For an artist whose world seems stitched together from silver-screen glamour, smoky jazz clubs and the afterglow of heartbreak, Luvcat – the stage name of Liverpool-born Sophie Morgan Howarth – is every bit as cinematic live as her debut album Vicious Delicious suggests. At KOKO, Camden on Wednesday night, the rising star turned the storied venue into a dreamscape of old Hollywood, haunted romance and camp theatre – a show that was equal parts cabaret, confession and carnival.
Luvcat @ Koko
The stage was dressed like a surreal cocktail party from a bygone era: a crescent moon suspended above a checkered black-and-white floor, table lamps flickering to life one by one as an ominous male voice echoed through the PA. A snippet of vintage Hollywood film score bled into a piano-led interlude inspired by Liverpool’s Kazimier Garden, as Luvcat’s all-male band took their places. When the singer finally appeared, the 1,500-strong audience – mostly young women, flanked by parents and boyfriends – erupted in a roar.
“Surprise party, for me? You shouldn’t have!” she squealed with mock glamour before diving into Lipstick, a noir-pop explosion from her Halloween-released debut album Vicious Delicious that set the tone for the night. Swirling bassline, smoky upright piano and her unmistakable vocal charisma filled the hall, equal parts Amy Winehouse attitude and Nancy Sinatra cool. “Welcome to the Lipstick & Pearls tour!” she grinned. “We hope you feel safe, and sexy, and a little bit strange.”
Strapping on a guitar for Matador, she explained it was about “a strange man I see in a bar in Liverpool called The Kazimier Garden” – her love of storytelling grounding the show’s cinematic grandeur in something very real.
Luvcat @ Koko
Halfway through, she broke into laughter: “This is the biggest show we’ve ever played. I’m wearing the same dress and pillbox hat from our very first London show – Paper Dress Vintage, only 150 of you there, and two of my ex-boyfriends broke in. It was a wonderful night.” Cue shrieks from the crowd. She introduced Alien, dedicated “to any misfits out there,” and the whole venue seemed to sway together – a sea of glitter and eyeliner lost in her voice.
Then came the spooky turn. “This song’s about a liar,” she said, eyes glinting as she strummed the opening chords of Spider. “Every time I thought of him, I saw eight beady eyes and eight spindly little legs crawling toward me.” The mechanical music box melody and whispering cymbals turned the track into something deliciously unsettling. Attic Girl, her long-time friend and tour support, joined for Love & Money, a shimmering “sex-tape love song” written during their early London days. The energy between them was joyous – two best friends revelling in the glow of a shared dream realised.
Luvcat @ Koko
“This one’s about my mum’s best friend – she eats men for breakfast,” Luvcat quipped as Emma Dilemma burst to life, its drum machine heartbeat shaking the walls. Later, she took a more reflective turn with Laurie, introducing it with a story about her first ever London gig at Proud Camden: “I was fifteen, thought I’d made it because an A&R said he’d come to see me. He never showed up. But years later, he’s the one who signed me – and now we’ve made an album I’m so proud of.”
At her upright piano, she grinned: “I don’t know if you can see, but Barnaby reupholstered this piano stool with leopard print – it’s my favourite thing in the world.” That introduction led into a spellbinding cover of My Chemical Romance’s Helena, reimagined as a smoky ballad that swelled into full catharsis.
Blushing, she explained, began “on my Nan’s living room floor, on her Casio keyboard,” later rewritten to capture the whirlwind of moving to London and finding her place. “Thank you very much for changing our lives,” she told the audience, voice breaking slightly. It was one of the evening’s most sincere moments – a pop star stripped of artifice, standing in awe of her own trajectory. By He’s My Man, she had made her way up to one of KOKO’s balconies, glass of red wine still in hand, her vocals carrying across the crowd as the audience sang back every word. Returning to the stage for Bad Books, she perched atop the piano, slipping into a 1940s show-tune cadence before cheekily seguing into a singalong of The Cure’s The Love Cats — a perfectly meta wink to her stage name. “Louder!” she commanded – and the room obeyed.
Luvcat @ Koko
After a brief departure, she re-emerged, joined again by Attic Girl. “I suppose we could play a couple more if you like?” she teased to deafening cheers. The title track Vicious Delicious oozed retro glamour and mischief. “It’s about a man who used to swing from the chandeliers – he was a hell-raiser, but he tasted so good,” she smirked.
Then came the night’s final number, Dinner @ Brasserie Zédel, a theatrical closer that saw her swap instruments for an accordion. “We don’t wanna leave!” she confessed, as the band joined her front of stage. The extended singalong that followed turned the grand hall into something intimate and joyful – a communal toast to a young artist’s long-earned triumph. “We were struggling to sell twenty tickets in Liverpool very recently,” she said sincerely. “So we appreciate every single one of yous that came out tonight. We hope yous have had a good time.” It was impossible not to.
Across just over one hour of glittering noir-pop, sharp wit and raw vulnerability, Luvcat confirmed herself as one of Britain’s most exciting new performers – a songwriter with both the vision and voice to fill rooms far bigger than KOKO. And as she raised her wine glass to the balcony, grinning ear to ear, it was clear that everyone in the room felt part of her story.
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Luvcat @ Koko (Neil Lupin / neillupin.com)
Live review of Luvcat @ KOKO by Kalpesh Patel on 12th November 2025. Photography by Neil Lupin / neillupin.com . Additional photos by Kalpesh Patel.
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