On Sunday the 11th of August, The Sunflower Lounge hosted the Birmingham date of Lydia May’s Lifesaver tour.
May and her Maybelles (the name for her fan community) swarmed The Sunny in their red, black and cherry themed outfits. Trading friendship bracelets in the bar and drawing red lipstick hearts on each other’s cheeks, I felt like I was watching an eerily nostalgic crossover of Taylor Swift and 2010s Marina and The Diamonds fans. The creativity and inclusivity of her fans was second to none: despite attending on my own, I was included in several fan traditions by those around me, as well as a fan’s TikTok.
Supporting artist Chloe Charlotte performed a short but sweet set of original mellow pop songs, supported by her playback tracks and ambient noise to create an immersive performance ranging from soft acoustic music to bass-driven bedroom pop inspired by her life events. An understated performance, I look forward to seeing how Chloe Charlotte can grow into the coming-of-age artist persona she has carved out for herself.
Headliner Lydia May then took to the stage, which had been decorated with fairy lights, lamps, a coat hook for her costume changes, seating, a rug, and her assortment of instruments tied with neat red bows. This set was the beginning of her odes to the emotional and theatrical nature of her music. May was a natural performer, infectiously excited and engaging.
For those unfamiliar with Lydia May, she is perhaps best compared to the likes of her self-proclaimed ‘lord and saviour’ Chappell Roan, and Conan Gray. May demonstrated operatic intonation and clean, pop production suited to the genre of 2000s teen movies and the ‘girlypop’ energy of the modern pop greats, indulging her theatre kid background and dramatic, eccentric personality.
May joked she hoped her fans had been studying the setlist – the Maybelles clearly had. They sang with her throughout covers and originals, both published and unreleased. For ‘Confessions of an Insomniac’, May took the time to teach the crowd the refrain of ‘ooo’s and ‘ahh’s that were then repeated back to her with enthusiasm.
A multi-instrumentalist, May treated the crowd to a few features on the keys. Personal highlights from her setlist included ‘Forgotten’, her cover of ‘Funny Girl’, ‘Sixteen’ and ‘You’ve Got This Kid’. ‘Forgotten’ saw May pick up her cherry red electric guitar (named Stacy), while she lived out her musical theatre fantasies with Funny Girl’s title track. ‘Sixteen’ showcased a different dimension to her style, with a darker and more sultry tone with jazz influences.
Her next release, ‘You’ve Got This Kid’ is clearly already a fan favourite. As part of my initiation into the Maybelles, I was given a poster the crowd would hold up at the end of the track featuring the song title as a gesture of support from fans to May. This display along with scattered waving phone torches seemed to bring tears to her eyes.
If you were not already convinced by how much May and the Maybelles mean to each other, May hosted a Birmingham picnic earlier that day attended by those in the crowd, and she stayed after her performance to meet her fans upstairs. I left The Sunny convinced that the Maybelles will only grow in number and carry May to the theatrical cult-classic calling that she is made for.
Setlist Playlist: