Lily Allen Wows at Secret Show

Lily Allen / Photo by Jackie Roman

The pressure is undoubtedly on Lily Allen's little shoulders, especially on the day her hotly-tipped new album, It's Not Me, It's You, arrived in stores. But at Tuesday night's MySpace Secret Show at NYC's Bowery Ballroom, she certainly didn't act like it.

Working her trademark mix of silly and sexy, the 23-year-old British pop star sauntered on stage -- looking dapper in a strapless red dress -- and wowed a young, largely female audience with her new record's confident, darker, and more synth-heavy tunes.

Sure, there was the odd single or two from Allen's 2006 debut, Alright, Still, and her fabulous cover of Britney Spears' "Womanizer," but for the most part Allen showered the packed 600-capacity room with new tracks like "The Fear," "Fuck You" (which she took great pleasure in dedicating to George W. Bush), and "Never Gonna Happen" -- another entry in a long-line of Lily kiss-offs and a definite crowd favorite.

With a massive world tour set to start next month in much bigger venues, the whole evening had the casual feel of a rehearsal. Between songs, Allen giggled and joked, feigning distress when she smelled marijuana wafting up from the audience ("Someone is smoking weed!" she gasped) and toasting the Bowery crowd with a glass or three of what looked like white wine ("I feel a bit drunk now," she said at the end of her set).

But when the boys started up behind her, she was all business, slinking at half-speed around the stage with one black leather gloved hand on her hip and the other caressing her curls. And her voice, though slight, maintained its insouciant charm through the new material's every twist and turn.

If Allen thinks she's got a lot to prove with her sophomore record -- which she does -- she certainly didn't act like it. Joe Strummer's goddaughter made it look pretty easy.

Setlist:
1. "Everybody's At It"
2. "LDN"
3. "I Could Say"
4. "Not Fair"
5. "Fuck You"
6. "Who'd Have Known"
7. "22"
8. "Him"
9. "Never Gonna Happen"
10. "Little Things"
11. "Smile"
12. "The Fear"

Encore:
13. "Womanizer"

More photos after the jump!