Lana Del Rey performs rain or shine, shows love for her fans at sold-out Dallas concert
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Although the weather forced Lana Del Rey to cut her Tuesday night performance two songs early, the singer powered through the rainy night to put on an ethereal show for her Dallas audience.
“God humbled me back down to the ground,” Del Rey said as the lightning and thunder surrounding the Dos Equis Pavilion amphitheater brought an end to the concert. “I guess we’re really wrapping it up.”
But she made sure to close out the night on a positive note and leave her fans with words of love and inspiration.
“It’s just better to do what you love than be scared and fail and I’m just saying that because we’re finally all together after fourteen years here. We woke up another day, we’re super happy,” she said.
Del Rey, whose real name is Elizabeth Grant, is known for her songs about romance, old Hollywood, and her love for old-school Americana.
Inspired by some of her most notable outfits, including those shown on her album artwork, many of Del Rey’s fans mimicked her style by dressing up in white lace, hair ribbons, floral headbands, boots, and red heart-shaped sunglasses. The weather did not keep the sold-out show from filling up to see Del Rey on her fifth concert tour.
She started out Tuesday night’s performance with songs from her most recent albums, “Chemtrails Over The Country Club” and “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd,” which debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart in April of this year.
It wasn’t long before she brought an older song adored by many, “Young and Beautiful.” With its jazzy influences and orchestral instrumentals, it was only natural to have the song featured in the 2013 movie “The Great Gatsby.”
The song stands as a prime example of her song-writing about glamour and love with lyrics like, “I’ve seen the world, done it all, had my cake now / Diamonds, brilliant, and Bel Air now,” before moving onto the famous chorus, “Will you still love me when I’m no longer young and beautiful / Will you still love me when I got nothing but my aching soul?”
A few more songs into the show, Del Rey welcomed out three backup singers — Pattie Howard, Melodye Perry and Shikena Jones, who were featured in the “20 Feet From Stardom” documentary — to help her perform “The Grants,” a song that pays homage to her family.
Notable lyrics in the song include, “My sister’s first-born child / I’m gonna take that too with me / My grandmother’s last smile / I’m gonna take that too with me / It’s a beautiful life / Remember that too for me.”
Del Rey not only sings about her family, but she has also worked with them musically. She’s collaborated with her father, Robert England Grant Jr., on his debut album, “Lost at Sea,” for which Del Rey co-wrote two songs on the album.
Followed by elegant visuals of baby-blue skies and thick clouds and smoke coming from both sides of the stage, Del Rey set a melancholic tone with “Pretty When You Cry,” from her third studio album, “Ultraviolence.”
The singer sat on the floor with a solemn expression on her face as she sang the song’s lyrics, “Don’t say you need me when / You leave and you leave again / I’m stronger than all my men / Except for you.”
Just after singing a verse about “special times” that do not mean anything to the person she loves, the crowd roared when she altered the song’s next verse to sing, “But I don’t really mind, I’ve got much more than that / Like my show in Texas tonight.”
Dallas is one of the 10 cities that Del Rey was scheduled to perform for her Fall 2023 U.S. tour.
After getting the Dallas crowd excited — even during one of her most sad songs yet — she showed visuals of an American flag as an introduction to her song “Ride,” off of the “Born to Die” album.
While it was her second studio album, the “Born to Die” debut is what helped her reached platinum status.
Another popular hit with orchestral instrumentals, she sings about her free spirit in “Ride” and reminisces on the simple pleasures that fulfill her life, despite her troubles.
Del Rey sung the song’s lyrics, “I hear the birds on the summer breeze, I drive fast/ I am alone at midnight / Been trying hard not to get into trouble, but I / I’ve got a war in my mind,” as lights of red and blue surrounded her.
A fan of ‘60s pop culture and old hit songs, the singer performed her covers of “Stand By Your Man” by Tammy Wynette and “Summertime” by George Gershwin, fulfilling the concert’s atmosphere with feelings of adoration, tenderness and warmth.
Del Rey briefly revisited her third album during her performance by singing “Ultraviolence.” Once again displaying her love for American pop culture, she sang the “Ultraviolence” lyrics, “We could go back to New York / Loving you was really hard / We could go back to Woodstock / Where they don’t know who we are.”
But the singer was quick to revisit her “Born to Die” album to perform popular hits off such as “Blue Jeans” and “Summertime Sadness.”
The audience sang almost every word in “Diet Mountain Dew” as Del Rey reflected the stage’s bright green lights. The song’s famous lyrics, “Baby, put on heart shaped sunglasses / ’Cause we gonna take a ride,” can be credited for many fans showing up with heart-shaped shades at Tuesday’s concert.
As rain began to dawn on the audience, Del Rey closed the night with “Video Games,” the single that debuted off of “Born to Die” and became a hit not long after.
“Dallas, so amazing. Thank you for letting me be in Texas.”
Del Rey is scheduled to perform in Alabama, two shows in Florida, and more in Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia for the remainder of her tour.
Lana Del Rey setlist at Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas, Texas on Sept. 20, 2023
Norman f****** Rockwell
Arcadia
A&W
Young and Beautiful
Bartender
Chemtrails Over The Country Club
The Grants
Cherry
Pretty When You Cry
Ride (and Ride monologue)
Stand By Your Man (Tammy Wynette cover)
Summertime (George Gershwin cover)
Blue Jeans
Ultraviolence
Born To Die
Diet Mountain Dew
Summertime Sadness
Video Games
