The American singer performed in front of 67,000 spectators Tuesday evening in Milan.Image: Redferns
We thought she wouldn’t show up on Tuesday evening on the stage of the I-Days festival in Milan. And yet, here she is, Lana Del Rey. After years of mockery for her poor live performances, the most dark and talented American of the decade performed in front of 67,000 people. We were there.
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The concert ticket was placed on the table on Valentine’s Day, along with our favorite cocktail and a bouquet of buttercups. “It’s about time you went to see her, right?” slips the lover, smirking. More than a decade after discovering this little New Yorker with blonde (!) and wispy hair through a YouTube video. After eating this weird album Lana Del Ray AKA Lizzy Grant, its sad ballads and its choruses that make you want to die on a piece of rock, yes. It was time.
We welcome this beautiful gift with nervous laughter. Bazaar of emotions where excitement and joy mix with sincere anguish. In more than ten years, our cult of Lana Del Rey has only known one limit: attend one of his concerts. The black legend of this multi-awarded singer for her studio albums. Just ask one person present in the Stravinsky room of the Montreux Jazz Festival, that famous evening of July 4, 2012. Opinions will come forth, sharp, cruel, honest. “A disaster!”. “It was horrible”. “Worst concert of my life”. “She was pretty, but God she sang badly.”
After all, there are artists made for the stage, others for the studio. Some find themselves blessed by the gods for both. Nothing serious. To keep the fantasy and our love intact, we refrained from inquiring about his tour dates or fighting to find a place. Confining Lana’s voice to our headphones, her doll’s face to magazine covers and polished, constructed, mastered clips.
The denial will end on June 4, 2024.
“It’s over, she won’t come”
It is without really believing it that we slalom, this Tuesday, in the middle of a swarm of white dresses, lace corsets, satin ribbons and leather cowboy boots, towards the Milan Hippodrome. Lana Del Rey’s fanbase can be summed up in three words: young, predominantly female and queer. Based on a misunderstanding, a few courageous boyfriends, dads and moms joined this army of teenage girls equipped with dental braces and “vintage” digital cameras from Canon.
A fanbase committed to the idol’s cause, all in sequins, rhinestones and white lace. watson
Little dresses, plastic flowers and denim jackets going out.watson
At 5:15 p.m., we take up our quarters on a patch of grass, at a strategic distance from the stage – our little 60 meter obliges. The hours pass, as do the (many) artists scheduled to heat up the racecourse. The calves stiffen and the lower back becomes painful as the sun sets over the plain.
“Red lips, got my coat and gun. I’m Miss America! »watson
A mini-Coachella atmosphere for virgins.watson
At 9:00 p.m., still no sign of Lana. Doubt arises, and so does the urge to pee. What if she didn’t come? Would she be able to give us an Amy Winehouse trick? Could she decide she’s not in the mood and lock herself in her dressing room with a sigh of drama queen? Is she about to leave 67,000 fans in tears on the sidewalk of the Ippodromo Snai La Maura, with just their little satin dresses to cry?
At 9:20 p.m., after having decreed that “Lana won’t come anyway”, and relieving our need to urinate in the dried-out lawn (no question of losing our precious piece of land to go to the toilet), the lights went on. turn off.
On a stage that looks like a Sleeping Beauty castle for strippers, there she is. Finally. Lana. Exactly as we imagined it. Crown of flowers balanced on her voluminous brown sauerkraut, her body slipped into a pale pink glittery Marilyn-inspired dress, her very white legs in rhinestone boots. Generation TikTok obliges, phones are drawn to immortalize this entry on stage.
Glitter, sauerkraut and manicured claws: the Lana of our dreams has mysteriously taken shape on stage.Image: Redferns
The Lana of our fantasies
The tears and the mascara flow, the songs follow one another. A perfect mix for early fans as well as more recent ones, between big hits and more confidential titles, from West Coast has Norman fucking RockwellPassing by Wrinkled And Born To Die.
A sort of Jackie Kennedy 2024, faithful to the image that Lana Del Rey has created since the start of her career.watson/dr
A fantasy in the flesh. Sharp cheekbones and lips swollen with gloss which whisper into the microphone, as if to swallow it. Sometimes, she twirls around a pole dance pole, with the expression of a tormented teenager frozen on her features. Sometimes teasing, almost happy, she whispers thanks to the audience, in that pretty cooing tone of an actress from the 50s. The show is dreamlike, hypnotic. The audience in a trance. And the performance is there. His voice bursts out, powerful, crystal clear, controlled. Particularly highlighted when the instrumental is reduced to its minimum.
Lana Del Rey has cut through years of black legend over her stage performances. Image: Redferns
The concert could not end without Video Games, which brought the artist his worldwide success. Hey, it’s funny, but the younger ones seem unfamiliar with the lyrics. Is this proof that this grandiose singer, who will celebrate her 39th birthday in two weeks, has been able to renew her audience? Hug the first to come and the last to come?
On the road that leads us to the hotel, head full of haunting melodies, wet cheeks and messy guts, lost in the middle of this haggard mass, only one certainty. If she had to prove it again, Lana Del Rey is a great artist, a real one. Made to last.
