Live Act of the Year 2021 - Self Esteem
Live Act of the Year
2021
Self Esteem
The live act of the year for 2021 could have only ever been one act. This year Self Esteem has not just wowed with her sensational album ‘Prioritise Pleasure’ but when bringing the record alive on the stage, she’s reimagined what a Pop performance can be, refusing to be limited or constrained in her vision.
Speaking to us in the latest issue of Presents Magazine, Rebecca Lucy Taylor who goes by the pop moniker Self Esteem told us that she wanted her winter tour to be the final opportunity to see her in such intimate venues, as well as describing the performances, as ‘bringing the super bowl half time show to the Bristol Fleece’.
Two of our writers witnessed her UK winter tour for themselves and can wholeheartedly confirm both of those statements to be true.
Heaven, London - By Madeleine Battersby
A bold, powerful and hedonistic roar of a show from Self-Esteem, AKA Rebecca Lucy Taylor, that balances raw lyricism with wild pop leaving a London audience howling back for more.
There is palpable tension in the air outside the Arches beneath Charing Cross station on a cold November night. The sound of the underground rattles around. It’s not quite a full moon tonight, but it might as well be, for all the howling.
Self-Esteem, the empowered stage name for Rebecca Lucy Taylor and her band, is playing at Heaven tonight. Taylor, indie-folk turned rapturous maximalist pop artist has shaken off the shackles following a decade in indie duo Slow Club. It’s her first tour since the release of the award-winning critically acclaimed Prioritise Pleasure in a year that has seen her win BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year 2021 and the Attitude Music Award 2021. Prioritise Pleasure, which follows her debut Compliments Please, is perfectly timed. Like the clamorous gig-goers emerging after over a year of living through a global pandemic, Taylor is emerging from the shadows.
The crowd is loud and baying. They’ve been warmed up by Femme Collective DJ, Kelli Jaine Blancett and Talia A Darling DJ. The room is packed. Taylor and her band - two backing singers, a keys-and-guitar player and trumpeter, and a drummer, arrive on stage to an electric crowd and the night kicks off with I’m Fine, which features a spoken sample of a woman sharing tips for deflecting male attention by barking at them. There is a sensational rising feeling as Taylor and her leopard-print clad backing singers turn away to look up at the screen behind them, which reads ‘But there is nothing that terrifies a man more than a woman who appears completely deranged’.
The band howls, the crowds bark back. Arms are flailing, drinks are flying. The drumkit - and Taylor was a drummer before she was a singer - is inscribed with the words ‘Keep lyrics uncomfortable’ and that’s exactly what she does. She is poised as she delivers Prioritise Pleasure’s lyrics ‘I shrunk, moved and changed, and still, you felt the same’ which ripples through the room as a call to arms to anyone who has ever felt small or moved or changed. With the curl of a bicep, she dives into a gospel-infused chorus ‘no need to wait for bended knee - I’m free’ and the set progresses under Taylor’s mystical skill of balancing lyrical poetry with thunderous beats.
The crowd chants along to punchy numbers like Moody which oscillate in tempo. Now the screen behind Taylor is filled with multiple selfies of her pulling various facial expressions. The painful familiarity of this, after eighteen months of Teams meetings and Zoom quizzes, creates a sense of togetherness. She skillfully varies the pace between bigger pop beats and slower numbers like The 345 which she dedicates to all her ‘fucking besties’. She sings out, ‘put it all on my back, I’ll carry it’ and there’s a real sense that tonight, in many ways, in baring the darker, rawer sides of her soul, she is doing just that for the crowds. She’s on guitar for a striking performance of Just Kids, with its pointed lyrics ‘And then it just went cold, always felt like a closing door, nothing ever really flowed, constant square peg round hole’ which pull a punch, delivered as they are with the holistic richness and depths of her vocals. It’s in the baring of this vulnerability delivered through the unpredictability of her melodies that she shows us her true strength.
