Self Esteem AKA Rebecca Lucy Taylor is a singer-songwriter from Rotherham Yorkshire, England who has just finished her 2023 UK tour ” I Tour This All The Time” which is an extension to the 2022 Prioritise Pleasure tour which I caught up with her on the second sold out gig at Sheffield O2 Academy on Tuesday 21st March 2023.
Band members are:
- Sophie Galpin (backing vocals, keys, bass)
- Marged Siôn (backing vocals)
- Levi Heaton (backing vocals)
- Seraphina Simone (backing vocals)
- Mike Park (drums)
The show opened with “Prioritize Pleasure” with the 3 dancers/singers performing their moves then Rebecca appeared on the marble staircase centre stage to roof raising screams and applause. The next song was “Fucking Wizardry” followed by M O O D Y which she announced is all about being a moody bitch! “Just Kids” was the next song and then a costume change to The Happy Valley TV series monologue. The lights dimmed with Rebecca reappearing on the steps dressed entirely in red with cowboy hat donned, all the dancers and band in red outfits and ski masks on for her new song “Mother”. Which was a teaser to her new work following straight onto a heavy drum thumping “How Can I Help You” and then “Love Second”.
Another outfit change into a suit for Rebecca and shirt, trousers and braces for the dancers to perform “Girl Crush” from her first album Compliments Please, followed by the slow harmonious “The 345”. Rebecca then donned guitar for a solo rendition of “John Elton” only to be briefly interrupted by a fan who decided this is the perfect moment to shine their mobile phone torch. To whom she said, and I quote “You can stop that straight away, this isn’t a Coldplay gig” then restarted the song. “You Forever” followed and Rebecca announced with a nod and wink that the next song will be the last then she fired into “I Do This All The Time”, a song about realising you have to follow your own footsteps and no one else’s. I find this song reminds me of “Wear Sunscreen” from the 90s as it’s more of a chat to herself with the girls singing the chorus between verses.
After a very brief departure Self Esteem reappeared to a crowd stomping applause and broke into “I’m Fine”, a very heavy slow bass induced track ending the song barking like dogs as she states at the end “there is nothing that terrifies a man more than a woman that appears completely deranged”. The band were then joined on the stage by Sheffield Wednesday’s football mascot Ozzie Owl to sing “The Best”, another track taken from Compliments Please. Ending (yes ending) the evening they finished with “Still Reigning”, a slow track with one constant single beat throughout as Rebecca and the girls sang in perfect harmony for the final time.
To sum up this gig on a few words would be hard but here goes……tight-knit harmonies, heavy percussion and bass lines. Go see her you will enjoy the evening!
There were 3 opening acts: Arctic Numpties (Arctic Monkeys Tribute), Tom Rasmussen (a self-described nonbinary drag queen) and Tom Aspaul (a disco, funk singer-songwriter).
Setlist:
- Prioritise Pleasure
- Fucking Wizardry
- M.O.O.D.Y
- Just Kids
- Mother
- How Can I Help You
- Love Second
- Girl Crush
- The 345
- John Elton
- You Forever
- I Do This All The Time
Encore:
- I’m Fine
- The Best
- Still Reigning
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