TORONTO - The last time cheeky British pop star Lily Allen played The Phoenix in Toronto in 2007, the sometime bad girl declared it was her first sober gig.

On Wednesday night for her return visit at The Sound Academy, not so much.

"Drinking is the order of the day - will you join me in an alcoholic beverage?" asked Allen, 23, of the sold-out crowd who snapped up tickets so fast that the show was moved from its original location of The Phoenix.

"It's that time of the week - fo'shizzle," she added.

The reason for the booze, and several cigarettes it has to be said, was at least celebratory.

Allen and her crackling four-piece band were wrapping up their North American tour in T.O. and were in a festive mood before heading back to England the next day.

Reminding the Toronto audience of Allen's home was a Top Of The Pops-style, all- white set including four large white hanging letters in the background that spelled out "LILY," and a staircase which the cute, energetic singer scrambled up on more than a few occasions.

Decked out in a black and white cardigan, tight fitting black-tank mini dress and white sneakers, Allen kicked off the hour-and-15-minute show with Everybody's At It, meaning doing drugs, from her second album, 2009's It's Not Me, It's You.

But it wasn't until several songs later and her striking version of the Mark Ronson-produced Kaiser Chiefs' tune, Oh My God, that she made the same impact.

Truthfully, the show began and ended very strongly with some murkiness in the middle.

Material from Allen's impressive 2006 debut, the more ska-influenced Alright, Still..., came across vibrant and breezy on such standouts as Everything's Just Wonderful, LDN and the encore opener Smile.

Of her new songs, Him (her God as a human tune), was a definite crowd pleaser as Allen tried to explain what it was about before giving up entirely.

"This song is about the man upstairs, the all powerful one," she began. "Oh, f--k it. I don't want to get intense."

Also good from the new album were the slow and pretty Who'd Have Known, the electro-pop-charged Back To The Start, which had Allen bouncing up and down on stage, the sweet song about spending time with her mum, Chinese, and the stellar first single, The Fear, which came during the encore.

Allen's outspoken nature came through again and again as the night progressed.

She explained the new song, the countrified It's Not Fair, was about having a boyfriend who's great everywhere but in the sack.

"If he can't f--k right, you know it's over," said the blunt talker.

She also didn't hold back on explaining the new song, F--k You, was about former U.S. president George Bush.

"He was a bit of a tw-t," she said.

Still, the shock value of what Allen says often masks her insecurity.

When she decided to get rid of the cardy early in the show, she was clearly worried about showing off her body.

"I feel like my belly got so big on the tour. Don't laugh."

But by the end of the night, all the insecurities seemed to be gone as Allen whipped a cover of Britney Spears' Womanizer into tip top shape.

WHAT LILY PLAYED:

Everyone's At It

I Could Say

Never Gonna Happen

Oh My God

Everything's Just Wonderful

Him

Who'd Have Known

LDN

Back to the Start

He Wasn't There

Littlest Things

Chinese

22

Not Fair

F*** You

ENCORE:

Smile

The Fear

Womanizer