Liang Lawrence joins Alessia Cara’s Love & Hyperbole Tour in London
On June 9th, Alessia Cara’s Love & Hyperbole Tour made it to London’s iconic venue, the Roundhouse for a near sold-out night of new releases, nostalgic classics and plenty of dancing space to go around.
In support of her latest album, Love & Hyperbole, Alessia Cara played the album in its entirety for a crowd of adoring fans that had waited years to see her perform live again in the UK.
For those who haven’t yet listened to the project, make sure to check out our coverage of Alessia’s press conference with °1824 earlier this year.
Upon entering the venue, fans were met with an elegant but simple stage set-up: plush red curtains, all the usual equipment and a plethora of spotlights which their favourite artists were soon to be under.
At 8pm sharp, the indie-pop singer-songwriter Liang Lawrence graced the stage with a song that needs no introduction; The Pilot. The closing track to her introspective 2023 EP, letters to myself, The Pilot was a strong and guitar-laden start to her set, with the crowd falling near-silent as they listened to her sing.
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“Hello, London! How is everyone?” she said to the crowd. “I’m Liang - I’m really excited to see you all and to be here. This song’s called Kiss My Apocalypse.” A standout love song within her discography, Kiss My Apocalypse is always a treat to hear live and currently holds the spot of Liang’s most recently released single, having joined streaming platforms on November 19th of last year.
"Thank you so much, London,” Liang said as newcomers continued to shuffle into the space. Grabbing her acoustic guitar, she introduced herself again to the growing crowd. “Hi, I’m Liang! This is my second time being at the Roundhouse and I’m still just as scared as the first time but it's such a pleasure to be here. I can see most of your faces which is really nice actually!
This next song is called Out Loud and it's basically about how I'm really bad at speaking about my feelings.” As the opening strums of the track came in, so returned the purple lighting and Liang’s infectious ability to captivate a crowd with her music. In one of the sweetest moments of her set, Liang stood beside her guitarist for the bridge’s acoustic intermission, mirroring each other’s laughs and smiles as they played.
"I’m having a lot of fun guys! I’m not actually from London but I guess this is the closest to a hometown show that I'm getting to,” Liang said. “I've lived in London for like five years now and I really love it. You guys are a really sweet crowd!
This next song is called Thoughtless and it's a new one. It's unreleased and basically about how in the last year of my life I've really been struggling writing songs. I worry that only writing songs about my struggles and my life is a very selfish pursuit, so that’s what this entire song is about basically."
A beautiful and vulnerable song with an addictive bassline and the kind of thoughtful storytelling fans have come to expect of Liang’s discography, one of the track’s stand-out lyrics was: "What should I stand for when I’m running out of reasons to rhyme?”
Before her next song, Liang asked the crowd who had travelled the farthest for the show. Cities all across the UK and Europe were shouted out, with one fan even saying that they’d come from Columbia. “Woah!” Liang exclaimed. “I haven’t travelled that far. I left my flat and I took the northern line then I was here. I’ve listened to Alessia since I was like 15/16 so this is a crazy day. It’s all very surreal and I’m very thankful to her for having me and also to you guys for being here.” Introducing her next song, Backseat, Liang told the crowd: “It’s basically about grieving the parts of your childhood that you thought would last forever.”
With fans along the barrier swaying to the melody, Liang’s bandmates pitching in with harmonies and the lights fading green to blue, this song was a picture perfect example of how live music can almost stop time, and bring people together into one specific moment.
"Thank you so much! How good are my band?” Liang said. “We have Scarlet on the bass, Joey on the drums and Coby on the guitar. They’re amazing and they keep me going.”
“This next song is another new one. It’s called A Day Off in Margaritaville. If you don’t know what that is, its basically like a chain of hotels in the US started by Jimmy Buffet. Someone fact check that [she laughed], but when we were staying on tour in the US, it was one of my first times in California and it was pissing it down with rain, but I thought Cali was supposed to be sunny!
Days off on tour can often be vacant and strange because you’re in this limbo between life, and you get a bit existential. Or at least that’s what I do so that’s where this song came about. It’s quite Californian because it was written there - with Coby funnily enough. I hope you like it - it’s one of my favourites ever!”
An upbeat track with a country-esque twang, playful lyrics and a lovely guitar solo courtesy of Coby, Liang laughed afterwards: "That’s a very fun one, I feel like I’m Lightning McQueen in Cars!"
“I have one last song for you guys, and thank you for being so very kind to me. If you want to catch me again I’ve got a headline show in London on October 3rd. It’ll be my biggest ever headline so it feels quite scary, but I’d love to see you there and you’ll see my band there, too!
