “we haven’t even recorded it yet”. Before hooking finale ‘Crying In The Carwash’ saw the audience dance along with a prepared mini-choreography, the duo cracked another joke about how it was a track “for anyone going through a break-up. Or anyone about to break-up. Anyone thinking about breaking-up? I’m pushing it now.” Well, if breaking up sounds this good, maybe their last question is not so far-fetched.
As the lights dim, FLETCHER’s band takes the stage for a dramatic instrumental build-up before the spotlight focuses on the reason we are all here tonight: FLETCHER. From the opening note of ‘Maybe I Am’, FLETCHER’s honest and heartfelt musicianship is put on show - singing ‘You say that I’m a narcissist as if I haven’t heard that one’, there’s no holds barred for delving into the deepest corners of heartbreak and letting unfiltered thoughts stream out. ‘Sting’ is given a rock makeover, transforming the heartwrenching track into a cathartic dance-along as FLETCHER laments ‘maybe I like the way it stings, it’s all I got left of you and me’. The spiking electronic beats of ‘Serial Heartbreaker’ acts as the catalyst for raising heartbeats as FLETCHER conquer hurdling high notes with ease, sending tingles down our spines as naturally as she picks up her guitar for ‘Attached To You’ to lead us down the well-trodden path of heartache.
Pausing briefly to take in the adoring crowd around her, FLETCHER sets down a few ‘FLETCHER house rules’ for the remainder of the evening: first, everybody is welcome at her show; second, every emotion is welcome - whether you need to “cry about it, laugh about it, fuck about it”; third and finally, everyone has to “scream-sing every fucking lyric with me”. It turns out to be a successful formula for making history, as we catapult through five years’ worth of music in a whirlwind. From back-to-back mindblowing vocals in ‘Pretending’ and ‘Ego Talking’ to seductive hip-shakes in ‘Shh…Don’t Say It’, campfire-like acoustics in ‘Joyride’ to sapphic but irresistibly fun ‘girls girls girls’, it’s undeniable that FLETCHER is at the current pinnacle of her career.
Within what feels like a blink of the eye, we’re suddenly at the encore of ‘Doing Better’ and ‘Becky’s So Hot’. If you thought heartbreak sounded good up until this point, these two tracks will blow any remaining expectations out of the water as FLETCHER amps up the attitude and sasses, “I’m doing better, I don’t know if you remember when I told you in December that you wouldn’t recognize me.” If this gig is any indicator, the line will certainly ring true as FLETCHER delivered such a confident, self-assured, and empowered performance that we are left with nothing but excitement to see what new heights will come for this pop-star.
Words by Athena Kam
Photography by Sam Strutt
