Emerging in the early 2000s, Chicago pop-rock legend Anastacia is still going strong 25 years later. Overcoming numerous health battles and winning a GQ Humanitarian award for Breast Cancer awareness in the process, Anastacia delivered her eighth studio album titled Our Songs in late 2023. With the beloved singer bringing that latest album and a quarter century of chart hits to Nottingham for the Not That Kind tour, we knew we had to go along and experience that iconic voice in person…
We take our seats in the centre of the stalls just in time for energetic and bubbly support act Casey McQuillen. From the moment she begins performing, her infectious personality shines through, taking the time to chat to the audience and tell the tales behind her country-influenced pop songs.
“I wrote this song about a boy who broke my heart – but I’m playing a sold-out show in Nottingham and he’s not!” she jokes, before dedicating a song called Better to all the singles in the audience.
She then moves into a jaw-dropping ballad called Skinny, written during a period of self-consciousness and low self-esteem following the pandemic. After joking about “emotionally blackmailing” the audience to spend their money at her merch table, she then reveals that it’s her third time performing in tonight’s venue, having previously supported Beverly Knight and James Morrison too. You can tell, as she seems completely at home in the space, even encouraging all three tiers of the audience to pull their torches out for In & Out. It’s an amazing visual and before you know it, Casey closes her impressive support set with a rousing rendition of her most recent single, Better Than This.
After a brief 20-minute interval, the familiar sounds of The Simpsons theme tune start to play around the concert hall. The stage is then made to resemble the front of a house, complete with light-up windows, Park Estate-style streetlamps either side and a physical wooden door frame on a plinth at the back. As the band takes to the stage and the set comes alive, Anastacia herself steps out the front door, wearing a diamond-adorned green leather jacket. She wastes little time, jumping straight into One Day In Your Life and Now or Never.
“Wow, there’s three levels to this place!” she exclaims, taking a moment to address the crowd and becoming startled by the size of the venue when the house lights come up. She asks the crowd how many are catching her for the first time tonight and the majority of the audience raise their hand.
She then comments on celebrating her 25-year career tonight, before launching into one of her old favourites – Paid My Dues. It’s the first big hitter of the night, getting the seated crowd on their feet and rocking out to an epic solo from her guitarist. She then keeps the classics coming, with the crowd loudly singing along and dancing away to Sick and Tired, before taking a breather with the heartfelt Overdue Goodbye.
“It’s a party, but I’m not trying to kill you!” she jokes on following each energetic number with a more subdued one. “It’s not a glowstick party, it’s a conscious one!”
She then introduces bassist Diego, who’s funky playing signals a newly arranged version of Made For Lovin’ You. That is one important thing to note about tonight’s show: just how accomplished Anastacia’s backing band are, with the singer admitting she’s a “musical snob” and made sure to hire the best touring musicians.
As she leaves the stage for a costume change, the band get their moment in the spotlight, keeping the crowd energised with a medley of hits which includes Madonna’s Vogue, Montell Jordan’s This Is How We Do It, Blackstreet’s No Diggity and finally, Everybody by Backstreet Boys. Easily one of the most fun parts of the set!
When Anastacia eventually re-emerges, she’s now switched her green jacket for a yellow version and has also added a long leopard-print train to the bottom half of her outfit. She runs through a number of slower cuts including Heavy on My Heart and You’ll Never Be Alone, with the crowd pulling their torches out once again for the latter. She then takes the time to introduce her band, including backing vocalist and guitarist Nick, whose mum Linda is in the audience tonight and gets a big shout out and applause before Best Days.
Some seats are brought out, as the band and Anastacia move into the acoustic portion of the set. It’s a really touching moment in the night, as they perform Secrets, one of the first songs Anastacia ever wrote, followed by two gut-punching songs about hurt and grief in Welcome To My Truth and How Come The World Won’t Stop.
However, before the evening gets too melancholy, it’s time for another costume change and another interval of covers. This time, backing singer Holly announces the band are going to “play some rock & roll” before the iconic riff of Free’s All Right Now starts up. The crowd is lively once again, with Anastacia returning to the stage to lead the audience in a big singalong to Guns N’ Roses’ classic, Sweet Child O’ Mine.
It's then into the home straight, with the main set ending with an epic, reimagined rock version of Anastacia’s biggest and best-loved song, Left Outside Alone. It ends with a brief cover of Kashmir by Led Zeppelin, with the band and Anastacia leaving the stage to loud applause.
Before long, the band’s colourful percussionist walks out wearing drums and blowing a whistle, firing the crowd up for the encore. Anastacia emerges from the door for the final time, this time wearing red and gold boots with a matching – you guessed it – leather jacket.
She gifts the crowd a triumphant finale with Not That Kind and I’m Outta Love, before inviting the audience to once again sing the chorus to Left Outside Alone, only this time acapella. The Notts crowd sound as great as ever, serenading a grateful Anastacia and her band as they take their final bow and exit the stage.
As the A-Team theme song plays, it feels oddly appropriate. Yes, this was an evening steeped in pop nostalgia, but it also felt like a celebration of great musicianship, too. Anastacia clearly spent big on the production and the band musicians with her on this tour, even taking the time to give some of her best tracks a new lease of life by re-imagining the arrangements. The time and care shone through in the live performance, showing just why Anastacia has achieved such longevity in a fiercely competitive market. When she could’ve easily phoned this one in, Anastacia showed Nottingham she really is Not That Kind of Girl.
Anastacia performed at Royal Concert Hall on 1st May 2025.
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