Lana Del Rey Left Us in Awe at Brixton's O2 Academy

Lana Del Rey came to London last night to celebrate the release of her new album Lust for Life.

Dressed in a black top, jeans and wedges, the 'Honeymoon' singer captivated a sold out audience at Brixton's O2 Academy.

The concert was Lana's first non festival gig in the UK since 2013 and it was clear that many of her devoted fans were there and eager to hear her perform some of the material that she's released since then. In the space of just over five years Lana has put out four albums and an EP and with them gained many admirers of her whimsical voice and evocative imagery.

Her early live performances were often critiqued for being shaky but those days are gone. Today Lana is confident on stage - adding vocal runs to past hits, actively engaging with her audience and even performing some choreo. The drop in 'Cherry' was the smallest of moves but it complemented the song beautifully and set the audience into a massive roar of applause.

In recent years, Lana has fully embraced the caricature that comes with her sixties image and Hollywood centred lyrics. The teaser for Lust for Life featured Lana reciting a monolgue in the H of the Hollywood sign, calling Hollywood Hollyweird and joking as to what she should "cook up for the kids today". It's nice to see that that humour has ebbed into her live shows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb1lte9uljI

Lana was having fun with her music and it was infectious.

The Born to Die star began the setlist with 'Cruel World', the opening track from her sophomore album, Ultraviolence, and in doing so set the tone for the night. This was not a show for casual Lana fans. She performed the hits of course but littered in between them were fan favourites ('White Mustang', 'Off to the Races') and even one unreleased song ('Serial Killer').

She also blessed us with a short snippet of 'In My Feelings', a standout track from Lust for Life, on audience request.

Not to mention, she peformed 'Love' acapella as her band did not have the instrumental for it prepared.

Hearing her pitch perfect vocal alone, except for the support of audience singing along, was a treat.

In spite of her stardom, Lana's production was still relatively lowkey. A stunning neon 'Del Rey' sign hovered above the set and projections of her music videos and other nostalgic collages acted as her backdrop but that was all that she needed. Her songs are grand and seeing songs like 'Video Games', 'Summertime Sadness' and 'Ride' performed in front of their visuals was a gift.

Recent fans of Lana may have been upset that she only performed four songs from her new album - particularly when it is so brilliant - but, for those of us who have been with Lana since day one, the gig was an honour. One that we'll cherish forever.

At the end of the show Lana went down into the audience, chatted with her fans and received gifts from them.

She then wandered off the stage back into Hollyweird. A superstar performance by a true superstar.

Setlist

1. Cruel World
2. Cherry
3. Shades of Cool
4. Blue Jeans
5. Born to Die
6. Summertime Sadness
7. Video Games
8. Serial Killer
9. White Mustang
10. In My Feelings
11. Ultraviolence
12. Ride
13. Love
14. Off to the Races

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WATCH LANA'S 'LUST FOR LIFE' VIDEO HERE!