Allen’s unusual live format gets another twist in Australia and New Zealand, with her cello ensemble returning as the opening act before she performs West End Girl from beginning to end.
by Paul Cashmere
Lily Allen will bring the Dallas Minor Sextet to Australia and New Zealand as the opening act for her seven-date Lily Allen Performs West End Girl tour, giving audiences an unusual introduction to the show before Allen takes the stage to perform her new album as a complete theatrical work.
The Dallas Minor Sextet, previously known as the Dallas Minor Trio, has been part of the touring concept behind West End Girl throughout 2026. Rather than functioning as a conventional support act, the cello ensemble performs instrumental versions of Allen’s best-known songs, with the lyrics projected for the audience to sing.
It means fans heading to the Australian and New Zealand shows will hear The Fear, LDN, Not Fair, 22, Alfie, Who’d Have Known, Hard Out Here, Smile and Fuck You before Allen herself performs a note.
The concept is an important part of how Allen has structured the West End Girl live experience. The opening act effectively gives the audience its opportunity to revisit the familiar catalogue, while Allen’s own performance is reserved for the new album.
When Allen takes the stage, she does not switch between new material and greatest hits. Instead, she performs all 14 songs from West End Girl in the same sequence as the album.
That decision turns the concert into something closer to a stage production than a conventional pop show. Allen remains at the centre of the performance, with the songs presented as connected scenes rather than individual tracks in a traditional setlist.
The approach has also given the Dallas Minor Sextet a very specific role. The ensemble provides a musical bridge between Allen’s earlier career and the story she is telling with West End Girl, allowing songs familiar to the audience to be heard in an entirely different setting.
The arrangement also explains why the opening act has become more than simply a warm-up. The audience is encouraged to sing along while the cellists reinterpret Allen’s catalogue, creating a communal opening before the atmosphere changes for the main performance.
The Dallas Minor name itself comes from Allen’s West End Girl world, while the move from trio to sextet expands the cello ensemble for the larger international tour dates. The sextet format will be used for the Australian and New Zealand shows.
West End Girl is Allen’s fifth studio album and her first studio album in seven years. The record uses her move to New York as the setting for a 14-song narrative that combines autobiographical material with fictional elements.
That narrative approach carries directly into the stage production. Allen performs the album in sequence rather than breaking the story apart to accommodate older hits, making the opening cello performance particularly significant for fans who arrive expecting the songs that made her name.
The tour has already established a distinctive identity internationally, with the production deliberately positioned between pop concert and theatre. Allen is alone at the centre of the main performance, with the staging built around the narrative of West End Girl rather than a conventional band-led concert.
For Australian audiences, the format means the familiar Allen catalogue will effectively be heard twice, but in two very different forms. The Dallas Minor Sextet handles the earlier songs instrumentally, while Allen keeps the spotlight on the 2025 album and its continuous story.
The Australian and New Zealand run begins at Auckland’s Spark Arena on October 21. Australia follows two days later in Brisbane, with Sydney, Melbourne and Perth next.
Sydney’s October 25 performance is already sold out, while final tickets remain for the other shows.
Dates:
Wednesday 21 October, Auckland, Spark Arena
Friday 23 October, Brisbane, Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Sunday 25 October, Sydney, TikTok Entertainment Centre
Monday 26 October, Sydney, TikTok Entertainment Centre
Wednesday 28 October, Melbourne, Rod Laver Arena
Thursday 29 October, Melbourne, Rod Laver Arena
Sunday 1 November, Perth, RAC Arena
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