Dua Lipa, Royal Albert Hall: Elton John joins the disco queen for a slick orchestral spectacular

This impressive one-off show from Lipa, currently Britain’s reigning pop star, displayed her talents in a whole new light

4/5
Winston Churchill, Charles De Gaulle and Albert Einstein are not names you expect to hear invoked at a pop concert, but they all got a mention as Dua Lipa made her Royal Albert Hall debut (with a surprise appearance from Elton John). “So many notable figures have stood on this very stage,” announced the 29-year-old British-Albanian singer and songwriter, immodestly adding herself to their ranks, then joking about how she was pretty sure they hadn’t worn an outfit like hers.
In a slinky red Jean Paul Gaultier split-leg dress and arm-length gloves, Lipa came dressed for the occasion. As, indeed, did the Hall itself. I’ve never seen the august venue decked out quite like this. The entire arena floor doubled as the stage, split by a shiny curving LED lit catwalk weaving between members of a 53-piece orchestra and 14-piece choir, alongside the pop star’s usual seven-piece band. A hi-tech circular lighting rig loomed overhead, and the whole place seemed to shine, with 5,000 audience members lit up for TV cameras catching the action from every angle.
The Hall counts as an intimate gig for Lipa, currently Britain’s reigning pop star, last spotted headlining Glastonbury festival in front of a quarter-of-a-million ravers. “I’ve been thinking about this show for a very long time,” Lipa admitted of her debut orchestral performance. “I want to take it very seriously.” There is a sense, perhaps, in which this most ambitious and strategic of stars feels she has something to prove. She has risen to the top as a powerful singer, smart pop songwriter and athletic dancer with a reputation for controlled commercial perfectionism, but this year’s Radical Optimism album hasn’t quite caught fire the way 2020’s Future Nostalgia did.
This one-off show represented a kind of reboot, displaying Lipa’s talents in a fresh light. Here she was proving that she can really sing without all the electronic scaffolding (which she certainly can), that her songs stand up to analogue orchestral rearrangement (tick) and that she can command attention without all the sexed-up choreography, dazzling videos and bombast of a pop extravaganza (tick, tick, tick). Oh, and presumably log an album’s worth of new content with which to remarket Radical Optimism.
The set list duly included every song from the album, interspersed with a smattering of her biggest hits. It was impressive and I would have expected nothing less. Lipa has a husky voice and big range, and it was interesting to hear it more exposed than usual, albeit it might have been even more so if she had really taken the orchestral challenge. The Heritage Orchestra were effectively taking the place of synthesisers and backing tracks but it was still her regular band who drove proceedings with slick disco bass and drums. The orchestra were so spread about the circular space it was difficult to understand how they could even be following the isolated conductor, Ben Foster, especially with the singing star relentlessly pacing a raised catwalk between musicians.
Love Again (from Future Nostalgia) worked particularly well, perhaps because it was already based around a string sample from an old Bing Crosby jazz single, My Woman. For me, though, the most interesting moments came when they dialled down the band. Some of the intros were gorgeous – a lone trumpet leading into a swinging Maria, handclaps and Spanish acoustic guitar emphasising Latin flavours in French Exit. A cover of London soul chanteuse Cleo Sol’s ballad Sunshine shone with cinematic lustrousness. Ballad Anything for Love was performed standing at a piano with more depth and soul than on the recording.
For the most part though, it was a slick Dua Lipa dance party without the electronica or (until the joyful climax) any dancers. The big marketing moment arrived when Elton John continued what might be politely described as a very overactive retirement by joining Lipa for a duet of their hit Cold Heart. The old showbiz trooper basked in the audience’s amazed applause, and the new one basked in reflected glory – whilst also showing off a second outfit designed by Chanel that made her look like an evil fantasy queen. It was an impressive show that had her fans dancing with delight, and while it never really threatened to blow the roof off the old building it is sure to look utterly fantastic on the screens for which it is actually intended.
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