To say Eliza Doolittle looked stunning at her US debut on Thursday is true but irrelevant, to consider her a Lilty Allen wanna be is more to the point.
I saw Lily Allen at T5 a coupla years ago and you need a leap of imagination and a sense of humor to mention Eliza in the same sentence. Sometimes, a knock out “Skinny Genes” for instance, she can stand the pressure, other times, a ridiculous omg what are you thinking of “Fuck You”, she looks like a contesteant on the X Factor.
Backed by a barber shop quartet and in a skirt so short it’s, er, really, short, Eliza nailed down a fairly consistent, killing the songs we know so firmly, only the ones we don’t know are left dangling. With a drummer and a drum machine behind her, Eliza is purely Limey charm. She is like a very fuckable Mary Poppins, and quite comfortable with a Cha Cha one moment and a 1920s World War I lift the next.
Joe’s Pub is packed to the gils and you can tell why: with legs up to her neck and knock out numbers like a show stopping “Rollerblade”, you can figure her not quite there stage presence for one potential hit after enough.
Eliza reminded me of when I saw Lady Antevbellum at the same venue. I knew then I would never get so cozy again.
She could hit hard in the States though maybe not, for sure, she has the ability even if not the experience.