Fresh off a headlining set at the Governor's Ball music festival in New York City on Sunday, Lana Del Rey brought her "Endless Summer Tour" to the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts last night. Although the stage might have been a bit smaller than her previous show, Del Rey still put on a massive, memorable performance.
The show's opener, Canadian synthpop artist Grimes, was a few songs into her set when I got to my seats. Her last album, Visions, was obnoxious as all hell and her live show was just as, if not more grating than her studio material. Her vocals are so densely processed with electronic effects and her production is so repetitive and flat that makes every single minute of listening to her music is completely intolerable. It also cracks me up that her sound is so lifeless despite the fact that its heavily rooted in electronica. Even the worst electronic music typically has some passion and energy behind it, but Grimes lacks even a hint of either. I'm sure here music is perfect for really sad, low-energy raves, but in any other setting, it's just laughably bad. After this putrid performance, I can say without any doubt in my mind that I'll never voluntarily listen to or see Grimes live ever again.
Shortly after Grimes finished up, the sun finally set at the Xfinity Center, setting the perfect tone for the haunting darkness of Lana Del Rey's music. Going into the show, I'd heard all sorts of conflicting things about Del Rey's ability as a live performer. I'd read numerous reviews pointing out how visibly uncomfortable she is performing and ranting about she can't sing or hold notes live while others have hailed the quality of her voice and how well her vintage-inspired art/indie pop translates to big stages. Other than the sometimes spotty sound mix and way too loud backing tracks on
the choruses of "Blue Jeans" and "West Coast", her performance at this show was pretty much flawless. The raw power of her vocals and low-key nature of her show made the nearly 20,000 capacity venue seem far more intimate than it actually was. Del Rey sounded absolutely amazing throughout her 75-minute set, displaying her wide vocal range and hitting just about every complex note with ease. Her set was further aided by a setlist that included almost all of the best material from her two most recent LP's Born to Die and Ultraviolence. There wasn't a single song on the night that wasn't excellent, but the more subdued, emotionally-charged songs ("Shades of Cool", "Summertime Sadness", "Video Games", "Cruel World") and the rousing, guitar-driven rendition of "Off to the Races" to finish off the set sent chills through my entire body. Any fans of Del Rey that have been skeptical about seeing her after hearing the mixed word-of-mouth about her live shows or watching her much-maligned Saturday Night Live performance from 2012 need to go and out see her the next chance they get. Lana Del Rey's live shows are every bit as immense and breathtakingly beautiful as her albums and can not be missed by anyone who has any sort of appreciation for her music.
Scores:
Grimes 2/10
Lana Del Rey 9/10
Side notes:
-If there was a world record for most short white girls with flowers in their hair at a concert, this show would easily have it.
-The new song "Serial Killer" off her upcoming third LP Honeymoon sounded amazing and much more in-line with the trip-hop sound of Born to Die than the bluesy sound of Ultraviolence
-Lana smiled far more than I expected her too.
-Grimes sucks.
Setlists:
Grimes:
Circumambient
Oblivion
REALiTi
Nightmusic
Be a Body
Go
Phone Sex
Symphonia IX (My Wait is U)
Genesis
Lana Del Rey:
Cruel World
Cola
Blue Jeans
West Coast
Born to Die
Ultraviolence
Summertime Sadness
Chelsea Hotel No. 2 (Leonard Cohen cover)
Brooklyn Baby
Shades of Cool
Serial Killer (new song)
Video Games
Off to the Races
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