I'M a big Lana Del Rey fan. I've seen her perform three times before, starting in 2013, and even travelled to mainland Europe just to hear her sing live. I've got rare vinyl of hers and can sing along confidently to pretty much her entire back catalogue, including the vast array of unreleased tracks recorded under the name "Lizzy Grant".
But let's get this out of the way.
Lana's performance at Hampden Park was not it.
Fans paid for tickets starting at around £120 to see Lana perform just 14 songs in a festival-length set. Of those, three were unreleased and two were covers.
Lana performed only nine original, officially released songs – and treated us to a handful of hologram, pre-recorded versions of others.
That means audiences paid around £13.30 per live song.
This is Lana's first UK stadium tour, and it should be an opportunity for a victory lap. She should have taken to the stage in Glasgow, a place she says is very special to her, and shown how much she's grown as an artist since living here in the early 10s. She should have demonstrated her superstar status, playing the hits, fan favourites and a sprinkle of deep cuts.
Instead, audiences got a hastily thrown-together performance, featuring much of the same choreo and staging she's been using for years. There was no wow factor, no attention to detail, no passion.
To make matters worse, the sound at Hampden was dreadful. In the standing area you could barely hear Lana's vocals, and good luck trying to decipher the speaking segments in between songs. Given Lana arrived into Glasgow two days early, you'd think she'd have time to iron out the details at soundcheck.
The best part of the show was seeing the fans having an incredible time, singing along together and admiring their hero's dress, hair and makeup. While Lana's vocals were barely there, the sound of the full crowd singing along to Video Games, Born To Die and Ride was uplifting. If you treated the concert more like a mass-karaoke session than a live performance, it was a good time.
I would also take a moment to shout out the stunning dancers and background singers, who brought some life to a dull set. Those women are incredible, and vocalists sent shivers down my spine.
It was also a bit sneaky to call this a nearly sold-out show. Lana came nowhere near selling out Hampden, and that's down to her unusual staging. In reality, the stadium was half full.
The stage was positioned lengthways along the side of the stadium, rather than at the goal-end as you might expect at a show like this. About half of the remaining standing area was taken up by the expensive golden circle section, which left us peasants who only shelled out £120 or so with no view of the stage. At least the camera work on the big screens was cinematic and ethereal.
Compare and contrast to Kendrick Lamar and SZA, due to bring their co-headline Grand National tour to Hampden in under two weeks. According to critics who've been already, the three-hour show is well thought-out, gorgeously styled, and the setlist features the most beloved songs from both artists' discographies. If you're talking value for money, it's clear which show you should go to.
It's hard to be a Lana fan. She brings bad publicity onto herself by constantly arriving late (around 17 minutes late at Hampden), and promising projects that never materialise (remember the country album she was going to release last year?)
But to Lana's credit, she spent around 25 minutes after last night's gig meeting fans at the front row, taking photographs and signing autographs. It's the least she could do after putting on such a lack-lustre show.
Verdict: Two stars
