Xana Kicks Off UK Tour in Brighton

Last night, January 27, Canadian pop sensation Xana kicked off the UK leg of her Until It Wasn’t Tour at Chalk in Brighton, England.

Before Xana kicked off her first ever show in the UK, Berlin-based alt-pop singer/songwriter VANÈS took the stage at 7:30 PM for a 45-minute set. The set included her latest hits “Cherry Red” and “Kiss Me Slow,” her coming-out song “Girls,” and many yet-unreleased songs, including her collaboration with London-based Dirt Flirt, who joined her on stage to perform for the occasion. VANÈS also included a cover of “Lunch” by Billie Eilish to her setlist, which, along with her honest storytelling about her queer experiences, really resonated with Xana’s fanbase, who was already singing along by the end of the set.

So when Xana and her band finally took the stage, the already-buzzing crowd exploded into cheers and applause. Some fans had indeed waited for over four years for the artist to make it across the pound. And so had she. From the opening number “Save The Bullets, Baby,” the artist was jumping and dancing on stage with the biggest smile on her face, and her energy was infectious. 

Xana’s setlist was a perfect mix of her 2022 debut album Tantrums and the most recent deluxe edition of her 2024 album The Sex Was Good Until It Wasn’t. But choosing a setlist for fans who had been waiting to see her live for so long was complicated and so the artist had her them be a complete part of the process. In addition to asking them which tracks they wanted to hear through various online polls ahead of the tour, Xana decided to keep two open spots on her setlist for them to participate on stage during the show. 

At two occasions, Xana thus asked a fan to come up on stage to help her pick a song amongst the three selected by her band members, multi-instrumentalist and producer Liam Moes, guitarist Liam McLaren and drummer Jess Jones. The first time around, “Nineteen” won the battle against “Yellow” and “Sick Joke”, and the second time, it was “Feral” which was chosen against “Confidential” and “My Therapist Told Me”. As the tour progresses, these little games will allow the setlist to be constantly changing, which will be even more of a treat to the handful of fans who have planned to attend every date of the entire tour to support the musician.

Inviting fans on stage to pick songs was not the only way Xana cultivated fan interactions during her set. Throughout the set, she shared personal moments with several fans, thanking them for showing up, making eye contact with each and every one of them, holding their hands and hugging them as they cried during more sentimental songs, and even jumping into the crowd to perform. If you needed any confirmation that the bond between the singer and her fans goes beyond the community they’ve created online, you didn’t need to look any further. 

When Xana left the stage, the crowd was not ready for the night to be over and started chanting for “one more song”. After a few minutes, the artist and her band returned with Xana declaring with a laugh “You didn’t really think you could get rid of me this easily.” To the crowd’s delight, the encore included a brand new and yet-unreleased song “Is it Everything You Thought,” and the fan-favorite “4ever.” For the last track of the night, Xana chose to dedicate the song to a fan who had something special to celebrate. After asking them to skip the “my birthday was four months ago” excuses, Xana finally dedicated the song to a fan who had just gotten an offer to the prestigious Oxford University. 

Xana opened her UK tour with a bang and CHALK was spilling over with energy from the moment she stepped on stage to the moment the night ended. 

Luckily for fans across the UK, the tour just started, so you can still catch Xana and Vanès in Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Belfast. Since strong demand during UK pre-sales resulted in venue changes to larger locations and an additional date, a few remaining tickets are available for Belfast here. 

XANA Brighton Setlist for UK Tour:

1. Save The Bullets, Baby
2. The Kicker
3. Lip Service
4. Baby Blue
5. Better Kind Of Best Friend
6. Homewrecker Era
7. Fan Pick: Nineteen, Yellow, Sick Joke
8. I did this all for you!
9. Girl’s Girl
10. Fan Pick: Confidential, My Therapist Told Me, Feral
11. Complex
12. Kitchen Light/Cruel Summer (Taylor Swift cover)
13. The Sex Was Good

ENCORE
14. Is it Everything You Thought
15. 4ever