As Dua Lipa stood onstage at London’s 150-year-old Royal Albert Hall, she contemplated some of the illustrious names to tread these hallowed boards before her.
“There have been so many notable figures on this stage, like Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Einstein,” she said, tongue firmly in cheek. “I’m 99% sure that they didn’t have their dancers with them either…”
This was not really a backing dancers kind of evening, at least at first. Instead, Lipa promised a concert “unlike any other we’ve ever done” to fit the prestigious surroundings. And this special show certainly presented the perfect opportunity for Lipa to display her own brand of Churchillian defiance.
Her hotly anticipated latest album, “Radical Optimism,” was rather lukewarmly received upon arrival, especially compared with the rapturous response to 2020’s “Future Nostalgia.” And with a world tour themed around the new album stretching all the way towards the end of next year, industry rumors suggest that top collaborators are being brought in to add some extra magic to a deluxe edition.
However, on the live front, things could hardly be going better. Lipa has two sold-out shows lined up at London’s cavernous Wembley Stadium next summer, stepping up decisively from the “Future Nostalgia” era’s arena shows, while this show at the comparatively intimate 5,500-capacity Royal Albert Hall featured an orchestra and a surprise appearance from Elton John.
Still, if a vibe-shift is being sought, this hugely enjoyable one-off show — in advance of a month-long European tour next month — certainly does the job, if not perhaps in the way one might have expected. Far from moving on from “Radical Optimism”, Lipa leaned into it, with all 11 of its tracks making an appearance on the 19-song setlist, five of them being played live for the first time ever.
And, intriguingly, optimism wasn’t the only radical thing on display. This gig, recorded for future broadcast, may have skipped the bells-and-whistles production and mind-blowing choreography of the “Future Nostalgia” tour, but its dip into a more old-school Raye/Amy Winehouse-style revue represented a wholly different, and truly special, kind of fun.
Clad in a scarlet Jean Paul Gaultier gown and mantle, Lipa was augmented by a 53-piece orchestra, a 14-voice choir and a seven-strong band. She performed in the round, the unusual S-shaped stage allowing her to pass within inches of the lower-tier audience, most of whom had respected the “dress to impress” dress code but were unable to comply with the request to keep their camera phones in their pockets.
Certainly, several of the less heralded numbers from “Radical Optimism” benefitted hugely from the orchestral approach. “Maria”, a fairly standard Latin-tinged stomper on record, was transformed into a spaghetti western-style showstopper. “French Exit” upped its flamenco flavor into a fiery clap-along. And the wild reception for Lipa’s smoky piano rendition of “Anything for Love” suggested that it might yet become her first ballad to truly connect. Only a slightly strained “Falling Forever” didn’t quite pull it off.
Other songs emerged even more enhanced, like an initially slowed-down “Training Season” and a smouldering cover of Cleo Sol’s “Sunshine,” which sounded like lost James Bond themes, and hearing the White Town sample on “Love Again” recreated live by a full orchestra was a spine-tingling moment.
Of course, she won’t be taking this approach on the proper “Radical Optimism” tour proper, but the show and the encore were supremely confident reiterations of Dua Lipa’s elite credentials.
First, the choir parted ways to reveal “A man who needs no introduction!” — Sir Elton John, with whom she shared Variety‘s 2022 Hitmaker of the Year honors — looking positively sprightly after last year’s retirement from touring, perched on a bar stool to duet on a joyous version of their 2021 hit “Cold Heart,” as the crowd duly lost the few marbles it had retained to that point.
Lipa – now clad in a black, feathery Chanel number – then led a romp through “Be the One” (“The song that changed my life”) and announced that her backing dancers were here after all for the live premiere of “Dance the Night”.
The “Barbie” banger might not seem an obvious candidate for the classical treatment, but Lipa’s breakdown of the song — complete with musical flourishes from each section of the Heritage Orchestra — was genuinely thrilling.
It ended with a euphoric “Don’t Start Now”, all vivid string section stop-starts and gleeful grins between Lipa and her dancers. And, despite that “Future Nostalgia” nostalgia, the evening’s message that “Radical Optimism” still has plenty of road left to run, hit home.
SET LIST
End of an Era
Houdini
Levitating
Maria
French Exit
Sunshine (Cleo Sol cover)
Training Season
These Walls
Whatcha Doing
Love Again
Pretty Please
Illusion
Falling Forever
Anything for Love
Happy for You
Cold Heart (with Elton John)
Be the One
Dance the Night
Don’t Start Now