By Rachel Dennehy
After a phenomenal year and the release of her debut solo extended play, Leigh-Anne has made her highly awaited return to Dublin with two sold-out shows at the infamous Dublin Academy Green Room. Welcoming over a thousand dedicated fans across the two nights, Leigh-Anne’s No Hard Feelings Tour was one not to miss. For both fans new and old, a phenomenal night was had as Leigh-Anne set the bar high establishing herself as a future global superstar.
London singer-songwriter Mnelia opened the show with a phenomenal set in which she made a name for herself as she familiarised the crowd with her work and without a doubt some new fans were made that night. Mnelia performed some of her biggest songs including “My Man,” “Star signs” and “White Lies” which had the crowd singing and dancing along as Mnelia presented her glamorous vocal abilities. Mnelia went on to perform a cover of “No Scrubs” which created an ecstatic atmosphere in the venue. Mnelia is certainly one to watch as she establishes herself as the next big thing.
Before the crowd knew it, the stage lit up again, the music started, and Leigh-Anne emerged on stage in all her glory to perform her debut solo single “Don’t Say Love” the crowd erupted into cheers as the audience danced and sung along to the lyrics ensuring to give her a well-deserved round of applause after the first song. Leigh-Anne took a moment to address the crowd as she discusses how good it felt to be back in Dublin as she shares how Dublin was always one of her favourite cities to perform in.
Leigh-Anne dives straight into her next song “Anticipate” featuring incredible choreography from her extremely talented dancers which had the crowd at an utmost high. She proceeded to perform a mashup cover of “Walk on by” mixed with Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red.” She then talks about the pressures of going solo and how delighted she is that so many people have chosen to follow her on this incredible journey and how relieved she is that her fans are enjoying the music she puts out. She discusses that most of the inspiration for this new sound derives from her culture and heritage before she sings her most currently listened to song on Spotify “Nature.” This song certainly stands out as a fan favourite and lightens up her sets as she continues to perform hit after hit as she dives into “Stealin Love” and “Forbidden Fruit” which were well received by her audience standing out as one of the fan favourite performances of the night.
Leigh-Anne briefly left the stage as the spoken word interlude played reflecting on her relationship with her husband. The interlude spoke about the highs and lows of a relationship and talked about the pain she had to go through to get to the stage. She returned to the stage to sing her most sentimental song yet “I’ll Still Be Here” which captured the room in a sense of love and joy. She interrupted the flow of the song to discuss all the hate in the world and highlighted that she wants people to hear this song and think about the people they love and promise to always be there for them.
Leigh-Anne came into the crowd as the crowd sang the lyrics back to her creating an intimate and memorable moment as she got emotional given the reaction of the crowd to this song. As the song ended, she introduced her next cover as she said that she could never do a tour without incorporating an R&B cover which the audience admired as she sang the song poignantly showing off her incredible vocals doing the song more than justice.
Leigh-Anne continued to play with her fans emotions as she introduced the Little Mix medley of the set allowing the fans to reflect on the nostalgia of the group that she spent twelve years in. She joked to the audience to never forget where you come from. The crowd erupted into screams as she performed some of Little Mix’s biggest hits and personal favourites starting with “Think About Us” before diving into “Woman Like Me” and “Confetti” before concluding the medley with their 2021 number one single “Sweet Melody”. The audience was raving at her performance as she and the dancers showed their expertise dancing abilities combined with Leigh-Anne’s vocals.
Before fans realised, Leigh-Anne was at the closing part of her set, yet the energy did not die down as she performed fan favourite “OMG” capturing the immense choreography that makes the song as beloved as it is. Before she left, she thanked everyone and gave a moment of praise to her band and dancers for making this show possible. She left briefly before returning for the encore to perform “My Love” which did not disappoint as she had everyone up on their feet having the time of their lives. She concluded the song with a new choreography routine as she took a bow for the final time.
Without a doubt, the show stands out as one that is complimented for Leigh-Anne’s incredible vocal ability and stage presence, combined with choreography given the limited stage space for a high production show. Whether you are familiar with her work or not, you will leave this show feeling satisfied and may even find yourself becoming a fan of hers by the time the night finishes. Her solo journey is very much in the preliminary stages, and it is exciting to see where she goes from here. Without a doubt, Dublin will be awaiting her return in the near future.
Leigh-Anne Set List:
Intro – Don’t Say Love
Anticipate
Paint the Town Red (Doja Cat Cover)
Nature
Stealin’ Love
Forbidden Fruit
I’ll Still Be Here
Weak (SWV Cover)
Little Mix Medley (Think about Us / Woman Like Me / Confetti / Sweet Melody)
OMG
Encore – My Love