There are no words for how much I enjoyed The Alesha Show last night at the Manchester Apollo, but I'll try anyway!
Alesha Dixon looked fantastic in a series of sparkly outfits, some with slinky long black gloves, one an elegant long dress and another with a pink feathery creation on the back. Alesha has killer legs and she had them out all through the show. The dancing was amazing - occasionally she would let the music or her backing singers entertain our ears as she worked on our eyes with some fantastic dance routines.
The set list ran as follows:
1. 'Welcome to the Alesha Show' - One of my favourites on the album, and it's only an intro! Which says nothing about the quality of the rest of the album I might add. Alesha appeared on stage as in at a stage revue, the pink curtains were pulled back to reveal her sat aloft a trapeze (though sadly there were no Pink-style acrobatics).2. 'Fired Up' - An interesting first song proper, since it's from her unreleased first album.
3. 'Let's Get Excited' - I certainly did.
4. 'Cinderella Shoe' - Who knows what this song's about, but it's brilliant.
5. 'Chasing Ghosts' - A slower song from The Alesha Show, just amazing really.
6. 'Breathe Slow' - After a costume change into a more conservative looking dress (with a massive slit up it to show off her legs of course) Alesha performed one of her best ballads. No, her BEST ballad. As when I saw her at Leeds' Party in the Park, a lot of the singing was done by the audience. I was afraid at one point it was going to become the hideous dance remix of the song that accompanies the video, but thankfully not.
7. 'Can I Begin' - A lovely number that Alesha explains is about her desire to find new love. Aww.
8. 'Don't Ever Let Me Go'
9. Mis-teeq Medley ('All I Want', 'Can't Get It Back', 'One Night Stand', 'B With Me', 'Why?', Scandalous') - Before the show we were wondering if Alesha would do a Mis-teeq song or two, and tried to think of some. We could only remember (so so so) Scandalous but once Alesha began the medley the 'hits' came flooding back. Mis-teeq reminds me of nights out in Skipton in the summers between university semesters. This section of the evening was much more fantastic than you'd expect, and Scandalous is such a great song. At one point Alesha talked to the crowd and thanked us for our support, and she said that she understands that some people might night have liked Mis-teeq because they were a bit *insert Alesha street-style rap here*!
10. 'Hand It Over' - After the massively up-tempo Mis-teeq Medley things slowed down a bit with this one. I can't even remember it from the album, never mind the show!
11. 'Play Me' - Before my favourite Alesha track EVER, we were treated to a musical interlude of N.E.R.D.'s 'She Wants To Move' and Alesha showed off the moves that made that video so memorable. And then 'Play Me' - if she'd not done this one I think I would've asked for my money back! Well, not quite. I really loosened up and danced to this... but I seemed to be the only one! Maybe because it wasn't a single, but for some reason the crowd wasn't feeling 'Play Me'. Weird. I LOVED IT.
12. 'Lipstick' - The big(?) single from Fired Up, Alesha's unreleased first album (that they were selling in the foyer on memory sticks, an excellent idea, though I already have my imported copy from Japan - good old eBay), I forget how good this one is.
13. 'Knockdown' - The third song from Fired Up (against 10 from The Alesha Show, the new single and the Mis-teeq Medley) is ok, live Alesha turned it into an excuse to get members of the audience onstage to perform a bit of a dance routine. She's so lovely when she's talking to the crowd - not in a cloying way, but in a way that you can tell she genuinely loves what she does, and loves making people happy through the music.
14. 'To Love Again' - The new, Gary Barlow co-written single. This was the first time I've heard this all the way through and I've got to say that I'm not that convinced by it. Alesha's best when she's uptempo, however she's got a beautiful voice for ballads too, as proved by 'Breathe Slow' particularly, but this one's not very exciting. After this song Alesha said her good byes, but of course she had one last song...
15. 'The Boy Does Nothing' - Preceding the song was an opportunity for Alesha to show off what a superb dancer she is - her sense of humour really comes through on many of the routines too. The music sounded a bit 'Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend' until it built up into the fantastic 'The Boy Does Nothing'. An excellent (obvious!) song to end The Alesha Show.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Alesha Show, and I look forward to seeing Alesha Dixon live again soon!
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