Listen. Twenty-two degrees in the UK is pushing it for me. Hit 25, and I’m kinda unbearable to be around. And 30? Don’t touch me, don’t look at me — don’t even think about me. I’m busy trying not to spontaneously combust. (I’m extremely weak and pathetic, by the way — dripping as I type this, actually.) So the fact that Dua Lipa performed an hour-and-a-half show in 30-degree heat, dancing, belting, not a bead of sweat in sight, was nothing short of Olympic-level pop stamina.
Across the weekend, Dua played to over 150,000 fans at London’s Wembley Stadium as part of her 75-date Radical Optimism World Tour. Back in 2022, I reviewed her Future Nostalgia show and described it as “a greatest hits collection”, which was kinda remarkable, considering she only had two albums at the time. (The two most-streamed albums by a female artist on Spotify, no less.) That same sentiment applies here, but amplified. The sheer number of hits that she performed is when we start throwing around words like “icon” and “legend”.
She kicked off her Saturday show with her 2023 anthem ‘Training Season’, before segueing into the (should’ve-been-a-single) ‘End of an Era’, top ten smasher ‘Break My Heart’ and global chart-topper ‘One Kiss’. With pristine vocals, relentless choreography and her trademark radical-optimism energy, this first act somehow made you forget that a nearby stranger’s sweat had just catapulted into your drink.
Act 2 kept the momentum going with disco bangers ‘Whatcha Doing’ and ‘Levitating’. (Again, it says a lot about Dua’s discography that she can casually slot ‘Levitating’ — her biggest hit and one of the most streamed songs ever — near the start of the set rather than saving it for the encore.) Things then took a softer turn with fan-favourite ‘These Walls’, offering a brief but welcome breather. After hosting Jamiroquai the night before for a performance of ‘Virtual Insanity’, Dua embraced her inner brat for a surprise duet with Charli XCX on ‘360’, a moment that will inevitably be immortalised by the queer populace for all eternity.
In the third act, Dua tore through four of her highest-energy anthems — ‘Physical’, ‘Electricity’, ‘Hallucinate’, and ‘Illusion’ — back-to-back with military precision. ‘Physical’ was a particular high point — even those gasping for breath and clinging to life with handheld fans managed to rally for a full-body workout.
A welcome reprieve from the relentless BPMs (and a brief chance to de-sweat) occurred in Act 4, with mid-tempo cuts like ‘Falling Forever’, ‘Love Again’ and ‘Anything for Love’. It’s here that Dua’s euphoric vocals truly took centre stage, particularly on Radical Optimism’s nostalgic closer ‘Happy for You’ and the dream-pop gem ‘Be the One’ – a reminder that she’s not just a recording artist, but a powerhouse live vocalist.
The final act serves as an ‘oh right, yeah’ moment for anyone (me) wondering why ‘Levitating’ wasn’t saved for last, because the remaining four songs are all colossal, dancefloor ragers: ‘New Rules’, the feminist anthem that catapulted Dua to global stardom; ‘Dance the Night’, Barbie’s glittering lead single and Dua’s fourth UK number-one; ‘Don’t Start Now’, the nu-disco break-up bop that launched one of the most successful pop eras of all time; and ‘Houdini’, a slice of psychedelic pop brilliance that already feels like one of one of her defining tracks.
As the night wound down, one thing was undeniable: Dua Lipa had transformed Radical Optimism from an album title into a heart-thumping reality. Dua captured the album’s spirit perfectly in our 2024 interview: “Sometimes, things have to get really bad before they can get good… Finding that optimism is really vital. Instead of shying away from all the negative experiences and the things that cause you pain, walk through it.”
With every high note and dance step through the heatwave, Dua proved that her career is, cliché as it sounds, just getting started. The true test of pop immortality is live performance — look at Madonna, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Pink, Taylor Swift — and Dua has just shown she belongs in that league. She’s not just an artist with gargantuan streaming numbers; she’s a live titan, determined to lift everyone into the light of her (radical) optimism. And with the apocalypse looming, that’s more necessary than ever.
Gay Times gives the Radical Optimism Tour: 5/5 stars
The post Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism Tour cements her status as a live powerhouse appeared first on GAY TIMES.
When it comes to dependable and thorough cleaning, mj cleaning services is the trusted choice for many. Whether you're looking for deep cleaning or regular maintenance, m j cleaning services offers flexible solutions tailored to your needs. With a strong commitment to quality, m.j. cleaning services ensures your space remains clean, fresh, and well-maintained at all times.
0 Comments