Lana Del Rey live in London: a career-defining moment for a true great
“I think this is where I got cut off last time, sorry about that,” Lana Del Rey laughs. She turns to the side of the stage and adds jokingly – but sternly – to someone in the wings: “Don’t do it!”
Its been two weeks since the star’s triumphant return to the UK was extinguished early when Glastonbury pulled the power on her Other Stage headline set. There, she was in what seemed like peak form, reminding her British fans just what they’d been missing in the four years since her last gig on this soil, where she headlined Latitude 2019. But just a few songs in at London’s BST Hyde Park tonight (July 9), she’s even more magnificent than on Worthy Farm.
As at Glastonbury, the addictive, bass-y final part of ‘A&W’ kicks things off, Del Rey emphasising the “Your mum called, I told her / You’re fucking up big time” line with a knowing grin. A stunning ‘Young & Beautiful’ follows, giving us the first of many moments to marvel at just how good her voice sounds.
There are similar theatrics tonight, with dancers lifting a train of fabric from Del Rey’s dress up the stairs behind her during ‘Young & Beautiful’ or swaying on floral-adorned swings during a beautiful ‘Ride’. For ‘Bartender’, she sits at a table and gets her hair unpinned by one of the dance team. As they fluff and preen, she hits a vape to huge cheers from the crowd. When she repeats the move a minute later, she mouths to them: “It’s so good.” This is high performance but with the barriers down, letting us in to feel a part of it.
The set features largely the same songs as we heard at Glastonbury, with a few differences. Although a large contingent of Del Rey’s collaborators from ‘Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd’ are supporting today – including Father John Misty and Tommy Genesis – none of them join Lana on stage, which feels a little like a missed opportunity. Instead, though, there’s a dreamy version of ‘Chemtrails Under The Country Club’ that causes gasps at the end when she adds the reworked lyrics: “He got married when we were still together / I guess I met him too soon” and “He got married while we were in couples’ therapy together”.
After an interlude where Del Rey greets fans in the front rows and a hypnotic ‘Candy Necklace’, for which she slinks up onto the top of a gold piano, she introduces the part of the set that previously got cut off. ‘Diet Mountain Dew’ is an infectious, upbeat moment that ramps up the energy for a hyped-up version of ‘Summertime Sadness’. The energy gets so high that even Del Rey, who was previously stood still in the centre of dancers surrounding her with mirrored plaques as if she were a masterpiece of art deco architecture, starts jumping up and down.
“Fuck yeah!” she grins afterwards. “I mean, when you show up, you show up. That’s crazy.” As she soaks up the rapturous cheers, she adds a teasing question: “How we doing – happy enough?” The answer is a unanimous, obvious yes.
Even as she drops the tempo for ‘Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd’, the joy in her performance still resonates. Seeing her sat in a line with her backing singers sharing their voices and delivering a moving rendition of the song feels like a privilege – and a reminder that Del Rey is undoubtedly one of the greatest singers in modern music. The song ends with an epic ad lib session in which Del Rey informs us she’s “taking [us] to church tonight”. It’s one of many times this evening she gets things spot on.
While many in the crowd might want this concert to never end, unfortunately it must. Del Rey caps things off with ‘Video Games’ as one of those flowery swings descends from the rafters again. She climbs on and swings back and forth as she sings, a vision of elegance. As the song ends, she twists the swing in circles, highlighting the playful moments that have littered tonight’s set.
Before that final song, she refers back to Glastonbury again. “It’s worth it, even if you get the power cut,” she jokes. “It’s worth it.” And it is entirely worth it – this is an exquisite performance that, like some other shows that have been held in Hyde Park over the years, should go down in history. At last, Lana Del Rey gets to have her moment, in full – and she does nothing but excel.
Lana Del Rey played:
‘A&W’
‘Young And Beautiful’
‘Bartender’
‘Chemtrails Over The Country Club’
‘The Grants’
‘Cherry’
‘Pretty When You Cry’
‘Ride’
‘Born To Die’
‘Blue Jeans’
‘Norman Fucking Rockwell’
‘Arcadia’
‘Ultraviolence’
‘White Mustang’
‘Candy Necklace’
‘Diet Mountain Dew’
‘Summertime Sadness’
‘Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd’
‘Video Games’
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Rhian Daly
NME
