It's so easy to fall in love with Olivia Dean, as Tim and I both found out some time ago. So when she announced The Art of Loving Live tour, we jumped at the chance to see her, me in Milan and Tim in Paris a few weeks later. Same tour, same setlist, two completely different evenings, so we compared notes, and now we're ready to dive right in!
Laurell in Milan
Olivia Dean is warm, she’s bright, she’s a lovergirl who pours her heart out in each note she sings, she’s effervescent even. What a relief in an era where singer/songwriters often choose to use their words and experiences as vitriol.
Her gorgeous gowns told a story and the crowd reciprocated by dressing up in their finest polka dot fits. Olivia has a beautiful fanbase.
Stunning back-up singers and the most handsome bandmembers too.
We were thoroughly spoilt.
My concert experience expert almost didn’t happen.
That is until Olivia proved that she was for the fans.
When ticket sales initially opened for her concert in Italy I was stuck in an online queue of maybe 30 000 people and I missed the opportunity (or so I thought). I accepted my fate and embraced her fomo-inducing playlist on Spotify. I could have gone anywhere else in Europe as my wise colleague Tim did, but I wanted to experience the thrill of yelling ‘If I come to Italy!’, in Italy (some things can’t fully be explained).
Then the divine Olivia launched a fan defensive and challenged the ticket-selling institution on their ticketing policy; she also spoke up against resellers and predatory practices that generally threaten the fan experience.
The result, a victory for all!
Lower prices, more tickets and a bigger venue in Italy…
Proving that if your fave wants to, they will.
So imagine the goosebumps and exhilaration when the lights dimmed and Olivia emerged on stage in one of her bespoke gowns, no gimmicks, no tricky choreography or insane pyro budget, just a soulful voice that felt like a 120min long hug.
Her setlist was laced with nuance and storytelling.
Our crowd learned that the night of our show was her mother’s birthday. Her mom was in the audience celebrating with us. This made it even more special when she sang the anthemic track Carmen and dedicated it to her mom, someone must have started cutting onions in that exact moment, it’s all a blur.
I recommend that anybody craving a homeland connection or living in a diaspora, listen to this love song to her Guyanese grandmother. We all have a Carmen or are a Carmen!
The concert felt like enough. No notes.
She sang the songs everyone knows Nice To Each Other, Okay Love You Bye and So Easy (To Fall In Love) but she also indulged us with the best of her deep cuts like Loud and Touching Toes and Close Up.
The whole evening was magical, an immaculate manifestation of good vibes, new and old friendships and a sense of community, to quote Olivia herself, it’s (was) like a type of alchemy, and this alchemy was just as magical in France, as it was in Italy!
Tim in Paris
From the moment Olivia stepped out onto the stage of a packed Paris Accor Arena, she set the tone for the evening. "There's only one rule tonight," she told us early on, "that you have a good time." The whole room was only too happy to oblige!
What followed was nearly two hours of pure musical magic; a set that moved through every emotion and reached every swaying soul in the room. And yet what stayed with me most was everything she packed in between the songs. Partway through, she paused to share a thought I haven't stopped turning over since: "We live in a world that is very connected, yet we're still somehow so disconnected from each other. I think we can all be a little more loving in our lives." Fitting words from an artist touring an album called The Art of Loving, and readers of this blog will understand better than most just how important it is to feel connected with one another!
She returned to the idea later on, reflecting that when it comes to love, "we're not really taught how to do it." If that's the case, then Olivia Dean might just be the teacher we need. She made the arena feel like a front room, and a crowd of thousands feel like old friends.
Picking favourites was the hardest part of the night. "Let Alone the One You Love" was even more tender live than on record, and "Carmen" had the whole floor swaying. "Echo" was a wonderful moment too, giving me a twang of nostalgia and a rush of warmth for our team of contributors. The English Curators who remember taking their test may know exactly what I mean!
The setlist roamed right across her catalogue, from Messy favourites to the newer Art of Loving songs. The real treat, though, was a proper one-off. Olivia reached back for "Be My Own Boyfriend," a deep cut from her early Growth EP, playing it for the very first time on the tour as a surprise just for us in Paris. It felt like a little secret shared between her and everyone in the room, the kind of moment you know you're lucky to catch.
Two cities, two crowds, a few weeks apart, and the same conclusion from both of us: Olivia Dean is every bit as wonderful live as we'd hoped, and then some. Milan and Paris each had their own magic, their own surprises and their own singalongs, but the feeling we walked away with was identical. For all our screens and the distance between us, music still has a way of gathering a room full of strangers and making them feel like one. If The Art of Loving Live comes anywhere near you, take it from the two of us: go.
