Alex Pullin went and saw Lallen perform the other week, and this is what she saw, heard and thunk:

Lily Allen recently held a London Underground-themed MySpace Secret Show in “fashionable” Notting Hill. The evening was free to a limited number of her MySpace friends, with the venue was only announced on the day.

Fans, press, Chemical Brother ex-boyfriend Ed Simmons and hipster jester Nick Grimshaw donned outfits that represented tube stops in order to gain entry and see Lily perform hits from It’s Not Me, It’s You and first album Alright Still.

Attendees really went to town on their costumery. Notable creations included a man with rice all over his mouth (Ruislip - “rice lip”, get it?), several French maids with lace on their heads (Maida Vale) and one man who had created a giant phallus out of cans of Australian lager (Cockfosters - LOLZ). Before you ask, I wimped out and went as Bond Street (usual bond girl attire).

Like the popstar she is, Lily took to the stage a good hour later than billed - but at least she was togged up as Queen Victoria (VICTORIA - get it do you?), complete with grey wig, tiara and corset (”Never f*cking sing in a corset” she advised later). Opening with drugzrbad reminder “Everyone’s At It”, complete with a guitar solo reminiscent of Guns N’ Roses, it was clear that she intended this evening to be every bit as raucous as her costumed fans expected.

MySpace Secret Show with Lily Allen

A softer side of Lily was shown in the ballad “I Could Say”, but the ‘rude girl’ persona soon returned and continued through the music hall sing-song vibe of “Never Gonna Happen” from the new album.

If the newer songs were proving a little unfamiliar for some of the fans, her belting rendition of the Kaiser Chiefs’ “Oh My God” had them all singing along again. Lily also chose this moment to remove her wig and tiara to pantomime-esque wolf-whistling from the crowd. All of which was greeted with friendly abuse from Lily.

“Oh Jesus Christ almighty / Do I feel alright? No not slightly,” signalled the arrival of “Everything’s Just Wonderful” from her first album, with the ever-classy Ms. Allen bolstering herself by downing a glass of white wine.

Over her next track, “Him”, the audience was subjected to some rather deafening feedback, which seemed to throw Lily somewhat. But she was back on form for “Who’d Have Known”, a cutesy love song about moving in together, and by the time she launched into “LDN” the music hall vibe had returned, with Lily encouraging the crowd to sing along before demanding they dance to house-y number “Back to the Start”.

The pace suddenly slowed and came over all Jools Holland for the acoustic “He Wasn’t There”. Lily completed the jazz vibe with more wine and (shock horror) a lit cigarette on stage. While the crowd didn’t seem that bothered the gossip journalists certainly seemed to perk up.

“The Littlest Things” was sung extremely sweetly with fag still in hand, and was dedicated to her guitarist Morgan, towards whom Lily spend most of the evening crooning. The infectious “Chinese” followed although the crowd were starting to shift a little, clearly wanting a return to her more upbeat cockernee stories. They still had to wait through another long piano solo in “22″, however.

But with her current single, the cute country curse-fest “Not Fair”, the entire audience were soon clapping in time and whooping more than a gaggle of middle aged women line-dancing in a pub back room.

Finally, “for the haters”, Lily launched into “Fuck You”. The music hall factor went through the roof but the audience loved it and enthusiastically flipped ‘the bird’ throughout the chorus. Doubtless this was the highlight of the evening (”OMG swearing ROFLOLMAO” etc), although after 15 minutes even the most enthusiastic fans began to flag a little.

Buy Lily Allen’s album It’s Not Me, It’s You at Amazon, iTunes, 7Digital, etc

Possibly related:

1. Lily Allen gets her own TV show

2. Soulwax announced as the latest MySpace Secret Show

3. Enter Shikari to play MySpace Secret Show at Camden Crawl

4. Lily Allen posts demos up online

5. Festivals round up: Lily Allen, Foo Fighters and flying men

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Posted by Stuart Waterman on Wednesday June 3rd, 2009 at 9:00 am