Just after 10 bells in the grand old Olympia Theatre, a London soul singer is lapping up the adoration from her audience and fighting against the brevity of her back catalogue. With just one LP, last summer’s Is Your Love Big Enough?, to her name, this night can’t last forever. However, a few carefully selected covers – that display the 23-year-old’s good taste – pad things out in the best possible way.
When this writer caught her in the Sugar Club last year, Lianne La Havas was impressive but still finding her stage feet. Tonight she is a commanding, assured presence and, impressively given the jump in the size of venue, manages to carry over the intimate feel of a club show with little fuss. The tender moments aren’t lost.
Indeed, they draw the audience in, as she occasionally loses her backing singer, drummer, or keys and strikes a few bright chords by herself. Early on, her debut’s title-track is all stomp and headline hooks, her assembled musicians eager early doors to huddle together for a bout of clapping and hollering, as she gleefully divides the audience into singalong groups. “Now that it’s just you and me...” comes her coy intro to the slinking, seductive beauty of ‘Tease Me’. Later, ‘Lost & Found’ might garner the biggest cheers of the night but – bar a slight mid-set lull that comes with such a slender selection – there’s plenty of competition.
Sticking to her 'themed' shows, she claims we’ve dealt with hate, temptation, and all the doomy stuff in relationships. We end, fittingly, with love. She’s a lot to do to fulfill her evident potential yet, particularly in the studio, but onstage Lianne La Havas is a star. And Dublin roars with approval...