March 15, 2024
The O2, London
“What the fuck!” declared RAYE as she ran onstage at The O2 before a sold-out hometown crowd for her biggest headline show to date at the iconic venue.
Just over a year since the release of her record-breaking debut album, ‘My 21st Century Blues’, the singer-songwriter shifted 20,000 tickets for the show in just 24 hours when they went on sale days after she became the most-nominated in a single year in BRITs history, and backed by The Heritage Orchestra and Flames Collective the Friday-night concert was a victory-lap for a breakthrough a decade in the making.
“My wildest dreams are coming true before my eyes. I would be nothing without the people in this room,” she declared during one of several candid moments speaking to the crowd, with the stage dressed in white silk drapes – replicated on screens around the arena – and her name lit up in large conjuring both the grandeur and intimacy of a Las Vegas residency.
But from the moment the south London star bounded onto the stage, barefoot in an elegant black gown, and launched into the soaring Oscar Winning Tears, her inimitable combination of soaring, note-perfect vocals and charming candour proved a winning formula that had all eyes fixed on RAYE for a two-hour-long, 20-song set.
Predominantly featuring songs from ‘My 21st Century Blues’, the set proved something of an emotional cleansing for the vocalist who grouped together her “ugly, shitty songs” – tackling subjects such as addiction (Mary Jane) and self-love (Body Dysmorphia) – mid-way through the set.
Concluding the segment with her most emotional track, Ice Cream Man, performed from the piano, she delivered a heartfelt introduction and dedicated the song “about something that I was silent about for half my life” to “anyone who needs it”.
A swift costume change reset the tone of the evening and reemerging in a metallic silver dress that reflected the lights like a glitterball, with the trap-leaning Flip A Switch and house-infused Black Mascara leading into a final run that featured RAYE’s verse from the Cassö and D-Block Europe collaboration Prada and her chart-topping anthem Escapism, the night’s closing number.
Come lights up, there was no denying RAYE’s immense talent and star power, and if the rapturous reaction to her performance on Friday night was anything to go by there’s no stopping her. Truly a once-in-a-generation talent.
