Lily Allen – Sparkly Swagger at The Paramount (Photos)

Lily Allen performs at the Paramount Theatre. Photo by John Lill

Lily Allen doesn’t have much of an internal filter. At a show, she’ll mention the scatological issues she had while at her last Seattle appearance, or maybe throw in some information about her post-natal sexual relations with her husband. It should come as no shock that she’s also fairly potty-mouthed. But thankfully, she’s also charming and hilarious.

Amidst a stage full of giant white baby bottles that served as the colorful light show, Allen brought her sparkly swagger to The Paramount Saturday night to an adoring crowd. Much has been made about her previous “retirement” from music after her second album a few years ago, so she could focus on her family. Her return made quite a statement, announcing to the world that she wanted to be Sheezus.

Her lyrics and persona are full of jibes and clever turns of phrase about the world of fame and pop culture. What better way to continue that theme than to challenge Kanye West? Yeezus, meet Sheezus. “Lace up my gloves, I’m going in / Don’t let my kids watch me when I get in the ring.” Later on, her brilliant song “The Fear” from 2009’s It’s Not Me, It’s You, continued the string of modern fame. “And I’ll take my clothes off and it will be shameless / ‘Cause everyone knows that’s how you get famous.”

The title song kicked off the show, as Allen strolled around the stage in a glam, red-carpet-ready outfit (knowing her penchant for fashion, it was probably created by some fancy designer). She shed and changed clothes throughout the night, stripping down to a black leather bra and a pink skirt  . . . which she then swapped for a sparkly skirt, as she was concerned that we could see her nether regions. Back-up dancers appeared on a handful of songs, turning “It’s Not Fair” into a hip-hop hoedown; and donning dog’s head masks for the show closer “Hard Out Here” (because as the lyrics go, it’s hard out here for a bitch, so  . . . dogs. Har har, Ms. Allen!).

Crowd sing-alongs abounded, from her debut album favorites “LDN” and “Smile,” to the Presidential Kiss-Off “F*** You.” And, it was quite a thing to see so many people gleefully singing “fuck you” and waving their middle fingers in the air to such a jaunty tune.

But the show wasn’t all cheeky sing-along songs, as she scattered several gentle, more melancholy songs throughout the set, including a cover of “The Worst” by R&B singer Jhene Aiko.

Here’s hoping that Allen, with her cheeky style,  doesn’t decide to retire again anytime soon.

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