Despite having an absolutely stonking cold, I force myself out comparatively late at night to the Prospect building for what is billed as an intimate outstore performance from Little Simz in support of her (absolutely banging) new album Lotus. Now. In absolute terms, I absolutely do not think we can agree on “intimate” as being an appropriate adjective for even the second, smaller room in Prospect, the Crane Room, at a capacity of 1500. But, relatively, Simz is playing two nights at the O2 in London later in the year, so I suppose this as good as it’s ever going to get - after all, gone are the days she reminisces about on stage of playing Thekla years ago. Due to the aforementioned cold, I aim to get there not very long before on-stage time, which means I am stuck at the back of what is basically a concrete rectangle. I can’t see for shit, there’s pricks all around me, and I’m already not in a very awake mood. So I tell myself, even knowing she’ll be saving Gorilla for the last song, I can leave any time I like, and given most instores tend to only be like 30 minutes, if I leave at that point, I’ll have got my money’s worth. From the moment Simz is on stage, though, there isn’t a moment I would rather leave than stay for another song. Reeling through an 18 song setlist, having already done an early show, her enthusiasm and energy are infectious (hopefully moreso than my cold). Even only on a single listen, my favourites off Lotus (Thief, Young) hit hard live. The setlist is wide ranging, if sadly lacking in NO THANK YOU cuts, but as we ride the wave of a Gorilla finale, including an acapella version of the first verse before launching fully back into it, no one is arguing.