Chalk, Brighton
After the baffling flop of her single Black Hole, the pop singer-songwriter is still ready to reach for the stars in this breezy, funny show
A year to the day before this performance, Griff won the 2021 Brit awards Rising Star poll, and her star has duly risen. The pace hasn’t been as meteoric as for previous winners such as Adele and Florence + the Machine, but tonight’s showing proves that the singer/guitarist/keyboardist born Sarah Griffiths has done the groundwork.
By the simple devices of a memorable “bubble” ponytail and challenging clothes – tonight it’s bodice-to-knee ruffles – she’s made herself recognisable, as confirmed by a flock of style magazine front covers. Meanwhile, her mainly self-written and self-produced electropop, which tends to focus on the dark corners of past relationships, is arrestingly moreish, and her on stage presence is confident and funny. Receiving a framed tapestry from someone in the front row, she’s genuinely delighted: “A cross-stitch! I want people to see it!” When another admirer hands her flowers, she carries them as she wafts across the stage.