It was always going to be a party and Brighton’s 90s pop fans brought their best outfits and dancing shoes to The Green Door Store to spend an hour in the company of Alison Clarkson, AKA Betty Boo. The Hip Hop Pop Princess released her comeback album Boomerang in 2022, and followed it with another album, Rip Up The Rulebook, in 2024. She is currently on her first-ever UK tour and we were here to catch her third show.
Looking at the empty stage, it was clear there would be no band, as there was for her 2022 show in London. At 9pm, backing vocalist Rita Campbell took to the stage followed by Betty and over the backing track she quickly displayed her vocal dexterity with the rapid-fire tongue twisting lyrics of Boomerang.
This was swiftly followed by her first hit, in collaboration with The Beatmasters, Hey DJ / I Can’t Dance (to That Music You’re Playing) with its catchy happy house keyboard intro. A great crowd pleaser, many fans were word perfect as they sang and danced along. Another early track, (’Till My Last Breath) Doin’ It to Def featured a funky walking bass with Rita given the opportunity to display her powerful voice as Betty shouted out “what’s my name” between whoops and yeahs. It was clearly evident she was having a great time.
The bulk of tonight’s set came from her 1990 Boomania and 2022’s Boomerang albums and the next three songs came from the more recent release. 808 had a bass heavy dub sound with an ever present catchy chorus. Betty danced and sang with her arms in the air and let out a cute squeal at the end. Get Me to the Weekend weaved in The Human League’s Love Action riff and Shining Star showed she can still groove with its repeated “when we’re dancing” lyric. This song was originally recorded with Sophie Ellis-Bextor and she treated us to a tongue-in-cheek impersonation which was pretty accurate.
There were “oohs” and “aahs” throughout the space age disco sound of Barbarella and, despite now being in her 50s (as was most of the audience), she still sounded like a teenager on Hangover. A big cheer greeted Betty’s question “are you ready to Do The Do?” but this was a little premature as the next song was I’m On The Way (on which she had to credit Lennon and McCartney for ‘borrowing’ part of Lady Madonna).
The instantly recognisable bass and keys intro meant it was finally time for Doin’ The Do and suddenly there was a sea of phones out to capture the moment, despite Betty imploring them to enjoy the song in real time. This was a complete joy, with her lyrical mastery and inescapable infectiousness lifting the already pumped up fans. Betty shared that it took her back to the days of Smash Hits magazine and Top Of The Pops.
Although Betty was clearly the star of the show, her co-star Rita deserves praise for her strong voice and harmonies, percussion skills and equally fun on-stage persona. Looking at the exposed brickwork of the venue Betty said “I thought I’d be cold but you guys are hot” and brought some summer vibes on Let Me Take You There.
Surprisingly we were treated to some Abigail’s Party banter with Betty pulling off an excellent impersonation of Alison Steadman’s iconic character Beverly. There was unison dancing on Spotlight, which had a flavour of George Michael’s Outside and the club atmosphere continued with Superstar, complete with “Yippee Ki Ay” shouts.
A bouncy Stop Your Nonsense (Bubblegum Pop) was all oohs and jumping after which Betty declared “I’m gonna feel that in the morning” before the excitement increased on another big hit. She’d earlier namechecked legendary tenor sax player Ronnie Scott who played on Where Are You Baby and with that speeded-up Function At The Junction piano riff it was phones out and everyone singing along and dancing as Betty reinforced her MC credentials as she speed rhymed her way through the sophisticated arrangement.
Sadly it was time for the last song, which Betty introduced as “one I helped write”. Pure And Simple was a hit for reality show group Hear’Say. It was very much in the mould of early 2000s pop but sung with passion and a nice chord change for the final verse. Of course the crowd wanted more so Betty treated us to a final version of Doin’ The Do to end the party on a high. I’m pretty sure most of the audience would have gladly stayed to hear her sing the same song all night. Someone shouted for Betty to perform at Pride to which she replied “I’ve never been asked“. Pride organisers take note and give her a call.
If the purpose of pop music is to make people smile, sing and dance then Betty Boo is a true pop star and the queue at the merch table to grab a t-shirt and a selfie was testament to the love people still have for her.
Cincinnati-born, London-based singer songwriter Catlea opened the show, accompanied by guitarist Max Shirley. Over 45 minutes she played selections from her Language Barrier album, standing in the spotlight while Max stayed in the shadows. Some songs such as Selfish had an early Kate Nash-style delivery, while Like Me was well constructed and skilfully executed, not unlike a Beautiful South composition.
Several songs were reflective ballads while Lying, about cheating on partners, had a dancier rock feel, with Shirley’s Nile Rodgers-like chords, and was a highlight of the set. This was a strong support performance despite the disrespectful chatterboxes jabbering away through many songs. Hopefully she will return to Brighton and be granted the respect she deserved.
Betty Boo, Green Door Store
Sunday 23rd November 2025.
