Nao, tour review: She has to decide whether she’s up there with Sia or more like an X Factor runner-up

Gawkily awkward and clad in gaudy children’s presenter leggings, Nao proved to be a less sophisticated, more lightweight proposition than her recorded self, says John Aizlewood
Finally looking like a star: Nao started off slow, but improved as the show went on
Richard Isaac/Rex
John Aizlewood4 November 2016

Having eased herself into pole position on the Britsoulpopfunk starting grid with For All We Know, a debut album laden with pop hooks, stentorian backbeats and an undercurrent of inspired peculiarity, Hackney’s Nao seems the safest of bets.

On the first of her two Empire sell-outs, bare of feet, long of hair, but gawkily awkward and clad in gaudy children’s presenter leggings, Nao proved to be a less sophisticated, more lightweight proposition than her recorded self.

Claiming to be “speechless” at the very moment she might have been expected to have much to say, the former Neo Joshua wasn’t helped by a band who made the right noises in the right places, but couldn’t have looked less interested if they were asking if you’d like fries with your burger. More encouragingly, this far-from-casual music transcended its far-too-casual delivery and the bigger the song, the better it worked.

Girlfriend and In The Morning both started small before exploding into teeth-rattling, eyebrow-raising anthems as Nao struck poses in the lights, finally looking like a star, while the massive Bad Blood and Apple Cherry lived up to their creator’s billing as “wonky funk”. Everything is in place for Nao: now she has to decide whether as a performer she’s up there with Janelle Monáe and Sia or more like an X Factor runner-up.

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