THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN RAYE

Words by Kate South

Over the past month, Raye has been touring Europe with her new show This Tour May Contain Music, featuring a huge live band and support from her younger sisters Amma and Absolutely. Raye began the first of her UK Tour dates in Manchester on the 17th February in a sold-out Co-Op Live Arena. Embracing the Jazzy, soulful, Hollywood glamour theme, fans dressed up in sequined ensembles ready to party, and Raye certainly did not disappoint. 

Raye opened the show with a new song from her upcoming album This Album May Contain Hope. Like her previous album, My 21st Century Blues, spoken word introductions are set to feature heavily on this next project. Raye made her entrance lipsynching to a pre-recorded  third-person narration, which set the scene and introduced to the first of the many characters Raye inhabited over the night. After a quick wink to the audience, Raye embodied the character she created and performed her new song I Will Overcome. Very few musicians would have the courage to open their show with a brand new number, but not Raye. After selling out six nights at the O2 on the strength of the single WHERE IS MY HUSBAND! and the promise of new music, it’s clear that Raye is a truly exceptional artist who doesn’t need to rely on crowd pleasers to win over an audience. 

Raye performed the opening number in front of a big red curtain, which then dropped to reveal her impressively large band, who expertly create a theatrical, big-band sound fitting for an artist who has officially entered their “dramatic era”. Raye then burst into WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!, complete with the iconic viral choreography flanked by two sensational backing singers. A comedic mishap with her microphone getting caught on the stand was dealt with without Raye missing a beat, as she brushed off the mishap like water off a duck’s back. It’s clear that she is a seasoned performer who graciously handled any mishaps with confidence and humour. The audience knew every word, with Raye frequently encouraging the audience to sing along. The number wasswiftly followed byThrill is Gone, andthe energy from the pit was electric. After these huge show numbers, Raye settled into the more laid back Suzanne, her summery stand-alone single co-written by Mark Ronson. 

We were then treated to the second new song of the evening, the Noisette-esque songSouth London Lover Boy. The repeated refrain of the song has been taken from the original introduction to WHERE IS MY HUSBAND first heard during Raye’s iconic Glastonbury 2025 performance. The snippet can be heard in the intro and the post-chorus of the song, with Raye developing it into a 60s-inspired, tongue-in-cheek pop song about the perils of dating men in South London. The song Winter Woman is another track I am excited to hear from the upcoming album, interpolating sections from Vivaldi’s Winter on solo violin. The track is evocative of her hit Escapism, but with a classical twist.

An emotional Genesis Pt II. concludes the first section of the show, the refrain “Let there be light” echoing around the arena. There was then a brief blackout and some crowd work from Raye, who encouraged us to buy her album. Raye playfully reminded us she is an independent artist, something incredible when you consider the mammoth size of her 51 show tour. Raye’s success is proof that the days are numbered for exploitative record deals that prevent stars from Raye from shining as they should. During the blackout, the stage was transformed into a Jazz bar, the musicians sat and stood around tables as if they’d all met there by chance, creating an intimate atmosphere contrasting the previous swing band set-up. Raye then treated us to a laid back cover of Fly Me to the Moon, swiftly followed by a joyful rendition of Worth It, interacting with the musicians as if she were wandering around the bar making friends on a night out.

Raye is an effortlessly endearing performer. While singing, she inhabits the characters she creates, from heartbroken women wearing fur coats in July, forty year old divorcees, and young women on the best night out of their lives. Just as quickly, she is able to break out of these characters and engages with the audience in a way that feels completely authentic. Offering messages of hope, the central theme for her next album, she told that audience that she hopes that no matter the “season” of our lives, that we find some solace in her music. She shared with us her mothers mantra “It’ll be alright”, a simple but heartfelt reminder that there are brighter days to come. These moments of vulnerability with the audience made some of the more personal numbers of the evening all the more heartfelt, including a piano rendition of Ice Cream Man. and her unreleased ballad I Know Your Hurting.

After such emotional heights, the concert then took a symphonic turn. A conductor was welcomed to the stage to lead the band in the performance of the iconic Oscar Winning Tears. and the infectiously catchy Click Clack Symphony. Snippets of Click Click Symphony have been featured on social media, with a music video being teased. The song is a fun going out anthem dedicated to the healing powers of a good night out, something that everyone in the audience that night surely experienced by the end of Raye’s show. 

We were then taken into the RAVE section, where Raye played some of her earliest hits from her days as an electronic artist, including Prada and You Don’t Know Me. The arena was transformed into a warehouse rave, complete with laser lights and smoke machines. Throughout the concert, Raye’s versatility as an artist was apparent as she took us through a kaleidoscope of genres and scenes, from a symphonic concert featuring big band hits, to an intimate bar playing Jazz standards, to a nightclub filled with club bangers.

To round off the show, Raye invited her sisters, Absolutely and Amma, to the stage for a gospel-inspired, uplifting number, Joy. The audience clapped along, and you couldn’t help but dance to the infectious happiness radiating from the sisters – they are one talented family! Then came the encore – Raye’s 2022 hit Escapism. A fitting finale for an incredible evening of music. While Escapism was Raye’s first number one, from the strength of the concert tonight, it certainly will not be her last. WHERE IS MY HUSBAND Recently took the no.1 spot on the UK charts, and is up for a Brit award later this month. By the time this album is released, I do not doubt that Raye will have cemented her place as a global superstar. 

This concert was a masterclass in musical entertainment. Raye is an assured artist who is stepping into the limelight as one of the most talented performers of our generation. The show does exactly what it says on the tin: the tour contained new music, and that music was brimming with hope. 

Photos by Izzy Clayton