Recap Lily Allen at the Ogden Theatre

British pop singer Lily Allen is known for her edgy and controversial attitude, but on Thursday night at The Ogden Theatre, she looked like a little girl dancing around in her living room, putting on a show for the family. It was in the jumper she wore, the way she had to pull it up every minute or two. It was in the way her band members all looked at least 10 years older than her. It was in the giant cutout letters behind the band—“L-I-L-Y”—and the way her name was splashed all over the rest of the stage, as if it were the bedroom of a kid who’d scrawled her name all over the walls in marker. From the moment she set foot onstage, Allen was bursting with youthful exuberance, which wasn’t always a good thing. Even her set selection seemed girlish and cutesy; she played more of her ballads and love songs—or the closest the acidic Allen gets to ballads and love songs, anyway—than the tongue-in-cheek, slightly foul-mouthed club hits she’s better known for.

Sure, there were times last night when British-tabloid Allen made an appearance. At one point between songs, she suddenly decided it was important to smoke a cigarette, and had one lit and handed to her on stage. Similarly, she was handed drinks by a guy waiting just off stage, who was there presumably for that purpose and that purpose only. And later in the show, she looked out at the audience and said, “I can smell a marijuana cigarette. I’m sure it’s only for medical use, right?” and then told “all you fuckers” in the balcony to dance. Oh, and then she performed the very catchy tune “Fuck You,” complete with the sing-along chorus of “Fuck you very, very much.” But even after those moments of drinking and smoking and swearing, she’d giggle girlishly and remind everyone in the room that she is, after all, a 23-year-old pop singer. Don't be mistaken: Allen's stage performance was pure bubblegum. She stood front-and-center commanding the microphone, supported by a band of unremarkable-looking musicians skulking in the dark behind her. Colored lights flashing wildly through most of the set, not unlike a performance by, say, Madonna or Britney Spears. In fact, after leaving the stage and returning, weirdly enough, in squeaky-clean white tennis shoes, mom shorts, and a shirt that read “GEEK!”, Allen delivered an encore that culminated in a cover of Britney Spears’ “Womanizer.” But Lily, you didn't have to try so hard—you had us at “Fuck You.”