Lily Allen launches her three-night run at the London Palladium for her Lily Allen: Performs West End Girl tour tonight. The London-born singer kicked off the tour earlier this March in an unconventional way to say the least—the set opened with a string trio reimagining her biggest hits (LDN and Smile to name a few) à la Bridgerton. Reactions were pretty polarising, and we’ve got some of the best ones below, plus what else to expect for this weekend’s shows.
Expectation vs. reality: how Lily Allen’s classical curtain‑raiser has divided fans
Released last October, Allen’s fifth studio album West End Girl was a hit on arrival. The star laid out her marital issues with Stranger Things actor David Harbour in typical Allen fashion—raw, revealing and steeped in cheeky one-liners. Now, the singer’s tour comes with one surprise: she’s performing the album in full, with only the string trio’s classical renditions of her older hits as the opening act.
Fans’ reactions have been split. On Reddit, one fan who attended one of the first shows remarked, “I thoroughly enjoyed the first half singing along with the cello music, it got everyone in the mood and was a lot of fun.” Another concertgoer wasn’t so keen—“This is forty minutes of string quartet karaoke followed by less than an hour of Lily singing to backing tracks.”
Of course, the critics have weighed in too. Rating the debut Glasgow show two stars out of five, The Guardian said that “Songs like Not Fair work fairly well as Bridgerton-style instrumentals, but the maligned 2014 single Hard Out Here doesn’t.” The Independent chimed in too, comparing the prologue to a “singalong pub affair” that’s “messy, awkward and delightful”, giving the show four out of five stars.
Despite the mixed critical reception, the run of theatre shows has sold out across the UK and even led Allen to announce additional 2026 arena dates, including a night at The O2 in London this June.
Lily Allen: Performs West End Girl tour London: what to expect
Expect doors to open at 6:45pm for Lily Allen’s intimate West End Girl show at London Palladium. The venue is located at 8 Argyll Street in Soho, a 1-minute walk from Oxford Circus tube station.
The opening act Dallas Minor Trio is set to take to the stage at approximately 8pm with Lily’s grand entrance expected at around 9pm. Here’s the full setlist from the debut Glasgow show:
Opening (Dallas Minor Trio)
Lily Allen
- West End Girl
- Ruminating
- Sleepwalking
- Tennis
- Madeline
- Relapse
- Pussy Palace
- 4chan Stan
- Nonmonogamummy
- Just Enough
- Dallas Major
- Beg for Me
- Let You W/In
- Fruityloop
