Choosing to finish up her EU/UK leg of ‘The Rebel Child Tour’ at Bournemouth’s O2 Academy on 25th February, 23-year-old, alt-pop musician, Dylan, was feeling a bit ‘Blue’. Not only was she sad to be leaving this half of the tour behind, she was also apologising profusely for not being on top form. After a run of 17 shows in a 4-week period, she’d be forgiven if her voice wasn’t up to it. But there was nothing to forgive; every vocal was perfected, and she still managed to bring her usual rockstar energy.
The crowd’s excitement started early in the show as the intro of ‘Rebel Child’ began vibrating throughout the room. The stage flickered between darkness and light, the band stopping and starting again, teasing us and our eager anticipation. Finally, Dylan appeared from a cloud of smoke, guitar in hand, a rockstar silhouette as she paused briefly, head posed upward. Then came one dramatic hair flick before she embarked upon the first verse.
Looking around, I couldn’t help but notice such a diverse audience. From gender, age and even style, which is rare in this new age of concert going that seems to encourage everyone to stick to some unknown dress code, it was a complete mix. It’s the kind of crowd that lets you know you’ve got a unique artist on your hands, one with true talent that anyone can recognise.
About midway, she tamed it down, allowing us a breather, with a short acoustic section. Even she admits this is an unnatural occurrence for her, far more comfortable head banging and rocking her electric guitars. Nevertheless, bringing out her acoustic guitar, she took an audience request for ‘Home Is Where The Heart Is’, the closing track on her EP, ‘The Greatest Thing I’ll Never Learn’. A request which, I may add, was displayed on an enormous sign, bigger than the artist herself, so she couldn’t really say no. Clearly, she was giving her last show a bit of special treatment here, as she confesses that she’d sworn to never play the track again.
In case she was concerned that not quite everyone was singing at this point, she smoothly transitioned into a cover of Out Of The Woods by Taylor Swift before mixing it with one of her own deep cuts, ‘Sour Milk’. For those only recently adding her to their playlists should consider the latter, a great track that is made more impressive by it being one of her very early releases.
Saving the best till last, she pumped the energy back into the room, playing us hit after hit. From the yearning rock in ‘Someone Else’ to the recent viral hit ‘The Alibi’ to the tongue in cheek, ‘You’re Not Harry Styles’ and finally to the brutally honest ‘No Romeo’, there was never a dull moment in this set.
Despite how Dylan and the audience may have been feeling down with the leg coming to an end, she reminded us with her closing track that ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’. And it certainly doesn’t as on 18th March she’ll be off once again, taking the tour down under to Australia and New Zealand before jetting off to the States.