Beabadoobee charms Las Vegas audience despite late start

Beabadoobee’s concert April 16 at the Chelsea Theater at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas started with a thud: “Technical difficulties” kept the rising pop star from taking the stage until after 10:30 p.m., a delay of more than 75 minutes.

No official explanation was given for the holdup to the jam-packed and sometimes-overheated crowd, many of whom had entered the venue hours earlier at 6:30 p.m. and listened to two warmup bands, Keni Titus and Pretty Sick.

But enough about the delay. Once stagehands finally gave the go-ahead for the show to proceed, the apologetic Filipina-British singer-songwriter turned in a highly entertaining concert that, literally, included the cat’s meow.

This show was about the 24-year-old with the sing-songy voice and engaging stage presence performing her melodic tunes with relatable lyrics.

Backed by three musicians — bassist Eliana Sewell, drummer Louis Semlekan-Faith and guitarist Jacob Bugden — Beabadoobee took to the utilitarian stage marked by a worktable in the center with an octet of commercial fluorescent light fixtures suspended on chains overhead.

Dressed in an off-the-shoulder cut white T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Absolut idiot,” gray shorts, black calf-high boots and knee-high white crew socks underneath, the singer was greeted warmly, thanked the crowd for waiting out the delay and launched into “California,” a 2024 tune.

Accompanying herself on a bright pink electric guitar, Beabadoobee pranced and strutted throughout the song about a one-sided relationship nearing its end.

Throughout her 75-minute set, Beabadoobee pulled songs from her own catalog, including her three albums, 2024’s“This Is How Tomorrow Moves,” “Beatopia” (2022) and “Fake It Flowers” (2020), along with earlier extended plays that date to 2018.

The artist, who was born Beatrice Kristi Laus in the Philippines and moved at age 3 with her family to London, said she learned the guitar at age 17 after her father gifted her the instrument. Shortly thereafter, she wrote her first song for guitar, the ballad “Coffee,” which she said was about making the drink for her first boyfriend. It was song No. 7 on the evening’s setlist.

Many in the audience sang along with Beabadoobee as she performed 16 of her tracks. Among the crowd favorites were “Real Man,” “Beaches,” “Talk” and “Apple Cider.”

Fresh off of a weekend appearance on the main stage at Coachella, Beabadoobee confessed she was much more comfortable performing in the more intimate Chelsea, with its 3,200-person capacity, than in front of the throngs gathered in the California desert’s annual spring fling.

And the comfort transcended her performance.

She mingled in conversation with audience members, confiding in them that during the current “The Space in Between” tour, she’s “been on social media, been writing essays, making lots of music. I’ve been hanging out with friends and getting really high.”

Just before the set ended, Beabadoobee stood at center stage by herself carrying an acoustic guitar. She again apologized profusely for the late start to her set, and said she wanted to make amends for not being able to play a fan favorite, the “Girl Song” (attributed to the aforementioned “technical difficulties”).

“No one’s heard ‘Meow Song.’ Just me and my band,” she said. “I wrote this a couple months ago. It’s a very special song, a very secret song.”

And though no one else had ever heard the tune, she nevertheless invited audience members to join in on the chorus, which she was sure they’d be able to pick up by ear.

The audience was glad to oblige the singer with the chorus ­— it was the cat’s meow — “Meow, meow, meow. Meow, meow, meow …”

Beabadoobee followed up “Meow Song” with her toe-tapping 2023 ditty, “the way things go,” before the rest of the band joined her for the finale, “See You Soon.”

Who knows? She might see us soon. The concert marked her fourth appearance in Las Vegas, dating to a 2019 set at the House of Blues. Before last week’s headliner appearance, Las Vegas audiences may remember her as an opener in March 2023 for Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” stop at Allegiant Stadium. Surely the Chelsea show won’t be her last appearance in the Entertainment Capital.