Sam Fang
Dua Lipa brought an unrivaled energy to the stage at the Rock N Roll Hotel in Washington DC last night, March 05, 2017. The ‘Blow Your Mind’ singer did some things that are pretty uncommon for a pop star these days: she started her show on time, (which was much appreciated by the fans in the audience who had been waiting in the cold) and she was joyous. It’s kind of odd to think how many concerts you can go to where the performer is going through the motions. Some barely stop to talk to the crowd, others give a more robotic sense of happiness that’s designed to keep the crowd engaged. Not Dua Lipa. There was pure, raw happiness coursing through her veins — and the veins of everyone in the audience that was dancing, jumping, and singing along with her.
Thankfully the venue had a beautiful sound system — so despite the throng of fans singing at the top of their lungs, Dua Lipa’s voice still rang clear. And boy did her voice ring — I’d say she sounds like she does on her records, but that wouldn’t be quite true. There’s an amazing tone to her voice that reverberated throughout the club and sounded better than on a recording. Her already lively songs came to life with a live band. This is real music. It may be a bit manufactured for the masses on a record, but when it comes down to performing live, Dua Lipa’s got the pipes and the her band’s got the talent to put on one hell of a show.
Highlights of the show included, firstly, Dua’s opening act – Ro Ransom. Lipa and Ransom seem like polar opposites, at least at face value. Their music is wildly different, (a bit like Grimes opening for Lana Del Rey) and yet they make for a perfectly harmonious pair. Ransom was the perfect hype man for Lipa. It was an added boon for the audience that the Harlem-born rapper had undeniable talent, too.
As for the main show, Lipa’s collaborations got the crowd buzzing — from a quick rendition of ‘No Lie’ (Sean Paul) to her most recent collaboration with Martin Garrix, ‘Scared To Be Lonely.’ Lipa’s fans danced the night away, but another shining moment from the show had to be when she wound the energy down to give a sultry performance of ‘Thinking ‘Bout You.’ It showed her star presence: she made the entire crowd jump and sing along with her, but managed to get them to quiet down for ‘Thinking ‘Bout You,’ and as a result, her vocals were pristine, making for a truly beautiful performance.
The encore — unsurprisingly — was one of Lipa’s breakout tracks: ‘Blow Your Mind (Mwah.)’ Why wouldn’t she end on this song? It’s arguably her most well known, and it has the perfect amount of energy to give the Rock N Roll Hotel a proper send off. Before jumping off the stage, Lipa thanked everyone for coming and blew them a kiss (Mwah!) She dashed off with a cheeky wink, knowing she’d killed that stage and made everyone in the audience a fan.
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