Dua Lipa review: Adele-level vocal chops, blazing stage presence and indomitable swagger
By Ed Power
Pop music has been crying out for someone with Dua Lipa’s star power. Alongside a take-no-prisoners stance on rubbish exes – as embodied by one-billion streams and counting mega hit 'New Rules' –she brings Adele-level vocal chops, paired with blazing stage presence and an indomitable swagger. It’s an irresistible combination that looks set to propel her all the way to the top.
The London-Kosovan singer has lit a fuse among her young female fans, with smart, addictive songs that celebrate empowerment while also taking potshots at lost-cause boyfriends. On the first night of her beyond-sold out new tour, the 22-year-old cut a blockbuster dash as she materialised in an oversized, yin-yang hued jacket combined with blue sports top and the world’s most billowing trousers.
"Dublin I need you with me on this one," Lipa said early on in her glottal Land-ahn estuary accent – a sentiment that could have applied to the entire concert as performer and audience bonded with ear-drum troubling enthusiasm (the shrieks were the loudest this side of a One Direction concert).
She was joined by all female dancers, though here the lack of production values showed slightly with the troupe done up like the winners of a trolley dash around Sports Direct.
A husky voice backed by a volcanic aura and a cascade of savvy tunes added up to an evening you couldn’t turn away from. She arrived in a fog of dry ice singing the first line to 'Blow Your Mind (Mwah)' – distinguishable by its smacker of a chorus and lyrics that celebrated the under-appreciated art of putting an over-confident potential paramour in their box.
More hectic was to follow as Lipa emerged on a riser at side of stage belting out mid-tempo ballad 'Lost In Your Light' and later fell to her knees for the first ever live performance of 'High'. The crowning touch – and naturally saved for the encore – was 'New Rules', her mantra against falling for the charms of a no-good ex (Lipa wasn’t in the room when the song was written – but it’s her personality that makes it work).
A blizzard of confetti swirled as the banger kicked in and the (90% female) crowd was swept along. Cliched though it may sound, it was hard not to conclude you’d witnessed a super-star in the making. Next up in Ireland is a date at Electric Picnic in the autumn. After that, who knows how far she might go?
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