Early last year, beabadoobee was part of the biggest world tour in history as she opened for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. On a freezing Monday night in Glasgow, the singer-songwriter turned the O2 Academy into a blazing stadium of her own and proved that her energy can engage even the most casual listener.

Before beabadoobee and her band graced the stage, fans were perfectly warmed up by up-and-coming American rock band, Momma, who were able to set the tone of the night in only thirty minutes. The short time they played left me excited to dive into their full catalogue and brought heaps of energy into the crowd just in time for the main set.

As beabadoobee’s set was about to begin, the room physically began buzzing, with the amps turned right up and the overhead fluorescent stage lights uncontrollably flickering. The energy in the crowd, however, might have been even more electric, as fans began screaming with excitement as beabadoobee jumped straight into sunbleached single ‘California’ from her latest UK number 1 album, This Is How Tomorrow Moves. The song perfectly set the tone for the rest of the evening as fans jumped along with every word perfectly memorised.

beabadoobee quickly followed this with two songs from her previous album Beatopia. First, she played ‘Talk’, much to the excitement of the crowd. It was during this song that it became obvious the young girls in the audience see beabadoobee as someone electric. The crowd followed her every instruction, and, even though the sold-out venue meant that everyone was packed in tight together, the entire crowd crouched to the ground, waiting for Bea’s signal to get back up and jump. Fans continued to dance on for much of the night as beabadoobee and her band delivered an amazingly charged setlist.

My personal highlight of the night was when the singer took a moment to slow down the set and play ‘Glue Song’, which she dedicated to the crowd that evening. Although the song is amazing in its own right, what I found really special about the performance was seeing young girls in the audience turn to one another and dedicate it to their friendship. Around me, groups of teenage girls faced completely away from the stage to take the moment to sing a love song to each other. This sort of audience behaviour is a testament to beabadoobee and the community she has created around her music.

Shortly after, the energetic pace the set opened with was back, and fans were given the chance to return the earlier dedication. During recent single, ‘Beaches’, fans turned the venue into their own kind of paradise as swayed along, holding up small blue paper waves in front of their phone torches. It was clear to see that there is genuine love between the singer and her fans, as she was clearly emotional at the gesture, especially considering that she told the crowd the track is her favourite of her own songs.

Throughout the gig, beabadoobee mentioned that she was incredibly nervous to get on the stage that night, especially considering this was the first show of the UK leg. Any nerves were undetectable, however, as beabadoobee and her band created a fun and exciting night for everyone present – one that fans surely won’t forget.