Blanketed in pink confetti, infectious energy, and three outfit changes later, Olivia Dean definitely left her mark on The OVO Hydro with her final night at the arena.
Walking into The Hydro Thursday 23 April, the excitement and anticipation could be felt instantly. With a mixed crowd of anyone and everyone, from polka dots, flowy skirts, trousers, shirts, jeans, it was clear Olivia Dean was going to be a night of girlhood, and a soulful slowness, and she definitely did not disappoint!
The opener, Jalen Ngonda, set the tone perfectly for the crowd with his fusion of soul, jazz and pop, getting the crowd hyped and dancing. I hadn’t heard of him before this show, but he will definitely be added to my Spotify; his gritty and powerful vocals were perfect for his old soul sound, and I will definitely be giving his album a listen on 5 June.
The stage was kept to a beautiful elegance, soft pink lights hitting an encompassing, flowing curtain which cocooned the stage, a minimalist elegance that has become so synonymous with Olivia Dean. This old Hollywood feel continued as the lights came down and the curtain was illuminated with text introducing ‘The Art of Loving, A Performance by Olivia Dean’. As the opening notes to the album’s title track start to play, a spotlight hits the curtain as we get Olivia’s silhouette as she sings the opening lines. An enchanting build of anticipation as the crowd waited with baited breath until the curtain finally opened revealing Olivia, her backing singers, and band, all dressed befitting the elegant theme in black dresses and suits with Olivia’s first outfit of the evening being a beautifully elegant black floor length dress with a slit surrounded with white frills. Swiftly moving into ‘Nice To Each Other’, the high energy was felt instantly as the crowd began to sing along and dance, screaming the loudest with ‘I don’t want a boyfriend’.
Olivia Dean’s infectious energy, smile and kindness was felt across the crowd as she reminisced about her time playing Glasgow’s infamous King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut two years prior to a crowd of only 300, and now she is standing in front of tens of thousands playing a sold out show. I have genuinely never felt such warmth from an artist standing on stage appreciating the crowd so much as I did then. Olivia’s humbleness, joy and excitement was truly a joy to see and be a part of, going as far as to say hi to a fan called Maddie who has been to fifteen of her shows.
Throughout the show, Olivia gave us some insight to her feelings around these songs and the album as a whole telling us that The Art of Loving is an album about “[her] trying to find love and what that means” and that “truly loving someone…is wanting to see them shine” then going on to sing ‘Let Alone The One You Love’, a beautiful moment of raw emotion and catharsis. Keeping the emotional honesty going, we move into some songs from her first album ‘Messy’, telling us this album was about allowing herself to be imperfect and make mistakes. The support she received from the crowd with flashlights during ‘UFO’ was beautiful, the arena got so bright it felt like the main lights had come up. All throughout the show, the energy of the crowd remained high, only dimming for the slower, more gentle songs.
Olivia Dean moved to her B stage for three songs, changing into her second outfit of the night, a big white puff maxi skirt with a white crop top, as she sang ‘Loud’, ‘A Couple Minutes’, and ‘The Hardest Part’, creating a gentle slowness in her show, as swathes of flashlights and swaying bodies began to move.
For the final part of her show, she moved back to the main stage, dressed in her final outfit of the evening, a champagne gold dress with fringe at the bottom, starting the final segment with ‘Baby Steps’, instantly bringing back the high energy to the room with disco balls coming out to play and scatter light across the arena. By this time, the whole arena was up and dancing, whether you had a standing or seated ticket. The disco balls stayed spinning and shining throughout the rest of the show, accentuating the disco dance vibe the crowd was already feeling as Olivia sang her final few songs, by this point, the crowd was just as loud as Olivia and her band, before ending the show on the only song she could, ‘Man I Need’. As the climax of the show, it definitely felt it with bright pink lights, disco balls spinning, the crowd enjoying every second, and the band, as well as Olivia, putting their all into their final song. For the final chorus, pink confetti exploded over the crowd, creating the perfect end to an amazing show. Walking out of The Hydro, it was clear the crowd was on a high with smiles seen for miles. Olivia Dean’s show is sure to be one not forgotten so quickly and I, for one, hope she comes back soon.
Image Credit: Lola Mansell / @lolamansell
