Ice Spice’s Halloween show at Barrowlands in Glasgow had all the ingredients for a spectacle but was a bit like a trick-or-treat bag that’s half-empty. This 24-year-old, bringing her debut album Y2K to the Glaswegian stage, surely hoped for more bodies to fill the venue, but with Halloween parties in full swing elsewhere, the Barrowlands was a ghost town by its usual rowdy standards.

Ever the diva, Ice Spice made an eyebrow-raising entrance before she even hit the stage, demanding photographers vacate the photo pit, forcing shots to be snapped from afar—a move more Mariah than millennial. Dressed as a Playboy bunny, she hopped onto the stage with an inflatable rabbit and an entourage of dancers and pyrotechnics, all building up to an opening bang with “Popa.” Despite the sparse crowd, she commanded attention from the get-go, her charisma filling in where the audience numbers lacked.

“Princess Diana” brought out a surprising level of regal attitude, followed by “Barbie World,” which got a cheer as big as any roar you’d expect from a full house. Tracks like “GYAT” and “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” threw punchy, catchy hooks that had the crowd bopping along as if to banish the Halloween chill. And for all her diva flourishes, Ice Spice did bring warmth, chatting playfully with fans as if they were an intimate circle of friends at a Halloween afterparty.

She wrapped up with “Think U the Sh*t (Fart),” a cheeky finale for a performer whose mix of bratty confidence and down-to-earth charm creates a tension both fascinating and funny. A Halloween treat? Yes. But here’s hoping next time the crowd is more tricked out too.

Article : Angela Canavan