After two years, Dua Lipa is more than ready to own the stadium tour she’s been waiting to embark on. Just days before her 2020 album, Future Nostalgia, was slated to be released, the Covid-19 pandemic impacted not only the album’s release (she moved it up a week early), but the massive set of live shows that was set to catapult her to global stardom. No matter. As the shutdown stretched through 2020, and most of 2021 as well, Dua and her camp did what all great artists did during that time: She pivoted. First, giving fans even more to dance about by releasing the Club Future Nostalgia remix versions of her original songs, often with superstar collaborators in tow, and then followed that up with the Moonlight edition, which also featured a few new songs.
Of course, even with all the new music and different versions coming out, lots of listeners were happy to just keep returning to the hits, part of what made “Levitating” a historically popular song — it just hit the mark for the longest-charting song by a woman on the Hot 100. That’s quite a feat for a pop star who has only been around for less than a decade. All this to say, by the time fans got to their seats for one of two nights that Dua Lipa and her stacked openers would be performing at The Forum in Los Angeles this week, the anticipation was palpable. And, perhaps one of the few great side effects of the delay was, Dua had never been more polished and ready.
Kicking off the setlist with an ensemble number for the second Future Nostalgia single “Physical,” she made it clear that disco, neon, roller skaters, and lots of glitter were all going to be on hand for the next 90 minutes, making this tour into the stadium spectacle fans had been craving. Flanked for most songs by a series of extremely talented backup dancers, Dua hit every move of the choreography with the kind of practiced precision that only someone who is proving dectrators wrong can muster. Though she’s been derided in the past for not backing up her danceable hits with moves of her own, it’s clear that Dua 2.0 is a dancing machine. While this means she sometimes looks a little stiff while going through the motions, the bevy of dancers around her, and those incredibly strong, pitch-perfect vocals make this set one of the most enjoyable pop tours of 2022 so far.
Immediately getting into her debut hit single, “New Rules” as the second song in the setlist, Dua mostly stuck to Future Nostalgia favorites like “Love Again,” “Cool,” “Pretty Please” and “Break My Heart,” before closing out the first half of the show with “Be The One,” one of the earliest singles from her self-titled debut. Turning that shimmering, hopeful tune into a sing-along with the crowd, and letting her backup vocalists take over the refrain, Dua disappeared for the first of what would end up being many costume changes. Her lacy, lime green jumpsuit with long-sleeved gloves has since become a staple in social media clips and videos, but later looks like a silver bodysuit, or her final black sequined jumpsuit with suggestive cutouts and a catwoman feel were just as stunning. Because, after a few years of sweats and at-home looks, this kind of high-fashion glamor is part of what fans want to see during a massive pop show.
Her second full set was all Future Nostalgia songs, including the Moonlight edition standout, “We’re Good,” along with “Good In Bed,” “Fever,” and “Boys Will Be Boys.” Then, she incorporated some of her best collaborations into the show, the slightly clubbier “One Kiss,” her song with Calvin Harris, and the Silk City (Mark Ronson and Diplo) track “Electricity,” before heading into the final stretch with “Hallucinate” and “Cold Heart,” the Elton John cover/remix that’s been heating up on the charts itself, and is currently sitting at No. 13. Considering her new collab with Megan Thee Stallion, “Sweetest Pie” debuted at No. 15, and “Levitating” is still hanging out at No. 19, Dua’s current chart domination is definitely part of what makes this tour feel so exciting and relevant.
Speaking of “Levitating,” of course it had to be the show’s formal closer, as Dua took to the skies in a floating cage, still dancing and belting out lyrics while she moved through the air and gave attention to different sections of the nosebleeds. Coming back one last time after that to encore with “Future Nostalgia,” which seemed like it would’ve worked better earlier in the show, the last song of the night was “Don’t Start Now,” a supercharged, extended take on the lead single that kicked off this entire album cycle. And even though this single, in particular, came out all the way back in October of 2019, it sounded just as fresh as it did three years ago. Or maybe that’s just the future nostalgia at work. This show lived up to the hype in every way, and sets Dua up perfectly for whatever she wants to tackle next.
Setlist:
1. “Physical”
2. “New Rules”
3. “Love Again”
4. “Cool”
5. “Pretty Please”
6. “Break My Heart”
7. “Be The One”
8. “We’re Good”
9. “Good In Bed”
10. “Fever”
11. “Boys Will Be Boys”
12. “One Kiss” (Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa)
13. “Electricity” (Silk City & Dua Lipa)
14. “Hallucinate”
15. “Cold Heart” (PNAU Remix, Elton John & Dua Lipa)
16. “Levitating”
17. “Future Nostalgia”
18. “Don’t Start Now”
Make sure you don’t miss this Dua Lipa tour while you still have time!
Dua Liap is a Warner Music artist. .
