Lana Del Rey
Anfield Stadium, Liverpool
★★★★

LANA DEL RAY is a somewhat unlikely supporter of Liverpool FC. She seems genuinely thrilled that former player Kenny Dalglish is in the crowd but, despite performing in their home stadium, the high concept show lacks the flexibility for her to sing the club’s anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone, which she covered for a 2020 documentary.

Her love of football doesn’t, thankfully, extend to the staging. It instead has literary ambitions that cross Great Gatsby glamour with Jane Eyre madness, while being unafraid to challenge the audience. 

She emerges from the front door of a southern style house, all wood panelling and picket fence, to perform unreleased country track Stars Fell On Alabama. The house later becomes the surface for projected flames that rage while cut-up dialogue and images create a cacophonous tension. As the strings from Vertigo’s climax fade, she’s heard narrating an excerpt from Allen Ginsberg’s Howl.

There are times the theatrical choreography risks overpowering the songs. This is certainly true of Norman Fucking Rockwell and Arcadia, which are performed by a hologram in the house’s upstairs window. As two of her strongest tracks, it’s a baffling decision that she doesn’t perform them live.

This is nonetheless a rare misstep, with the high-art being largely balanced by homely elements. Del Rey is dressed in a simple cream dress for the first half - “in his favourite sundress,” as she sings on Video Games - and while dancers pirouette around a pole and wave ostrich feather fans, she remains poised as she sits on a rocking chair (recent single Henry, Come On) and lies with her head resting on a dancer’s stomach (Ultraviolence). 

These moments of intimacy cut through the vast stadium to match the domesticity of her latter-day lyrics. This creates an emotional connection with the audience that’s necessary given that, unlike most arena acts, she doesn’t have many songs to which people can dance. The closest she gets to anthemic is the soaring Young And Beautiful, which sees the venue light up with glow-worm phones, and Summertime Sadness, which found a new generation after going viral on TikTok. 

Her languid delivery also helps with this connection. Live performances have been criticised in the past for shaky vocals but tonight she sounds assured, switching from low register whisper to crystal clear high notes. On the closing lines of Video Games she even breaks into a jazzy delivery. Depth is elsewhere added by three backing singers, who pick up some of the heavy lifting. This is especially true of Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, which is lent newfound majesty by their soulful voices.

The push and pull between high concept and intimacy is left unresolved at the show’s close, when she covers John Denver’s Take Me Home, Country Roads (tipped to be on her upcoming country album). The band, largely hidden on the fringes of the stage, continue to play while she wanders into the stage pit to chat with fans and take selfies. She remains there as the audience start to file out of the venue.

If the ending lacks punch then maybe that’s the intention; that despite the show’s moments of glamour, life must continue in its humdrum way. In providing a welcome break from the everyday, she’s nonetheless guaranteed that we won’t forget about her in a hurry.

Lana Del Ray plays Wembley Arena, London, July 3-4