Liz Phair at Islington Assembly Hall

Liz Phair

Annabel Allum

Islington Assembly Hall, 4 June 2019

I was such a music snob back in my youth and missed out on so many great bands because I foolishly sneered at them. But there were definitely a few albums that transcended any kind of snobbery: Nevermind was certainly one and Liz Phair's Exile In Guyville was without a doubt another. It was just a record that pretty much every fan of alternative music owned and agreed upon: it was, and still is, cool stuff.

That said, Phair's overt sexuality and "fuck you" attitude probably scared me off a little as a shy teen, which may be why I never tried to see her live back then but her song Glory nevertheless made it on so many of my carefully assembled compilation tapes (that is certainly a true lost skill and, no, playlists aren't the same thing). Phair hasn't been to these shores in years, so I never got the chance to rectify that mistake. Until now that is and, lucky me, she is back playing the fairly intimate Islington Assembly Hall, definitely among my favourite venues in London right now.

Over in the States, US audiences were far luckier though just because the fantastic Speedy Ortiz were supporting Phair on this tour, which is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Evile In Guyville, rather than a new album. Here in the UK we get an artist I hadn't heard of before: Annabel Allum.

I definitely liked the look of Allum though when she and her band, all dressed in boiler suits, arrived on stage. With her short hair and glasses, she looked more like she should be working in a zoo or garage than rocking out on stage. And rock she certainly did. I had never heard her music before so I can't tell you what she played but she was entertaining to watch on guitar and the music upbeat and nicely fuzzed up. After I heard some old dude complain that the opening act was terrible but I rather enjoyed her punky singer-songwriter fare.

There was no mistaking who was about to perform with huge pink and sparkling letters spelling "LIZ PHAIR" adorning the top of the stage (I like to imagine some confused fellow walking in saying "Just who is playing tonight? Ahhh!") and when she walked on looking - yes, I'm sorry I have to comment on her looks - amazing and at least a decade younger than she is, it really did take me back to when she was the poster girl for alternative rock.

Launching straight into her 1994 hit, Supernova, she started as she meant to go on, playing all our favourites. There was Never Said, Johnny Feelgood, Cinco De Mayo and 6'1" before Phair decided to abandon the set list altogether and just follow the enthusiastic vibes from the audience. "What if we just went fucking wild and start playing Led Zeppelin?" she grinned, abandoned her black jumper as if priming herself to truly rock out (with her blonde hair and black vest she actually reminded me quite a bit of Sheryl Crow).

There was a new song called God Loves Baseball, paying tribute to her beloved Cubs, but it was the old tunes that really hit the mark for me, in particular the still ever-so-catchy Polyester Bride, the feminist anthem Extraordinary, the poppy and romantic Why Can't I? and the starky brilliant and edgy Fuck And Run, still a little shocking all these years on.

Phair looked like she was having a ball, grinning the entire time and seemed surprised at what a good response she was getting from the crowd, admitting it had been far too long since she was last here and promising it wouldn't be as long before she returned. I do admit I was a little disappointed that her band was entirely male, but she did look pretty cool leading them: as sexy and confident as ever, it was a joy to finally see her live and she certainly lived up to expectations.

I don't know if she planned to play an encore, sometimes it's obvious, but this time it did seem a little more spontaneous, and she ended the show on one of her very first tunes, Divorce Song, from Guyville but also the infamous Girly Sound tapes that made the rounds before Phair got her first record contract, which was definitely a great way to end things: back at the very beginning. 

In some ways this was the perfect way to see Phair live for the first time, playing all the best bits from her six-album back catalogue, with a definite leaning to the seminal Exile In Guyville. She proved she was still as brilliant as ever and the songs really did deserve to rise above that indie snobbery, just as they did in the 90s. Long live Liz!