Now let's toast each and every fucker that made me this way

A spur of the moment purchase!

I listened to Self Esteem's latest album back in May, enjoyed it and then read a review that said "get tickets if you can - it's quite the show", so I went and got some tickets. In the intervening period, I did, of course, not listen to the album once - but I checked it out the day before to refresh my memory and at least I still liked it. As an added bonus, it was also at Brixton Academy, which is a venue I've never been to that I've always fancied checking out.

And, on first viewing, a very fine venue it is too - an impressive entrance area which leads downstairs into a nicely sloped standing area (it's a converted cinema, which often work well for viewing lines) with plenty of bars at the back to prevent excessive queues from forming. And it was an interesting crowd - I'd say they were mostly young women, but there were enough men and oldies (some even older than me) to keep things more varied than I was expecting (I still stood out, but not as much as I have at some other gigs this year).

And so, first up we have the support act - and there's no danger of not knowing it's Nadine Shah because she's got her name up there in BIG LETTERS! And I didn't mind her at all - I'm not entirely sure how best to describe her with the best I can come up with being a cross between Siouxsie Sioux and We Are Lady Parts, which I don't think she'd mind. Her inter song banter made me laugh because I didn't really catch any of the words (except for "endometreosis" and "periods") but she just sounded like she was talking utter filth. And she was having a blast up there and the crowd fed off her nicely.

But there were definitely there for Ms Esteem (Rebecca Lucy Taylor to her mum) and when she rocked up on stage with her backing group all dressed as handmaids, everyone went wild. And what a show it was! Singing, dancing and banter a-plenty - she's got a great voice (and great songs) but the choreography in this show is next level, with there always being something going on somewhere on stage. And most of the audience were considerably more up with her songs than I am and joining in big time - but I knew enough to particularly enjoy "69" and "Cheers To Me", which have slightly different themes. I enjoyed all the songs, but I'm going to call out "I Do This All Time" which drove the audience absolutely crazy - although apparently there was a complaint that "some women have noticed there are some men not dancing" (it wasn't me!).

The backing group definitely deserve a shout-out because they are all super talented with excellent singing skills to go with their dancing - throughout the evening they lost their handmaids outfits and ended up in sportswear (obviously). But Ms Taylor was the star of the show - she lapped up the acclaim and absolutely owned that stage. 

And what a stage and venue it was - I really liked it. There were loads of people there but it didn't feel too crowded and the sightlines were really good (the slope was actually steeper than I was expecting) - I certainly aim to head back at some point. All in all, a really enjoyable evening.