This last one is called Not a Love Song. I basically wrote it because I kissed a boy in a club at like 3am and the next day I was speaking to my housemate and was like ‘I think I love him, I think we’re meant to be’ and she was like, no, you don’t even know his last name. But I was in this weird headspace of wanting to write a song in that really crazy - definitely a bit psychotic - mood so here we are!"
As the lights darkened to a deep blue, the crowd sang along to the song’s chorus as instructed by Liang, with fans at the barricade swaying in unison. “Thank you so much, London,” Liang said before walking off stage arm-in-arm with her bassist. “Give it up for my beautiful band! It’s been so nice to be here and I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.”
For those who missed it, here’s Liang’s full setlist from the show:
Kiss My Apocalypse
Out Loud
Thoughtless (unreleased)
Backseat
A Day Off in Margaritaville (unreleased)
(not) a love song
Less than thirty minutes later, it was time for the evening’s headliner to grace the Roundhouse’s stage.
As the lights dimmed and the entirety of the venue seemed to pause in anticipation, a recorded voiceover boomed across the room: “Ladies and gentlemen, as you know we have something special this evening.” Alessia followed shortly after, running across the stage to greet the cheering London crowd.
Starting strong with Dead Man (track three of her most recent album), white spotlights illuminated the curtains as Alessia ran to either side of the stage, rousing the crowd: “London, sing - come on!” Next was Left Alone, a surprisingly mellow choice for the second song of the night, but an excellent chance for Alessia to flaunt her entrancing vocals whilst the light deepened to a dark blue, dappling spotlights now into the crowd.
"London oh my goodness thank you so much for being here,” Alessia said. “It’s been a long time coming! I haven’t been here for a headline show in about 10 years. I did a small show at The Bar Fly in 2015, so its great to see so many of you here. How many have been to an Alessia Cara show before?” she asked as a handful of arms flew into the air. “Who’s new here?” she said, with a sea of cheers and hands waving back at her.
“A few things. There’s no judgement here. If you want to cry, scream, dance or sing that’s more than welcome so I hope we’re going to have a lot of fun tonight. This is the second show of the UK leg so I’m trying to see which crowd is the best. I’m watching you, let’s keep this energy!”
As promised, dynamic tracks like Run Run, Voice In My Head and Rooting For You came next, before Alessia took the time to talk to the crowd in more depth. “If you’ve heard the album - or even if you haven’t - I wrote this album over the course of three years. There was a lot going on in the first chunk of those three years and I was dealing with a lot of heavy emotions and really felt like I was being hit with a big punch of life. I was really coming to this realisation of how quickly things pass and was feeling super nostalgic for the girl that I was as a kid and how much simpler it used to be. I know it’s something that our elders tell us all the time, like ‘hold onto it because it goes by so fast!’ and you feel like you have all the time in the world until you get to a point where you really really feel it.”
“I made a promise to myself going into this tour that I would just try to hold onto the moment as much as possible instead of worrying or being sad about the fact that it’ll be over,” Alessia continued. “The reason I’m saying this is because so many of us have so much going on in our heads and you might have come in here with all the stresses of life, but I hope that for this hour and a little bit that we have together we can just leave everything at the door, enjoy each other’s company and be here together. It’s really special, and we could be be anywhere but we’re here in this exact room at this exact time, so let’s try to be present with one another.”
As the opening chords to Subside played, it was clear to see that this track was an underrated gem of the album, with Alessia’s stunning live vocals bringing another layer of rawness and vulnerability to this rendition. Continuing with that energy, Drive came next, a mournful yet euphoric song that saw the crowd all waving their hands to the chorus.
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Next was Get To You, our absolute favourite song from Love & Hyperbole. With Alessia brandishing a new black and white electric guitar, she and the band gave it their all for the full three minutes of the song.
Then, Alessia asked, “Do we have any In the Meantime fans here?” to which most of the crowd cheered. “I don’t mean to bring the mood down but I have a kind of sad story to tell about this next song. I wrote it on new years about six years ago when I was hosting a party. It was supposed to be fun, but all I did that night was lock myself in the bathroom and cry. I think I just had this cloud over me for so long and I felt super reflective about it.
I kept thinking about how I didn’t see any good days ahead for me and I couldnt find a way out of that sadness I was settled in. Six years later now, I’ve done a tonne of work on myself and I’ve taken a million steps back and forward but I’ve found so much beauty in my life that I never thought I’d feel. You might be in this room right now thinking that way, but I promise it gets better.
It’s not always about finding the answers, and you dont have to feel a super amount of joy to feel proud of yourself but it will be okay. I hope you’re feeling all the love here tonight, London, and you know what to do - sing along.”
Ushering in a beautiful remix of Best Days and Out of Love, the room quickly filled with light as fans on both the floor and balcony swayed their phone torchlights to the beat.
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“Alright, we’re getting nice and warmed up now,” Alessia said. “I have another question for you, London. How many new OG fans do we have in the house? [The crowd cheered] Great, this next part of the show is for you guys.”
