As part of her ‘Best Behaviour’ tour, Mabel stopped off at the heart of Nottingham’s music scene on February 7.
The venue was jam-packed with a variety of people from different age groups which showed that Mabel is supported by more than just the younger generations. Her opening act, Kali Claire, performed some of her original songs including ‘Heartfelt’ and ‘Fix My Lonely’ along with a cover of Ariana Grande’s ‘One Last Time’. Just before performing the Ariana tribute she said: “This is probably one of my favourite songs at the moment, and I wanted to share my cover of it. Sing along if you know the words”. The messages in her songs focused on being heartbroken and moving on from friendships that weren’t worth progressing forward with and that she was going to put herself first.
From start to finish, Mabel’s set was fantastic. Wearing a tight black crop top with black jeans and acrylic nails to match the outfit, she performed a variety of songs that featured on her debut album including ‘Trouble’ and ‘God is a Dancer’. She also performed songs which she released with other artists including ‘Cigarette’ (with Raye and Stefflon Don), ‘Finders Keepers’ (featuring Kojo Funds) and ‘My Lover’ (featuring Not3s). She began with one of her most recent singles ‘Mad Love’ which debuted at Number 8 in the Official UK Singles Chart.
The show was full of energising colours which complimented her outfit perfectly as she teased that she will be releasing more music in 2020. Another standout moment from the evening was Mabel’s incredible dance moves, which have significantly improved since past performances. This is the great thing about being a performer; the fact you’re always learning and developing more confidence over time that you eventually forget about the people that don’t think you’re good at something.
Towards the end of the show, Mabel exited the stage and the crowd began chanting her name to see if she would return and perform an encore. She returned to the stage, had a little giggle with the fans and then began singing the final song ‘Don’t Call Me Up‘. After two minutes into the song, she stopped singing and broke into a dance interval with the dancers, walking across the stage high fiving and talking to the fans in the front row.
Words: Brandon Boyd