Live review 18th September 2022
Nothing serious here: just fun pop-rock, self-deprecating humour and a lot of jumping around. Lauran Hibberd is a blur this evening, racing from side to side of the stage or getting the crowd jumping with her. Pretty much her full catalogue so far gets an airing and songs off the new album get a warm reaction; “My God – some of you listened to it”. Delighted to be touring, there’s a lot of smiles and a lot of energy; “I had this dream for the last eight years that no-one would ever come to my gigs”, she says, as she introduces ‘Imposter Syndrome’.
It’s a lively catalogue and the band gives it gusto, with the loud and clear bass getting special mention and the unobtrusive guitar that holds it together with zero flash, making a straightforward chord-based pounding pop possible. There just isn’t a lull, a quiet moment or a dull song, thanks to the energy, movement and interaction. Lauran never neglects the bass or guitar, popping in on their spaces with a grin. She heads out into the audience, she gets everyone down on the floor and jumping up, she duets with Viji, the opening act. It’s a whirl of movement. “I don’t do a lot of exercise and after song seven the sweat will become more profuse”, she warns us, “Remember me from song one”!
She’s a funny raconteur and seems unfazed by the touring business, holding attention every time she talks between songs. Her guitar playing is enthusiastic too and she seems the whole-package, while presenting as a twenty-something teenage dirtbag. The Spice Girls rapping of ‘Still Running’ closes the main set, drawing a thread from classic pop of yesteryear to today’s Lauran. Other songs are about lust, boys that are in love with their games consoles, breakups, the pantomime villain step-mum stereotype and a healthy dose of teen angst, most of it gently tongue in cheek. Tie the nifty lyric couplets with bouncy pop and the evening flies by.
The slacker-pop attitude of the songs has clearly won the hearts of much of the crowd from the opening chirpy ‘Average Joe’, through the irrepressible ‘Hot Boys’ to the big single “Garageband Superstar” and the note-to-self ballad of ‘Last Song Ever’ that closes the evening; “I need to calm the hell down, I need to chill the F out”.
She might tell us tonight that she’s had a bad year but, as she says, it’s getting a lot better very quickly.