After entering the public domain over five years ago through The X-Factor, the nation fell in love with Lucy Spraggan’s relatable style of songwriting, infectious personality and general happy-go-lucky vibes. Now, and with the release of her new album I Hope You Don’t Mind Me Writing, she plays to a sold out show at Concorde 2 and brings one of the funniest and most incredible sounding performances I’ve seen in a long while.

Kicking tonight’s show off is Joe Morgan, a singer-songwriter from Southampton who features some nice acoustics and a solid start to the evening. Joe’s songwriting certainly shows potential and for such a simple setup, he fills the room nicely through husky vocals and an upbeat rhythm. Up next is Katy London, who similarly revels in only using a lone acoustic guitar and her voice. Her tones are incredibly powerful and she genuinely has one of the best soul voices I’ve come across in a while. Despite the minimal setup, her songs do pack an incredible amount of punch and Katie’s combination of acoustic pop and a personality-led performance does parallel with many mainstream pop artists today; if she plays her cards right, I can definitely see Katie heading in the same direction.

Under the green glow of a neon sign projecting a giant ‘LS’, the lights dim, the stage fills with wispy fog and Lucy and her session band enter the stage. The energy from the artist is immediately let out and the crowd respond with an equally enthusiastic cheer from the first note. Lucy’s level of charisma soon becomes apparent as she begins to speak to the audience in such a way that it feels more like a catch up with an old friend than a tightly packed sell out show, giving an incredibly intimate feel to the evening. Tracks such as ‘Fight For It’ from the new album make an early appearance and the emotional, catchy chorus is met by a choir of chanting from the audience screaming every lyric back at her.

Being the last night of her UK tour, Brighton could not be a more suited place for Lucy to end. She states that tonight is one of the more intimate shows she has played, the packed out room holds an incredibly loving vibe throughout and it is clear that everyone is already having a fantastic time. Lucy breaks into ‘Loaded Gun’, a track subtly about Donald Trump that receives an especially warm welcome, the track is simply contagious and sends the whole room into a bouncy mess.

Lucy’s songwriting truly is something special, her reflections on the mundanity of life are combined with her sense of wit and satire are simply hilarious. You can still see why the nation fell in love with her so easily. So many similar artists from talent TV shows have simply fizzled out of the spotlight, however it is clear that Lucy’s music is so powerful and meaningful to so many that it has allowed her to keep and grow her own audience in an incredibly wholesome manner. She continues this by telling us that despite receiving no radio time the new album was capable of reaching #12 in the official charts, a great achievement for any artist.

Old fan favourites such as ‘Last Night’ and ‘Tea & Toast’ also make pleasant appearances, both Lucy and the crowd’s enthusiasm throughout the tracks is not dropped for a moment. The level of variation between every track tonight is fantastic and shows the diversity Lucy’s style holds, many numbers do hold Lucy’s signature upbeat, bouncy style, however numbers such as ‘Dear You’ hold a far slower, more matured feel that really pierces the soul.

Lucy ends the night with the colossal ‘Unsinkable’ and ‘Wait for Me’, the tracks not only send the audience into one final blur of movement and shouting but fire two large confetti and bubble cannons fire off, filling the room with a multitude of paper and bubbles which dancing under the intense spotlights and make for an incredible ending to the show.

Overall, Lucy has smashed it out of the park tonight, her tour has not only ended on a fantastic note, but she has put on a performance that I can see many talking about for a while to come. She has solidified her position as an incredibly talented artist and has shown that she is by no means washed up. Lucy is one of the best performers I have ever seen and I cannot wait to see the direction her music heads next.
Ben Walker
(P.s: Despite the fantastic show, Lucy and her wife were attacked in Brighton the same night, here at Brightonsfinest we wish them all the best and a speedy recovery.)

Website: lucyspraggan.com
Facebook: facebook.com/lucyspraggan
Twitter: twitter.com/lspraggan