Girli pulled out all the stops for the last night of the Matriarchy Tour
London’s iconic LGBTQ+ venue, Heaven, was full of pink and queer joy, while fans eagerly awaited Girli’s performance. But first up was Dirt Flirt! Having seen her perform in a much smaller venue before, she was made to play bigger venues! She brought so much energy to the stage while the crowd bopped along. Her set consisted of mainly unreleased songs including ‘Don’t Go’, ‘Dramatic’, ‘Bodycount’, ‘Like Madonna’ and ‘Boyfriend’ which involved lots of crowd participation.
I can’t wait for these to be released. She was accompanied by Willow Beggs on the bass. Dirt Flirt announced an upcoming release before ending her set with her only current release, Diesel Skirt. I’m looking forward to following Dirt Flirt’s journey as I’m sure she will go far.
Next to take the stage was tiLLie. I’ve been wanting to see tiLLie for ages and was so excited when it was announced that she was supporting on the UK/EU as well, after supporting Girli in The US earlier this year. Her set started with ‘momS bAsEmeNt’ before leading into ‘jeLLiefish aPocaLypsE’ then ‘flip a switch’. tiLLie then talked about her song kooL aiD mAn and took time to speak up about domestic violence issues before playing unreleased ‘Beth Amphetamine’, an unreleased song from her upcoming EP ‘TiLLieVerse’ which features many characters including the Kool Aid Man, Beth Amphetamine and jellyfish amongst others in an alternate universe that she’s created.
Next on the setlist was ‘The Me U Kno’ and ‘Pray 2 God’. She then played ‘bLeSs uR hEaRt’ after speaking out against sexual assault. She ended her set with ReaLitie biTes’, with the crowd ready for Girli to take to the stage. TiLLie had amazing stage presence and catchy songs and is not one to miss if she’s playing a show near you!
London was the last night of the Matriarchy tour and Girli had many surprises in store for us, that other dates on the tour did not get. Back up dancers entered the stage with an album inspired graphic projected behind them. Girli then entered wearing the coolest outfit and started singing ‘Nothing Hurts Like A Girl’ which was the perfect song to start with. Next was ‘I Don’t Like Myself’ and ‘Crush Me Up’.
The set list was a perfect blend of newer songs of the album and older fan favourites, catering to everyone. The back-up dancers were the perfect addition to the show and really brought the energy, with the high intensity choreography. She was also accompanied by Queen Laya on backing vocals and Sara on drums. Next up were some older songs including ‘Girl I Met On The Internet’, ‘Be With Me’ and ‘Friday Night Big Screen’, before she was joined on stage by Dirt Flirt playing acoustic guitar for stripped back versions of ‘Tokyo’ and ‘Overthinking’ which is one of my favourite songs off the album.
Then it was time for ‘Out of Breath’ and ‘Hot Mess’ with the iconic dance to go with it. The set ended with ‘I Really Fucked It Up’, ‘Feel My Feelings’, ‘Letter to My Ex’. I’ve seen Girli a few times now and each time far exceeds the previous time. The outfit changes, stage decor, lighting, and dancing all made for a fantastic performance while showcasing her incredible vocal range and the wide range of genres she combines flawlessly.
The encore featured ‘More Than a Friend’ and album title track ‘Matriarchy’. Continuing with her activism, she made sure she didn’t leave the stage before calling to “Free Palestine”, exclaiming “We are not free until everyone is free”.
