Demi Lovato brings spunky pop and self-help to London
By Nick Levine
Demi Lovato played a special one-off show in London yesterday evening (June 1), delighting fans with her special mix of self-help advice and spunky pop-rock bangers.
Bravely, the 21-year-old opened her set with her biggest UK hit to date, last year’s summer smash Heart Attack, and it seemed as if her voice hadn’t fully warmed up – indeed, Lovato admitted later in her set that her vocal cords were still tired from a 2am set at London’s G-A-Y club night in the early hours of the morning.
Her usual lung power soon returned, though, as she belted out tracks from her most recent album, Demi, including the shoulda-been-smash Made in the USA and fuck-you romp of Really Don’t Care, as well as older fan favourites such as Here We Go Again and Remember December. Backed by a well-drilled band but no dancers, graphics or arena-pop gimmicks, it was Lovato’s voice and personality that had to sell the set, and they were more than up to job.
At home in the US, Lovato is a big deal – a former Disney star and X Factor panellist who has spoken candidly about her battles with bulimia, substance abuse and self-harm. Here, she’s more of a cult proposition, but the packed crowd at London’s 1,400-capacity Koko venue seemed to know every word to her songs – and listened intently when she dished out some of her trademark self-empowerment wisdom midway through the set.
From a less likeable popstar, being told that you should “choose happiness – because you deserve it” might have come across as trite, but Lovato has the natural gravitas of someone who already seems like a survivor at the age of a 21, and enough of a sense of humour to stop herself from getting too preachy.
She sang Let It Go from Disney’s Frozen at a slightly strange point in her set, two-thirds through – perhaps an implicit acknowledgement that it’s Idina Menzel’s original version of the song, rather than her own “pop cover”, that is destined to become a classic.
Lovato still sang the song proudly though, and rounded off her main set with a well-received version of her current single, the Calvin Harris-aping club banger Neon Lights. She then returned to the stage for an encore featuring two of her biggest hits, Skyscraper – which X Factor champion Sam Bailey only ever borrowed, never really owned – and Give Your Heart a Break.
It was an impressive performance from a popstar who deserves to be bigger over here; glossy and girlish, yet tough and gutsy, she’s not really like anyone else in the charts at the moment, and on tonight’s evidence, a lot of people find her pretty inspiring.
Demi Lovato’s setlist in full:
Heart Attack
Remember December
Fire Starter
The Middle
Really Don’t Care
Catch Me
Here We Go Again
Made In The USA
Nightingale
Two Pieces
Warrior
Let It Go
Don’t Forget
Medley – Get Back, This is Me, La La Land, Here We Go Again
Got Dynamite
Unbroken
Neon Lights
Encore:
Skyscraper
Give Your Heart A Break