Dua Lipa

There are few stages on the planet that are bigger and more significant than Wembley Stadium. Ever since the original stadium and its iconic twin towers opened in 1923, and up to its modern renovation in 2007, it has stood tall as the centrepiece of British entertainment. Many of the world’s biggest artists have graced this venue: Coldplay, Adele and Taylor Swift to name a few. Today though, was the turn of a hometown hero, almost 365 days on from her unbelievable headline set at Glastonbury 2024.

While this show was part of her Radical Optimism Tour that has predominantly been in arenas in Europe and the United States, Dua has scheduled five of these as stadium shows in the UK and Ireland: 2 in London, 2 in Liverpool and 1 in Dublin. For these bigger audiences and venues, she certainly did not hold back. First up was Derby-born singer Alessi Rose, who has been on the entirety of the European leg of this tour so far and has built up a cult-like following across her social media platforms. Her relatable, teenage-angst pop songs certainly went down well with the small groups of super fans dotted around the stadium, almost as if they bought a ticket just to see her. As for Alessi’s performance, she’s an artist who not only provides a strong set of live vocals but also a charming smile, with her repeatedly exclaiming that she was having the best time. Additionally, former Disney star Dove Cameron was added as an extra opener for these stadium shows, her first live performances in nearly 2 years. While she was backed up by a great group of dancers and some quirky production, she failed to capture the same energy as prior opener Alessi, despite having a bigger crowd. Perhaps part of this was down to over half of her setlist being unreleased songs that debuted at Wembley, though time will tell to see if Dove Cameron grows into a larger popstar like those before her.

Finally, at 8:30, it was Dua’s turn to take to the stage, kicking her set off with the second single from her newest album Radical Optimism, ‘Training Season’. From the get-go, fireworks and pyrotechnics were on display, kicking the evening off in electric fashion. Unfortunately, not everything on her set clicked with the 75,000 strong audience, with nearly half the set being songs from Radical Optimism. While I’m personally a fan, the record unfortunately did not live up to the standard and quality that her breakout sophomore album Future Nostalgia had in 2020. Despite this, however, Dua Lipa continues to add her own charm, with feather fans during ‘End of An Era’ and tightly choreographed dance moves during ‘Watcha Doing?’. Thankfully, Dua balances her set out incredibly well with her catalogue of Grammy-winning, chart topping hits. Both ‘One Kiss’ and ‘Levitating’ are played within the first 6 songs of the setlist, providing the first of many opportunities for the crowd to get up on their feet. Then, as she and her band walk along the catwalk to the B-stage, a pleasant surprise; 2016 fan-favourite ‘‘Hotter Than Hell’ makes an appearance on Dua Lipa’s setlist for the first time in nearly 6 years, perhaps influenced by the 30°C heatwave that hit London this weekend. Following this was a section where, depending on where she was on the tour, she covered a song by a local artist. Examples were her covers of ‘Don’t Dream That It’s Over’ by Crowded House in Auckland, or even ‘99 Luftballons’ in Hamburg. Today’s treat included a special guest, Jay Kay of acid jazz and funk pioneers Jamiroquai, covering the timeless classic ‘Virtual Insanity’. For the few who recognized the name and the face, including me and my mum, it was an unexpected but welcome addition to what was already proving to be an unbelievable evening.

Perhaps the best thing to commend Dua Lipa on is the energy she gives to her performances. Not only her incredibly well rehearsed dance moves with her dance crew, which get a chance to shine when warming up the crowd for ‘Physical’, but also the sheer power her live vocals have on tracks such as ‘Hallucinate’ and ‘Falling Forever’. In yet another opportunity to flex the production budget of a stadium show like this, Dua performs 2020 hit ‘Love Again’ with a ring of fire and flames surrounding her. This starts off small, before she then moves to a C-stage in the crowd, which amplifies everything up to 11. As the platform rises and she faces the crowd, she is met with a standing ovation of applause, as well as a fun battle between both sides of the stadium as to who was loudest. As she began to walk back to the main stage for the encore, Dua kicked off the “song that started it all”, her 2015 breakout hit ‘Be The One’. When seeing her Pyramid Stage headline set at Glastonbury last year, this song served as a powerful “I made it” moment as she embraced the festival goers at Worthy Farm by climbing up to the barrier and facing the crowd in front of her. This moment tonight was equally as powerful, especially given it was her first ever headline stadium show, and there was something so heart warming about seeing her appreciation for each and every attendee in the crowd. 

As the encore approached, there was still a great chunk of hits left, and she certainly delivered them, with her last 4 songs all having charted in the UK top 3. Starting off with her first number 1 hit, ‘New Rules’, before diving into an excerpt of 2023 hit from the Barbie movie ‘Dance the Night’. As she played through her 2019 single ‘Don’t Start Now’ and her final song of the night ‘Houdini’, she billed it as “one last chance” for the crowd to use every bit of energy they had left. Even my mum, who opted to sit for the majority of the gig, got up on her feet during the encore to have an incredible finish to the evening. One last round of confetti and a final firework display lit up the iconic Wembley arch and the surrounding night sky, providing an explosive conclusion to one of the most thrilling performances to ever take place in that venue. Despite Dua Lipa’s major success in the 2020s, it has long been felt by many that she is still a fairly underrated artist in the grand scheme of things. However, if there’s one thing that I learned from tonight, it is that Dua Lipa is the real deal. Perhaps the finest pop star to come out of the UK this century, tonight finally sealed her place amongst the all-time greats.