Dua Lipa is electric. She is one of a kind. If you haven’t been to a live show, get to one! The 21 year old star is currently out on her first U.S. headlining Tour with several sold out dates. If you’ve been following her up to this point you’d know these large crowds and waves of adoring fans is nothing new for Dua. Last year in May, she had her first show ever in New York at Baby’s All Right sold out, as well as a sizzling set at the Mckittrick Hotel to a full room. Even back then I knew Dua was something special.
It’s Wednesday March 1st 2017 in New York City, the sun has set and I’m now on the 6 to Union Square. Shortly upon leaving the station, I find my way to the venue, I walk in immediately and find my friends on the balcony. Suddenly, the lights go down as the intro starts playing, this is different from her previously sold out Mercury Lounge set, this past August, and her opening sets with Troye Sivan this past fall, which was exciting. Her band emerges onto the stage first, before Dua struts out onto stage saying “New York Ya Ready?” This was before powering into her first song “Last Dance” getting the crowd energized with a song we all knew very well. The next song “Want To” was a sultry tune (known to some fans) in which she boldly states “It’s my body and I’ll dance if I want to” while swaying and popping to the beat as the crowd went wild. Next was “Bad Together,” a song about being a badass with the one you love and taking on the world one day at a time. Next was recent single “Room For 2,” a song about a lover whose done you wrong and you can’t figure out why. Dua gazing into the eyes of the crowd sings “I’ve been down it all comes back around push and shove do you feel better now? Knock knock, you’ll come tumbling down Karma’s got a kiss for you;” swaying to the beat as the band played in perfect syncopation to her movements. Then Dua said "alright this next song is really special so if you know it, sing along" as the intro to "Hotter than Hell” as the crowd screams in a complete uproar singing every single word back at full volume.
The last song she did was her hit single "Be The One," and when she got to the bridge she jumped down from the stage and stood on the barricade and asked the fans to help her out with the next part of the song, engaging in a sing along with the room, then climbing back on stage to finish the song. The second she exited the stage the room erupted in chants of “DUA DUA," and shortly thereafter the band re-emerged to give an encore as Dua returned to the stage to tell us she had one more song for us, that song being "Blow Your Mind (Mwah)," a song that says I’m a badass and you're going to love me. When she finished the song and the lights came on you could hear a collective sad sigh in the room as fans began to spill out of the venue. But why wouldn’t they be upset after watching a powerful show-stopping, one of a kind performance from a Rock star like Dua? And one thing I have to say is that Dua’s team gets it. Her manager and publicist know what the fans go through and are ALWAYS on sight with Dua making sure her days run smoothly as well as seeing that her fans are treated with love and respect, and making sure they know Dua loves and appreciates them. This is a rare thing nowadays because so many artists and their teams treat the fans like ATMs and that’s not cool.
You can check Dua out on tour throughout this month and at Governor’s Ball this June; all dates and tour info can be found on her website.
