Anne-Marie at Koko, London, gig review: Fun and attitude to spare

Anne Marie in concert at Koko, London (Rex)

Anne-Marie has been enjoying a third week at number one with “Rockabye”, her collaboration with Clean Bandit and Sean Paul, so it’s no surprise that she’s in good spirits for her sold-out show at Koko in Camden.

“Rockabye” is classic Clean Bandit – drawing on summery Carribbean influences, it’s an infectious banger that affirms the band’s uncanny ability to spot upcoming solo talent (see Jess Glynne, Rae Morris) – and live it’s just as delightful.

With attitude to spare, she jokes around with her two backing singers (her best friend and her sister), ahead of the tongue-in-cheek “Boy”, which Anne-Marie says is about someone she fancied who turned out to be gay: it's fun, self-mocking and catchy as hell, recalling the wit and fun of Kate Nash or Lily Allen.

She prompts the same hilarity as Adele as she switches from singing to speaking voice – endearingly open and with a down-to-earth nature that is refreshing for someone who could turn out to be a bona fide pop star.

Fans shriek at the announcement of every song – they seem to know most of the words already. On her touching new track “Peak”, she questions how a relationship broke down: you can hear her projecting all that emotion into her voice, an impressive feat to pull off.

Closing on her other hit “Alarm”, Anne-Marie asserts her strongest vocal performance and reaches the peak of her confidence – she’s a woman on the cusp of something big. Let’s see what she does in 2017.