Lana Del Rey’s long-awaited UK and Ireland tour kicked off in Cardiff on Monday night, but for many, the opening night fell flat.
The Video Games singer, 40, arrived on stage more than 20 minutes late at the Principality Stadium, leaving some fans disappointed by the shortened set and an underwhelming setlist.
With a strict curfew of 10:30pm in place, Lana had just 90 minutes to perform and squeezed in only 15 songs, including two covers.
Despite ticket prices ranging from £78.40 and £420, several fans voiced their disappointment on social media.
One penned: “Lana Del Rey played just over an hour set, hid behind a wall for 20 mins, sang the same setlist as the last 3 years, overpriced tickets and is playing covers. Lana babe, i love you but sort it out.”
“I saw Lana Del Rey~ she was late for her show. Paid £300 for like 1hr30 show whilst I saw Beyoncé paid less and performed for nearly 3 hours,” another vented.
A third echoed similar frustrations: “I love Lana, I do but her lack of sense of urgency is so disappointing. Like I’m honestly heartbroken. Pls have better management.”
“Lana Del Rey’s Cardiff show wasn’t even 90 minutes and she was late? Abysmal,” another remarked.
A fan also claimed: “Lana came on at 8.53pm till 10.16pm Snogged her husband Sang Salvatore but read the lyrics from an iPhone!”
Salvatore, a track from her 2015 album, was an audience-requested song which was sung acapella, but shortened.
@bigmamixox everyone getting gassed over summertime sadness tells me everything i need to know #lanadelrey #cardiff #fyp
♬ original sound - live laugh love
Elsewhere, one TikTok user said they “didn’t want to be negative” but admitted they felt “disappointed” by the show’s pacing and energy.
Rather than performing Norman F**ing Rockwell* and Arcadia live, Lana appeared as a projection while shortened studio versions of the tracks played through the speakers.
Despite fan upset, many praised the American singer’s “amazing” vocals while others commented on the “beautiful staging”.
One wrote in defense on Reddit: “I know a lot of people in the comments are saying it seems underwhelming, I’m on the train home from the show and it was fantastic lol. The staging, her voice?! She sounded brilliant and the staging was beautiful. “
“i had a really good time today tbf,” another penned on the platform.
A third added: “I will say on a positive note, I really loved the setlist and I loved the set it self, beautiful stage and you can tell so much time and effort was put into it.
“I cried a lot during Ocean Boulevard ~ finally got to see one of my idols despite certain issues, she was very emotional which made me emotional as well~ (sic)”.
Lana Del Rey - UK & Ireland tour dates
Critics were just as enthusiastic, with The Times calling the show “gloomy but exquisite”, The Guardian describing it as “mid-century melodrama as mindblowing stadium spectacle”, and Rolling Stone hailing it “a dazzling stadium debut”. Each awarding the performance four stars.
The Grammy winner is no stranger to running late on stage.
Her 2023 Glastonbury performance was marred by a late start, prompting organisers to cut her mic on the Other Stage gig.
At the time, Lana, who married alligator wrangler Jeremy Dufrene last October, blamed the delay on how her “hair takes so long to do”.
The Standard has contacted LiveNation and Lana Del Rey’s rep for comment.
