Gig review: Beabadoobee at O2 Academy Leeds

Beabadoobee. Picture: Jules MoskovtchenkoBeabadoobee. Picture: Jules Moskovtchenko
Beabadoobee. Picture: Jules Moskovtchenko
The chart-topping singer-songwriter continues her ascent with a 21-song set received with delighted squeals from her predominantly female fans.

The volume of excited screaming in the Academy would suggest that Beabadoobee (aka Beatrice Laus) has become a bona fide pop star.

It’s an ascent that began when the Philippines-born, London-raised musician’s debut lo-fi single ‘Coffee’ was sampled by Powfu. It went on to become a worldwide hit in 2020, leading to her being nominated in that year’s Brit Awards. Since then she’s scored a viral TikTok hit in ‘Glue Song’ and supported Taylor Swift on the north American leg of the Eras Tour.

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These things helped to catapult recently released third album This Is How Tomorrow Moves to number one in the UK charts. Produced by Rick Rubin, it positions her alongside a fresh wave of chart acts who are influenced by 90s bubblegum grunge.

She looks like a genuine pop star as she performs with a three-piece touring band in tiny black shorts, knee high boots and pink electric guitar. Yet while Chappell Roan is outspoken and Sabrina Carpenter winks innuendo, Laus is a blank onto which the Gen Z audience can project their emotions. It’s a tactic that’s obviously worked; her every word and move during this 21-song set is received with delighted squeals from her predominantly female fans.

Her instruction to jump during ‘She Plays Bass’ is rapturously obeyed to balcony-quaking effect, and her banter is treated like holy scripture. This is despite it being either a sweet platitude or a re-phrased lyric from the next song. “You guys have the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen,” she purrs before playing the Lisa Loeb folk-pop of ‘Ever Seen’, on which a partner tells her she, “had the prettiest eyes he’d ever seen.”

This politeness often masks a grittier, more vulnerable underbelly. “It’s such a shame / You don’t cross my mind,” she lies on the angsty, Juliana Hatfield-lite ‘One Time’, while Jacob Bugden’s guitar work at the start of ‘Beaches’ channels early Oasis. Punk-pop closing track ‘Cologne’, meanwhile, taps into Avril Lavigne while she pleads, “Won’t you just drop your shit / And pick up the phone?”

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If these tracks reflect her roots in the 90s indie scene, then there’s also plenty on offer for those interested in more polished pop. The accusatory ‘Real Man’ has a Caro Emerald swagger to its jazzy beat, ‘Sunny Day’ almost has an All Saints vibe, and ‘Post’ is post-Taylor Swift. ‘Girl Song’ finds her on less sure footing, being an Elton John-style piano ballad that’s primed for a John Lewis Christmas advert.

On the cusp of a major breakthrough, the stage design of artfully placed stepladder and white drapes initially looks like a curious choice. Yet when the curtains drop to reveal fake ivy creeping up the wall, it implies a metaphor for her career transformation. Based on this show, she’d better get used to the screaming.

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