Music
Review
What we learned watching Sigrid live
She'll join Ellie Goulding in London next month, and George Ezra next year.
Having won the BBC Sound Of 2018 in January this year, Sigrid’s rise to stardom has been meteoric – and she hasn’t even released her debut album yet. Her first Top Ten UK single Strangers has over 60 million plays on Spotify and more than 40 million YouTube views. She’s played festivals across Europe this summer, and now she’s just coming off the back of her UK headline tour before going on to support George Ezra in the spring of 2019.
We went to her biggest headline show so far at the O2 Academy in Brixton to see what the hype is about.
She’s got so many great songs
Even at this early stage in her (hopefully very long) career, Sigrid has already released a pretty wide range of songs with unbelievably catchy hooks. The early run that comes at the start of the set is testament to this: in a very hit-heavy sequence she plays Schedules, Plot Twist, Raw, and High Five… one after the other.
The stage seems like her second home
The 22-year-old seems mature beyond her years, and she seems as if she’s been performing in venues such as this one for her whole live. At no point does she act nervous or appear anything less than entirely at home. There is no need for the audience to warm up to her because she’s instantly likeable and really seems to be having the time of her life.
She sounds exactly like she does on record
Despite the fact that her songs are actually quite hard to sing, Sigrid performs them flawlessly. Not in a way that makes you wish there was something happening to distinguish her live shows from her album, but in a way that makes you realise just how incredibly talented she is. She’s note perfect and her voice transforms wonderfully from the slower songs (such as the stunning acoustic Dynamite) to the immediately punchy (…sorry) opener Sucker Punch.
She’s got some great dance moves
Rarely standing still, Sigrid’s dance moves are infectious. It’s incredibly hard to watch her show and not dance along with her – even for the dads in the audience. It’s also very impressive that she keeps this up for pretty much the whole set (bar a few of the slower songs) without seemingly breaking a sweat or losing her breath.
It’s just fun
She’s fairly unusual in that her set and her outfits are always very scaled back and low-key. However, this doesn’t mean she’s not a whole lot of fun. From the outset, everyone – including Sigrid – is just having a fantastic time. There’s no glitter or confetti, just a performer singing the brilliant songs she’s written and giving everybody there exactly what they came for.
Having completed her headline run, Sigrid is now set to return to the live stage joining Ellie Goulding and friends at London’s SSE Arena Wembley for a show in aid of Streets Of London.
She then joins George Ezra on the road for his 2019 run, including two nights at London’s O2.
20 December 2018 – SSE Arena Wembley, London*
7 March 2019 – Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle**
8 March 2019 – First Direct Arena, Leeds**
9 March 2019 – Echo Arena, Liverpool**
11 March 2019 – Brighton Centre**
12 March 2019 – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham**
13 March 2019 – Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff**
15 March 2019 – The SSE Hydro, Glasgow**
16 March 2019 – Manchester Arena**
17 March 2019 – Genting Arena, Birmingham**
19 & 20 March 2019 – The O2, London**
22 March 2019 – FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield**
23 March 2019 – Manchester Arena**
*w/ Ellie Goulding and special guests
**w/ George Ezra
Grab remaining tickets to Sigrid’s forthcoming live shows, and keep an eye on headline announcements, at Ticketmaster.co.uk.