A sea of phones then rose into the air for Alessia’s performances of Stay and Wild Things as fans sang their hearts out back at Alessia. Calling it a test to see who knew the lyrics, fans in the centre of the crowd and outskirts of the room were dancing in equal measure.
"Now is the part of the show where I like to do a different song each night,” Alessia said. “I like to have every city get something different and exclusive. Do we have any Pains of Growing fans? You might know this song. It’s one of my favourites I’ve ever written. Its called A Little More." A lovely throwback to her earlier music, fans at the barrier knew every word, raising their phone flashlights into the air. “That was so fun! I haven’t played that song in a really long time," Alessia said.
After following up with the track Somebody Else from her 2021 album In the Meantime, Alessia took a photo with the crowd and took the chance to introduce her next song. “Alright, this next song is also one of my favourites that I’ve made. It really encapsulates the love in my latest album’s title. It’s about falling in love super deeply. I love singing it, I love feeling this way and I wish it on everyone in this room if you don’t have it already,” she said as she opening notes of Fire began.
Alessia then had the crowd clapping along to Isn’t It (Obvious) and snapping their fingers to Slow Motion, effortlessly riffing through both choruses and never staying stationary on the stage. The passion she has for her work was clear to see, and during Growing Pains - her iconic 2018 single - you could hear Alessia’s smile whilst she was singing.
"Are you ready to dance London?" Alessia asked before playing Apartment Song, bringing the energy to a healthy equilibrium before the final few songs. Next was You Let Me Down, which saw the black and white electric guitar return as Alessia jumped in unison with the carefree crowd. With Nighttime Thing, the crowd somehow gained even more energy, with Alessia singing the lyric change, “I think I like you London” back at them.
Taking a brief intermission from the adrenaline-fuelled dancing, Alessia was handed her acoustic guitar. "Make some noise if you’re mad at somebody right now!” Alessia said, met with cheers from around the room. “I‘ve been there before, and a lot of this album was made when I was mad at a lot of different people actually, one of them being myself. When it came time to finish this album, I went to a place where I saw someone I was really mad at and thought I’d feel all of this rage, but was like oh, I forgive you and I understand that everything that happened needed to happen.
More than anything, the album is about understanding how we need contrast in our life, and how all that pain and anger is so necessary to show us who we are and what we want and don’t want out of life. I forgave myself too and was like, I get it, and see things a lot more clearly now. I want everyone here to leave a little lighter than they came in, so when you hear this song, remember that it feels good to forgive and to let go. I hope you can let a little piece of what you’re carrying go before we leave tonight."
After a beautiful performance of Clearly, Alessia had reached the penultimate track of the night. “Before we sing this next song, I just want to take the time to say thank you to every single one of you in this room. It’s been so long since I toured, and I never expected to still be doing this after 10 years. Thank you to Max Townsley on guitar, Phil Cornish on Keys, Adrian Cassarelli on the drums and Sterling Turmine on the bass - and to the crew in this lovely venue for putting this show together. This is one of the songs that changed my life, lets do it together!” Alessia said as the opening notes of Scars to Your Beautiful played.
Dancing harder and singing louder than ever before, the crowd gave it their all for the chorus, shouting the iconic lyrics “No better you than the you that you are” right back to Alessia, who smiled back at fans, embracing all the love in the room.
After rushing off stage with her band as the lights fell black, many at the front of the crowd began the age-old chant for Alessia to do: “One more song!” Not one to disappoint a room full of fans, she soon reappeared for the final song of the night, Here. "London, UK was the first place to ever play this song in the world! It’s our last song so make this one count," she shouted as the crowd danced it out one last time.
An energetic conclusion to a night that was a truly stunning mix of old hits, acoustic deeper cuts and the most dance-worthy tracks from her latest album, it’s safe to say that Alessia was welcomed with warm arms by the London crowd, and we hope that she’ll return to the UK soon!
For those who missed it, here’s Alessia’s full setlist from the night:
Dead Man
Left Alone
Run Run
Voice in my Head
Ready / Rooting for You
Subside
Get to You
Best Days / Out of Love
Stay / Wild Things (acoustic)
A Little More
Somebody Else
Fire
(Isn’t It) Obvious
Slow Motion
Sweet Dream
Growing Pains
Apartment Song
You Let Me Down
Nighttime Thing
Clearly
Scars to Your Beautiful
Encore:
23. Here
The Love & Hyperbole Tour is set to continue across North and South America, the full details of which can be found on Alessia’s website.
And equally as exciting, Liang is soon to head out on a headline UK tour with dates in Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and London - tickets to all of which are available here.
For those who’ve found their new favourite artist in Liang Lawrence, make sure to follow her on Instagram and stream the rest of her music on Spotify:
