Last night Lionel Richie made a surprise appearance during night 3 of Dua Lipa‘s “Radical Optimism” Tour at LA’s Kia Forum performing his Commodores-like-Caribbean sounding classic “All Night Long” with the British singer.
It’s just one of many rotating classic ditties in her set list, Lipa paying consistent homage to ’70s, disco and 80s sonic auras. During Lipa’s Miami stop, it was Gloria Estefan’s “Conga” that she was doin’.
On night one here in LA, which we attended, toward the end of Act II, in the wake of Act I hits “Training Season,” “Break My Heart” and “Levitating,” Lipa swapped her Jean Paul Gaultier silvery satiny Swarovski crystal embellished corset for a black lacy Valentino catsuit, and brought the band and back-up singers to a center platform for a rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 song about fractured love, “The Chain.” And with her mezzo soprano, Lipa shined. Tonight is the final night of the LA leg of her tour at Inglewood’s Kia Forum.
It’s those moments in the “Radical Optimism” show that are winning: When Lipa stops, and slows down and we begin to further appreciate her vocal bandwidth.
Was “Radical Optimism” entertaining? Without a doubt, and the sold-out diverse audience, filled with moms, little girls, older couples, and twentysomethings would agree.
Yes, Lipa has the boogie.
However, she arrives in the wake of a string of pop princess and prince concerts, arguably going all the way back to March 2024 with Madonna’s “The Celebration Tour,” then December’s Billie Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” followed by this summer’s The Weeknd’s “After Hours Til Dawn,” Lady Gaga’s “The Mayhem Ball,” and the upcoming Sabrina Carpenter “Short n’ Sweet Tour” in LA next month.
Meaning, competition is stiff, and if you wanna stand out, ya gotta get a gimmick that sets yourself apart from the laser lights, digital image backdrops (Lipa opted to start the show with a rolling ocean which at a later point becomes an arctic landscapes), group dancing, and meet-and-greet with the audience seen in other extravaganzas.
Often that means leaving the crowd awestruck and stumped in the mystique as they’re bopping along. In other words, what is this artist truly trying to scream out to the masses at this point in time in their career? Read, Madonna brought a Fellini production design sensibility when regaling her canon in Celebration, Gaga brought her freakish gothic sense of Catholicism in all of her couture get-ups in Mayhem, and Weeknd left us to figure out the beautiful crossroads between Dune and Styx’s Mr. Roboto.
Lipa is a straight shooter; all song and dance sans melodrama, the show reminiscent of Christina Aguilera’s 2006-2008 Back to Basics Tour. It’s the hits in a flash of orange, purple, and red. While Aguilera would belt her female anthems, the joy of Lipa remains her escapist tunes (Barbie‘s “Dance the Night Away”) and advice songs to chicas about getting the upper hand on a guy (take your pick “Break My Heart”, “New Rules” and “Houdini”, the latter two part of her encore).
Though she ends with “Houdini”, her overall encore felt too rushed, like we were out of time (the Saturday night concert though starting 20 minutes late was rather short wrapping by 10:45pm). Next to Gaga’s 2 1/2 hour Mayhem Ball, Lipa by comparison was Houdini.
Again, when Lipa ratchets a tune down, that’s when she grooves in a build-up, i.e. her suspenseful crooning at the onset of “Training Season”. Or the emotionally inducing crawl and then canasta rhythm speed-up of the Latina infused “Maria,” (right after “The Chain”); her Gospel throat the star along with a single dancer sashaying in the background centerstage (by far the night’s best number). Or more tear-inducing, when Lipa goes all a cappella toward the end of “Anything for Love” (all of these singles BTW from her “Radical Optimism” album).
Lipa can dance, there’s no question about that, and she’s constantly on the move, marching and strutting with her back-up dancers in tow. You can’t say that about some of the most popular pop acts, i.e. Fergie and the Black Eye Peas were never known for their moves, even Gwen Stefani who might get credit for originating the jumping-in-one-place bop for No Doubt’s “Just a Girl”; that dance acrobatic now owned by Eilish during “Bad Guy” performances. Lipa does jump in one place, but she’s la reina of hip-swinging as evidence in “Levitating”. However, let’s say after the amazing cutting of the rug that Lipa pulls off in the Charm L’Donna choregraphed “Houdini” and “Dance the Night” videos (who also choregraphed the tour), we came with high hopes of the British performer pulling off some original Twyla Tharp and Bob Fosse moves.
There’s plenty to be optimistic about in “Radical Optimism.” Remember, it’s only the 30-year old’s third headlining tour after 2017’s Self-Titled tour and 2022’s Future Nostalgia Tour. But training season is over, and it will be interesting to see Lipa’s next iteration onstage, dancing the night away, keeping the party runnin’, not one hair out of place.
Choreographer: Charm La’DonnaProduction Designer: Matt Pitman of PixelmappersTour Director: Peter AbbottTour Creative Director: David Black
Set List (for night one)Act I“Training Season”“End of an Era”“Break My Heart”“One Kiss”
Act II“Whatcha Doing”“Levitating”“These Walls”Cover song – “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac“Maria”
Act III“Physical”“Electricity”“Hallucinate”“Illusion”
Act IV“Falling Forever”“Happy for You”“Love Again”“Anything for Love”“Be the One”
Encore“New Rules”“Dance the Night”“Don’t Start Now”“Houdini”
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