Raye, O2 Arena, review: glorious homecoming show proves the future of pop is safe
The O2 is a happy place for Raye. Two weeks ago she made Brits history in the enormous Greenwich tent, winning a record six awards out of a record seven nominations and “ugly crying on national television!” On Friday night she returned to play her biggest show to date: a sold-out night of hometown glory for the south London singer.
“This is not the professional way for an artist to start a show,” she said after pausing to remove her “jingling” jewellery and confess that she’d forgotten to put on nipple covers. But really, everything Raye does is professional: the way she sings – an acrobatic display of melismas, a cappella notes, and octave-vaulting – and the way she talks, part-singing coach (explaining reverb and harmonies to the audience), part-therapist, part-best friend.
Billed as a larger reprise of her televised Royal Albert Hall show last September, in which she performed her debut album My 21st Century Blues accompanied by the 50-piece Heritage Orchestra and 30-piece youth choir Flames Collective, Friday night didn’t stray far from that flawless performance, aside from the quadrupled audience – proof that no matter the size of the room, Raye can shrink it with her warmth and vocal talent.
The orchestra struck an especially triumphant note this time around, particularly on the opening two songs Oscar Winning Tears and Hard Out Here. The latter was Raye’s angry first single as an independent artist, addressed to “all the white men CEOs” after a decade confined by a restrictive Polydor contract. She fetched the bolt cutters in 2021 and released My 21st Century Blues independently two years later, an album whose marriage of classic soul and jazz balladry with contemporary R&B, pop, and hip-hop has drawn a broad listenership – the O2 audience ranged from young children to 70+.
Raye stood before cake-icing white curtains, her name in showbiz lights, dressed like a classic Hollywood star in a sweetheart gown but determined to keep things real. She opened up about addiction on Mary Jane (“I never saw myself talking to an O2 Arena about this”) and sexual abuse on Ice Cream Man (“this song does not get any easier to sing”). In the Royal Albert Hall she performed that ballad in her underwear, but after a frank discussion about her ongoing struggle with body dysmorphia – a powerful topic for an audience well-populated with teenage girls – she admitted that “tonight I’m not in a place to do that”.
She ended with Escapism, her best song and first-ever number-one single in January 2023. “Back yourself no matter what,” she said at the time. Now she has plenty more people backing her. It’s impossible not to root for Raye, particularly when you consider she is almost the age that Amy Winehouse was when she died – Winehouse, who was so failed by the music industry. Raye’s happier story makes you feel more positive about the future of pop music. “I’m trying to give you a dramatic ending but I need to catch my breath,” she said during soaring number The Thrill is Gone. After the years she’s had, if anyone’s allowed to catch their breath, it’s Raye.
Touring festivals worldwide this summer. Tickets: rayeofficial.com
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