CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE LILY ALLEN SHOW HERE.

It’s one thing to fill a venue such as the Hordern Pavilion on the back of just two albums. But to do that twice in two days is just damn impressive. One would suppose that Lily Allen is simply the kind of star that garners mass appeal. Her tongue-in-cheek brand of upbeat and occasionally fearless pop, her en-masse online following (her Australian Twitter followers scavenged for VIP tickets to the shows), and her tough-kid apathy towards her detractors have helped Lily turn into one of the biggest stars of this decade already. That’s all well and good on record, online and on paper…but how would this be conveyed in the live environment?

The impressively eclectic (and unsurprisingly very young) crowd filed in to a crappily beatmatched mixtape in order to answer this question. But first, the act who have quickly become the support band’s support band – the Cassette Kids. A lot has changed for these Sydney hipsters since they opened the Big Day Out Local Produce stage back in 2008. For one, they had expanded to a five-piece: Van She’s Michael Di Francesco provided the core quartet with synth bleeps, rhythm guitar and the best moustache this side of Freddy Mercury’s grave.

What’s more, they had become far more self-conscious in terms of stage presence. Bassist Daniel Deitz stripped back his usual wild dancing for a mild on-the-spot jog and the occasional flick of his fringe, whilst the rest of the instrumental side of the band barely moved an inch. A few things, conversely, have significantly improved. The overall live sound was representative of a tight-knit set of musicians working towards perhaps one day headlining a tour of this calibre themselves. Oh, and it just wouldn’t be a Cassette Kids write-up without mentioning just how gorgeous and genuinely entertaining frontwoman Katrina Noorbergen is. By the end of the band’s well-mixed half-hour, the shouts of “Who is this band?” had converted into “I love you guys!” Mission accomplished.

After a brief interlude (with a significantly better mix of hip-hop tracks over the P.A.), the time had arrived for Lily Rose Allen to stop her twittering and take to the stage. Unsurprisingly, the evening began with It’s Not Me, It’s You opener Everyone’s At It, immediately getting the crowd into the spirit of things.

What was a surprise, however, was the sound Lily Allen brought to the live show. Not only were her backing band a solid force to be reckoned with (the guitar solo during Everyone’s At It proved an early set highlight), but Lily’s light, airy studio vocals had also been replaced with a deeper, stronger lilt. It was a shock to the system at first, but ultimately proved to be quite the treat.

Lily herself was an absolute charmer. Despite not nearly as much on-stage banter as would be desired, she still came across as very appreciative of the packed-in crowd. She thrived off the energy and enthusiasm that the crowd gave throughout the 90-minute set, and it ultimately proved to be a strong working relationship (eg. Lily: “Come on, ladies! Let me hear you!”, Crowd: “AAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHH!”).

It wasn’t all perfect, though. Whilst there wasn’t a bad song played, the set-list still provided the most open flaw of the evening’s proceedings. Sure, Lily, you have a new record to support, but to play the damn thing in its entirety (albeit on shuffle)? Not to mention playing only four songs from Alright, Still – none of them being Alfie, Knock – œEm Out or Friday Night? Who were the brains trust behind THAT foolish decision?

Even so, this isn’t to discredit the songs from INMIY in the slightest. He Wasn’t There was quaint and jazzy and Back to the Start secured the night’s biggest dance. Initial set closer Fuck You got the entire crowd’s middle fingers swaying in the air in time with the song – of course, apart from the overprotective mothers blocking their daughter’s ears from c-bombs and f-words.

The final track of the encore provided the final surprise of the night – not only for being a precise cover of the Britney hit Womanizer, but for the fact that practically everyone knew all the words. It was the kind of jump-up-and-down fun that you can be sure a lot of the older punters hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Yes, in the face of a dodgy set-list, there was certainly fun to be had. Before departing for the last time, Allen fired up the rumour mill with the send-off: “Hopefully, I’ll see you guys at the Big Day Out, 2010!” You heard it here first – and with her popularity growing exponentially here in Australia, it’ll most probably happen. We love you, Lily! (squeals)