Clean’s first concert of the year is a fact. We had the honour of seeing RAYE live in Berlin for the second stop of her This Tour May Contain New Music tour. That title alone had us buzzing in our seats, ready to hear what the singer had in store for us beyond her already massive hit singles. The last time we saw RAYE live was back in 2018, when she supported Rita Ora on a tour stop in Amsterdam. The evolution she’s gone through since then is unbelievable. We prepared for a night full of huge vocals, a big band, and a true celebration of music.
It’s quite unheard of to go on tour to promote an album before the project has even dropped. It takes a whole lot of confidence to present a set full of brand-new music to an arena packed with fans who have never heard it before. RAYE took that risk, playing songs from her upcoming album This Music May Contain Hope for the very first time during her sold-out arena tour — literally receiving real-life first responses. Luckily, that confidence was backed by brilliant music that deserves to be experienced live, rather than heard flat through your favourite streaming platform.
The night starts with the interlude ‘Girl Under The Grey Cloud’, visually translated into exactly that: a massive grey cloud enters the Uber Arena, hanging above the singer as she stands in front of big red curtains, waiting to be opened and reveal her band. The clouds quickly clear, hinting at better days to come. The show officially opens with a bang as RAYE launches into her current number-one hit ‘WHERE IS MY HUSBAND’, jokingly asking the crowd if her future husband might be in the building tonight. Whether he was present remains to be seen — but what we can confirm is that the crowd fell in love with her from the get-go.
The brass section keeps the horns blowing throughout the first part of the show. Taking her sweet time with each song, RAYE moves through a run of up-tempo tracks, each treated to a dramatic ending. Among them, we’re introduced to two brand-new songs. Reassuring us not to be afraid of music we’ve never heard before, she kicks off ‘Skin & Bones’ by teaching the audience a few lyrics, easing us into the world of her second album. The crowd sings along as if the song has already topped the charts. Our reaction leaves RAYE smiling ear to ear as she moves into another new track. ‘Beware of the South London Lover Boy’ feels like it belongs in an old-school detective movie — a playful warning never to trust a South London boy on his blue eyes. It stands out as one of the highlights of the evening.
RAYE jokingly talks her way through the show, warning us early on that she’s a chatty girl. Chaotic and messy in the best possible way, her monologues feel authentic and unscripted. At one point, she laughs into the microphone: “Oh gosh, I should really write a script for these song intros — I’m all over the place. Get it together, RAYE!”. For the next section of the show, she sets the scene both verbally and visually. While the spotlight stays fixed on her, the stage behind is transformed into a jazz club. Not only does RAYE paint the picture through storytelling — we are quite literally invited into Raye’s Jazz Club.
This leads into the one and only cover of the night. She performs ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ with the band toning things down, creating a warm, intimate jazz atmosphere. That RAYE is classically trained has been clear all night, but here she truly shows it off — crooning and scatting effortlessly over the lush instrumentation. The mood perfectly sets up the next song. Before starting ‘Worth It’, she tells us it’s one of her favourite songs to sing, promising it will never leave her setlist in the years to come.
The curtains close once more as the show slows down. RAYE tells us a story about her ex — she’s completely over him now, but the memories linger. ‘Nightingale Lane’ is a beautiful reflection on that relationship and the time it took to move on, knowing the two were never meant to last. With the audience fully locked in, she delivers two emotional ballads that leave many in tears. First comes ‘Ice Cream Man’, followed by the unreleased ‘I Know You’re Hurting’. Between songs, RAYE gently addresses the heavy topics they touch on, reassuring the crowd that you’re not alone in this. Tears are soon wiped away as she introduces ‘Click Clack Symphony’, a new song dedicated to the friends and family who drag you out of the house when you need a night of distraction from whatever life is throwing at you.
This creates the perfect bridge into the final section of the night: the Night Club segment. Laser lights cut through the arena as the band leans into dance-heavy productions. RAYE runs through her commercial hits — the ones that came before her critically acclaimed era. We get ‘Secrets’, ‘BED’, ‘You Don’t Know Me’, ‘Prada’, and, surprisingly, ‘Black Mascara’ fits right in with the bunch. As the nightclub fades out, the atmosphere shifts once more, this time to something that feels like a Sunday morning in church. Another unreleased track, ‘Joy’, sees RAYE joined by her sisters — who also served as the support acts earlier in the night. With its gospel-tinged sound, the song feels destined to become the next single to dominate the charts.
After a whopping two hours, RAYE leaves the stage — but not for long. She returns for her biggest single to date, ‘Escapism’. The crowd is louder than ever, singing along to every word as she thanks us for being there. Clean has seen hundreds of live shows, with many unforgettable highlights. RAYE, however, shoots straight to the very top of our favourite concerts ever. It felt like witnessing history — like watching a legend in the making. Without a doubt, we were treated to one of the most talented performing artists in music today. What a night.