Raw 90s realness is served through choreography, nostalgic of 90s girl-band energy, which is only enhanced by Taylor’s pink kitsch thigh-split dress with matching elbow-length gloves. Taylor is hilarious. She introduces her band jokingly as ‘people I’m very inappropriate with’ and says that in her band, ‘everyone is very fit’. She quips, ‘this is my last song’ to a round of boos from the crowd, before following with a side glance as she smirks, ‘absolutely, 100% definitely that’ in an ironic nod to the inevitable encore. Her humour unlocks more serious moments, such as when she thanks the crowd for being just as depressed as her ahead of I Do This All The Time, the part spoken word confessional, part rousing ballad with lyrics that take no prisoners - ‘be very careful out there, stop trying to have so many friends, don’t be embarrassed by all the babies they have, don’t be embarrassed that all you’ve had is fun - Prioritise pleasure’. And tonight, we really did.
Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff - By Philip Giouras
Self Esteem brings her Super Bowl styled half time show to Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach for one of the most joyous live shows we’ve ever experienced
Over the course of an exhilarating 75 minutes, Taylor, backed by an incredible troupe of performers (including hometown hero Marged who receives frequent bouts of crowd cheers and hysteria throughout the night) transformed her critically acclaimed new album ‘Prioritise Pleasure’ into an unforgettable live spectacle. That’s before you’ve even thrown into the mix a rapturous Welsh crowd. It’s no wonder Taylor is the most acclaimed act of the year.
Thunderous drums shake the intimate surroundings of Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach as she launches into ‘I’m Fine’. Almost immediately there’s a sense the audience is wrapped in a warm embrace from Taylor. It’s a rare feeling at a live show, but tonight, it truly feels like a shared experience. Howls emit from the audience, loud and proud in solidarity with the powerful closing moments of the track.
There are raucous cheers as Taylor and co. perform sleek and fully choreographed dance routines to the likes of ‘Prioritise Pleasure’, which features frequent crowd squeals and iconic lyrics shouted back at the stage with vigour. ‘Moody’ meanwhile sees a permanent wide grin etched across Taylor’s face, rightfully enjoying every moment of the evening.
Whilst tonight is a showcase of the remarkable ‘Prioritise Pleasure’, Self Esteem’s outstanding debut album ‘Compliments Please’ also gets its dues with emphatic performances of ‘Rollout’, ‘In Time’ and set closer ‘The Best’ sprinkled across the euphoric setlist. Taylor strips back a selection of tracks from her latest album such as ‘The 345’ and ‘Just Kids’. There’s also a unique rendition of ‘John Elton’, performed acoustically with Taylor’s mic switched off. You could hear a pin drop, with the audience captivated and enthralled by Taylor’s every word.
In an evening that was full of straight back to back highlights, it feels unjust to pick a standout moment, however, a monumental rendition of ‘I Do This All The Time’ with a hearty Welsh crowd in full voice will stay with me for many years to come. The chorus roared in unison, friends’ arms interlocked in the air, tears were spotted streaming down cheeks.
With a show full of euphoric joy and contemplative pop, seeing Self Esteem perform live isn’t just an ordinary gig… it’s a finely crafted experience. The setlist is perfectly ordered, with each song amplified by the emphatic crowd, there’s a real feeling of camaraderie which is down to the energy exuded by Taylor and her exemplary ensemble.
It’s rare to go to a show and feel truly a part of the performance. But when you go to a Self Esteem gig, you’re not merely witnessing a superstar, you’re being pulled into her orbit, as she forms a supernova of an evening. The memories and feelings experienced at Clwb Ifor Bach will stay with me for a long time.
Is it excessive to say you’ll leave the venue a different person? I think not because when Self Esteem returns to the stage in 2022, it’ll literally change your life and that’s why we’re crowning her our Live Act of the Year.
You can witness Self Esteem live for yourself on her 2022 UK Tour next Spring. Find ticket details and dates on her website here.
Tour Setlist:
I'm Fine
Prioritise Pleasure
Girl Crush
Fucking Wizardry
Still Reigning
Moody
You Forever
Rollout
How Can I Help You?
The 345
In Time
Just Kids
I Do This All The Time
Encore:
John Elton
The Best
Self Esteem is the cover star for the latest issue of our print magazine Presents.
Pick up a copy here to read our chat with the pop superstar on how she made the album of the year ‘Prioritise Pleasure’.