Alanis Morissette – Live Review – Scarborough Open Air Theatre
By Roger Crow, July 2026
It wasn’t my wedding day, but there was rain. And no, it wasn’t ironic. But few of the examples in Alanis Morissette’s crowd-pleaser were, and it didn’t matter a jot. When thousands of us are all singing along in Scarborough, such nit-picking goes out the window.
Following terrific support act The Big Moon, along came the main attraction a little after 9pm, and an absolute supernova of a performance.
“Off the scale”
The seven-time Grammy award-winning superstar opened the show with the immortal ‘One Hand In My Pocket’, and for fans of her star-making 1995 album Jagged Little Pill, there was a feast of hits. ‘You Learn’, ‘Ironic’, and an acoustic mini-set of ‘Rest’, ‘Mary Jane’ and the aptly named ‘Perfect’.
Closing the show was ‘You Oughta Know’ and an encore of ‘Uninvited’ and ‘Thank U!’ And blimey were the crowd onside.
It was my first Scarborough gig of the year, and the 11-month gap had been far too long. The atmosphere, as usual, was off the scale, and while a little precipitation did threaten to rain on our parade, in the end it mattered little.
Thirty years ago,’You Oughta Know’ was the anthem for countless heartbroken souls, and a rallying call, which has since been sung a thousand times. Obviously you’ll never hear it on the radio given the lyrics, which makes it that extra special primal song for all those who picked up the pieces of their shattered lives and got on with things.
And to see and hear its author on stage sounding better than ever was easily the highlight of the year. If that’s all Alanis had done on Sunday July 5, it would have been worth the epic trip, but there was of course a full-on, no holds barred display of musical perfection.
Her band are phenomenal, and even up in the gods, that sound was absolutely incredible.
“Still going strong”
When she exploded onto the world stage in 1995, there was a fear Alanis would burn out, but thankfully she’s still going strong and looks incredible.
When director Kevin Smith needed to cast the Almighty in his film Dogma, and you know who turned up, it was a masterstroke. And at a time when a lack of empathy is celebrated by some in power, thank heavens Ms Morissette is still doing her thing, headbanging, spinning like a whirling dervish, and reminding 8,000 if us that all you really need in life is love… and some 24-carat hits that you can scream at the top of your lungs.
Thank you Alanis Morissette for one of the best nights of 2026 at one of the world’s greatest venues.
Images: Cuffe & Taylor
Adopted Yorkshireman Roger Crow developed a passion for film and TV in the 1970s and 1980s. He has been a published film and TV reviewer since the 1990s; a world travel and restaurant critic since the noughties, and for the past decade has assessed the pros and cons of live gigs and theatre productions around the UK. His ideal day would involve reviewing a performance of Bat Out of Hell, followed by a Pad Thai while being serenaded by Texas on a cruise around Europe.
crowsfeat.com; nostalgiahhh film podcast
