Lana Del Rey at Brixton Academy

Lana Del Rey
Dermot Kennedy
Brixton Academy, 24 July 2017

Before this concert Lana Del Rey didn't feel real to me. It's not a question of authenticity (plenty of great artists have changed their names and created stage personas) it's just that she's always seemed something dreamed up by David Lynch: a mysterious singer of torch songs with old Hollywood movie star looks and a string of doomed romances to sadly croon about. This show, announced just the week before to promote her new album Lust For Life, proved that she is indeed the real deal in every way.

When I arrived at Brixton Academy for the sold out show I was met with what is easily the biggest queue there I've ever seen. That, along with all the flower crowns and 60s-style dresses that Del Rey favours, was more than enough evidence that her fans are pretty hardcore. Inside the venue there were even loud chants of "Lana! Lana! Lana!" long before she was due on stage. You could feel the excitement and anticipation in the air, it has after all been four years (and three albums) since she's played in the UK, and it was great to feel part of it.

I had wondered if her show would be a more pop production, but aside from a fluorescent light shining out her name at the top of the stage, a backscreen showing various images and two dancers/backing singers who appeared every so often, it was a promisingly simple rock set-up of drums, guitar, bass and keyboards. Even when Del Rey finally appears herself, she wears just a black top, jeans and wedge sandals, the only glamour coming from her big Priscilla-like hair, and yet looked utterly elegant. Rather than being all pouts and dreamy, faraway looks, she is smiley and sweet and all "Oh my gosh! Thank you so much!" like a surprised girl next door rather than a huge pop star with a rabid following.

As a promotional show for her new record I expected this to be just a showcase for Lust For Life, which I was fine with since the new album is absolutely superb, but she began with one of the best tracks from her LP, Ultraviolence, the slow-burning, Mazzy Star-esque Cruel World, as the dancers on platforms beside her strike strange shapes. The crowd goes absolutely crazy and sing along to every word. It was like witnessing some kind of modern day Beatle-mania. I've never actually seen anything like it at a concert before.

For someone who was derided at the start of her career for a lack of stage presence, I can see no evidence of it now. It's true she mainly just walks around the stage, but given that someone like Mark Lanegan just rigidly remains at his microphone stand yet is utterly riveting to watch and hear, Del Rey to me seems happy to let her voice be the star and she sounds magnificent.

She whizzes through so many of her hits, all of which sound epic and already classic, from the Bond-esque Shades Of Cool to the songs which launched her into stardom: the moody Video Games, the anthemic Born To Die, the lush Blue Jeans and the cinematic Ride. All were accompanied by video collages featuring vintage footage and Lynch-like images and all were almost deafeningly sung along to by the crowd. In some ways this was lovely, a beautiful display of fan devotion, but in other ways it was completely annoying as I was there to hear Del Rey sing and not the crowd, so I must admit I was relieved when she delved into the new material as, at the very least, the audience wasn't quite as familiar with it.

She played just four tracks from Lust For Life (sadly not my favourites though: 13 Beaches, Get Free and When The World Was At War We Kept Dancing). Both Cherry (which included a few coordinated dance moves with her dancers) and White Mustang fit with the older material perfectly evoking soundtracks of noir films that never were. But the nicest moments were the most spontaneous. First someone in the crowd requests new song In My Feelings. Del Rey at first apologises, saying they haven't learned that song yet but sensing the disappointment instead just bursts into the song acappella, showing off both her incredible voice and her ability to hold the audience in the palm of her hand. Later she announces they are about to play single Love but when the keyboardist seems to have some kind of trouble starting the song, she just says "Fuck it!" and again sings the song alone accompanied only by the crowd singing along. It sounds glorious, is by far the highlight of the night, and speaks volumes of Del Rey as a performer.

Elsewhere, she also sings a non-album track I had never heard before called Serial Killer but I must admit I wish she had sung at least one song from her previous album, Honeymoon, which she completely ignored at this show. 

The whole thing ended with an extended version of Off To The Races, which sounded incredible, a lot darker and rockier than the dancey album version. At the very end she disappeared off the stage toward the audience, in a very Stevie Nicks move (appropriate since Stevie is on the new album) greeting the crowd and gathering up gifts and flowers given to her. She emerges laden with bouquets, smiles and waves and is gone. We remain, anxiously awaiting an encore but the lights come up.

Seeing Lana Del Rey live proved to me she is a real person: talented, beautiful and a brilliant performer but she remains as mysterious as ever. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Just a quick note about support act Dermot Kennedy, a singer-songwriter from Wicklow who the crowd appeared to love tonight. To my humble ears though he sounded like Ed Sheeran and since I can't fathom the popularity of Mr Sheeran it's pretty obvious that the similarly dull tones of Mr Kennedy were not for me.