ANNE-MARIE - MANCHESTER, UK.
Anne-Marie at the AO Arena, Manchester, UK (26/11/2023).
with support from Evissimax and Leah Kate!
Images by: Dylan Maggs.
ANNE-MARIE
EVISSIMAX
LEAH KATE
When it comes to artists who refuse to leave the spotlight, Anne-Marie is near the top of that list for representing the UK. With a catalogue full of charting hits that if you claim to have never heard of her music, then the term “living under a rock” definitely applies to you. Whether it’s the iconic radio hit ‘2002’ or the more recent ‘PSYCHO’ from latest album ‘Unhealthy’. In support of the album, Anne-Marie embarked on a tour hitting the UK’s most prestigious arenas, and we caught her at the AO arena in Manchester.
Opening up the show was American singer-songwriter Leah Kate, a performer who made sure to make the stage her own. Briefly touching on how she feels lucky to be on the tour after dm’ing Anne-Marie a few months prior, to then be invited to open up the tour. I won’t lie, Leah Kate is not an artist I was familiar with.. but with a catalogue full of her own hits, there were many fans there to embrace her captivating performance. Tracks such as ‘Hot All The Time’, ‘Bored’ and hit track ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ went down very well with the Manchester crowd.
With a brief DJ set from Evissimax leading into the main act, it was now time for the moment everyone had been waiting for. The stage looked fairly empty with nothing but a stool centre stage. Anne-Marie snuck onto stage donned in a colourful violet outfit covered in teddy bears and ribbons, which perfectly suited the aesthetic of her backdrop to come. Remaining seated for the performance of opening track ‘Alarm’ before picking up the stage presence for ‘SAD B!TCH’, fans screaming every word back.
The transition from empty stage to full display was seamless, with bedroom walls and a multi-story of mattresses appearing centre stage. The backdrop resembled a bedroom in which Anne-Marie perched herself upon the bed continuing her performance of ‘TRAINWRECK’, pointing at a framed portrait on the wall when reciting lyrics of “I’m so happy when I’m without you” (I have no clue who the person is). ‘Cuckoo’ and ‘Birthday’ retained the backdrop antics accompanied by back-up dancers which resembled a party scenario during the latter before covering the crowd in confetti.
Act II of the set saw Anne-Marie switch into a flowy white dress whilst perched upon a foliage enwrapped swing during the performance of hit track ‘2002’, playfully interacting with fans whilst the dancers continued their choreography. The bedroom set being spun around to display the outside of the house. ‘Obsessed’ saw a piano emerge covered in lights accompanied by more choreographed theatrics.
Anne-Marie invited fans to sing along with ‘Rockabye’ to which she stopped in awe as the crowd belted out the lyrics before re-starting the song to continue the original performance. The next act saw another costume change into a black dress as Anne-Marie performed more hit tracks such as ‘FRIENDS’, ‘Don’t Play’ and ending with my personal favourite, ‘PSYCHO’ (which had another costume change).
You May Also Like:
