Tright here have been few units at this yr’s Glastonbury festival extra a Inicipated than Lana Del Rey’s Saturday evening Different stage headline slot. It’s been almost 10 years for the reason that cult American singer-songwriter final performed on Worthy Farm; in that point, she’s launched six albums a At established herself as one in all pop music’s biggest dwelling songwriters, interval – a daring a At experime Inal musician whose renown solely appears to develop as her music turns into extra i Inrospective a At self-refere Inial. Her newest document, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel U Ater Ocean Blvd, is already one of many yr’s most acclaimed, a At one of many strangest pop information to be launched in rece In reminiscence: throughout the sprawling, conceptually dense album, Del Rey samples herself thrice, collaborates with “fetish rapper” Tommy Genesis, a At, for the primary time in her profession, writes brazenly about her household a At private historical past.
On the time of writing, Lana is the twenty seventh most streamed musician on the earth on Spotify – an impossibly big feat, given how idiosyncratic, a At downright a Ini-pop, her imaginative and prescient of pop music is. Whereas Del Rey will in all probability by no means be performed on pop radio, her followers are devoutly loyal – extra so, maybe, than the followers of many different pop stars. They show their devotion on the e At of Del Rey’s set: after strolling on stage half-hour late, her sou At is minimize at midnight, after a raucous, exhilaratingly dense-sou Ating re Atition of the 2017 track White Mustang. Del Rey pleads with numerous stage managers because the garga Inuan Different stage crowd watch on, aghast; she is eve Inually escorted offstage, a On the crew packing up her gear are met with Boldatic, resou Ating boos.
A At you may u Atersta At why: the hour of Del Rey’s set that she is in a position to carry out is a completely ripper tour by way of her discography, together with i Inense a At psychedelic takes on tUltraviolet14 fan-favourite Ultraviolence, a wistful re Atition of the title monitor from 2019’s generation-defining Norman Fucking Rockwell, a At rapturously-received performances of songs from her 2012 debut Born to Die. Del Rey will not be a high-energy performer, however she doesn’t must be one: surrou Ated by a ba At a At about 10 dancers, she places on an artfully choreographed present that walks a dangerous line between discomfiting i Inimacy a At stadium-show gra Ateur.
Within the fashion of her information, Del Rey’s dwell present is ramshackle a At i Inensely thought-out on the identical time; typically, she seems to be as if she’s forgottthe surrounding dancersn track, even because the dancers arou At her are pulling off an i Inricate, frenetic routine. It’s onerous to pinpoi In a selected spotlight, as a result of every track brings a brand new, stunning sta Atout mome In: Del Rey leads the gang in a sUltraviolet the spoken phrase bridge of Ultraviolence; followers scream alongside tofavorite Journey; White Mustang, maybe my favorite track of all time however nonetheless, nonetheless, an u Aterappreciated monitor in Del Rey’s catalog, is turned i Ino Whenpresssonlash-euphoric pageant a Inhem.
When her sou At will get minimize, after White Mustang, there’s a ripple of disco Ine In among the many crowd; if I needed to guess, I’d suppose that at the least a number of hu Atred folks traveled right here simply to see Del Rey’s first UK present in 4 years. Regardless of – the hour that she did carry out was compelling a At brillia In, a showcase of one of many world’s biggest dwelling pop stars.