Canadian sword wielding pop phenomenon had Glasgow rocking as the ‘So Nice’ Tour makes its stop at a sold-out o2 Academy, Jack Carson has more…

Carly Rae Jepsen brought her iconic and irresistible pop to Glasgow’s O2 Academy. 

It has been three years since Carly Rae Jepsen toured the U.K, nevertheless she was welcomed back by a raucous crowd in Glasgow last night. 

The diminutive pop superstar was larger than life as she took to the stage, looking out to fans who gathered at the O2 Academy. Jepsen delivered hit after hit from her 15 year-long back catalogue of work that had her ever dedicated fanbase hoping the night would cease to end. 

This tour is on the back of “The Loneliest Time”, the newest album from Canada’s premier pop music luminary. The album released last October is Jepsen’s 5th album and her 4th album released with industry titans Interscope Records, who are known for working with successful artists from Elton John to Snoop Dogg. Jepsen has taken her sound to a much brighter aesthetic than her previous work. The album feels, for the first time, that Jepsen has fallen in love with the West Coast and is at home in the glitz and glam of Los Angeles. For the first time since her 2008 debut (“Tug Of War”), Jepsen has departed from the heavy synths of the 80s and has allowed the flow of LA funk and Disco to take over and be the parish for whom she preaches.

The party atmosphere got off to an electric and immediate start with support act Lewis OfMan (Real Name Lewis Delhomme). The Frenchman, who released his debut LP “Sonic Poems” last year and worked previously with Jepsen on their Track “Move Me”, delivered complex delicate synth-pop that Jepsen’s rabid fanbase eager for more. Delhomme had the lively crowd in the palm of his hand as he jumped from French to English and across the stage, playing five different synth boards throughout his 30-minute set. With this set alone, it is likely Delhomme will have earned more fans from the Carly scene. 

Delhomme departed which meant only one thing. The glorious set got assembled with the keys and drum kit on platforms left and right of the magnificently camp 70s talk -showesque stage. Perfectly fitting with Carly’s newfound retro sound. 

After much anticipation, finally, Jepsen emerges, dawning a gorgeous baby blue keyhole bodycon dress matched with a pair of adorable matching heeled boots. The sight of Jepsen had the crowd whipped up into an ecstatic frenzy immediately. Jepsen then launched into “Surrender My Heart”. The opening track to the new album set the tone for the night with the opening lines of “So I’ve been trying hard to open up/ when I lost someone it hit me rough”. These are the perfect lyrics to kickstart a night of hopeless romanticism heartbreak and euphoria all served in equal measures. As Jepsen took it all in, the dedicated crowd chanted her chorus back at the Canadian without missing a beat, which would continue throughout the mammoth 24-song set. 

Jepsen then threw her first curveball of the night, launching into her iconic “Run Away With Me.” Not only did the epochal intro riff fill the venue like an organ in a cathedral, the first 10 minutes of the show Jepsen launched two confetti cannons in sync with the song reaching its climatic chorus and catching almost everyone by surprise. We all screamed in unison, “Run away with me”, wishing for a never-ending performance. 

Unfortunately for the crowd, the night would end; however, Carly wouldn’t say goodbye without a bang. The Encore started consisting of the 1-2-3 punch of “I Didn’t Just Come Here to Dance”, the now TikTok famous “The Loneliest Time” before finally closing as per tradition with “Cut to the feeling.” 

As I watched Carly stand atop a platform with an inflatable sword in hand- a joke that started on Twitter in 2018 which led to fan rituals of them brining inflatable swords to the songstress – the prominent feeling lingered that although she may not have the chart success of her biggest hits of the past, it is in this moment she has conquered the pop music world. She has proved that she has come a long way since being the “Call Me Maybe Girl”, a long way from finishing 3rd on Canadian idol, and with performances like last night, she will be going for a long time.