Lana Del Rey at Coachella review – a disappointingly lifeless start to the festival
Lana Del Rey has a stereotypical image that aligns with the typical portrayal of a Coachella girl. This involves a flower crown, heart-shaped sunglasses and a pout reminiscent of the character Lolita. Both Del Rey and the festival enjoyed their heyday during the mid-2010s when influencer culture was at its peak. Therefore, it's not surprising that Coachella has chosen Del Rey as its golden girl to headline the festival. However, in today's day and age, it feels like a bit of a dated decision, as it's been almost a decade past its prime.
In fact, Del Rey previously performed at Coachella precisely a decade ago on the same date as the first night of this year's festival. She announced this to the audience with pride. This time around, she made a grand entrance on a motorcycle, dressed in a sequined, light blue dress and waving to the crowd like a beauty pageant winner. She interacted with the lively audience, setting the tone for an exciting start to the show. However, her actual performance fell short once she began to sing.
Del Rey has become a symbol for the gloomy and constantly connected crowd, largely due to her widely recognized act of appearing indifferent and somewhat detached. Regrettably, her distinct unconcerned style of speaking didn't work well for such a grand platform and instead came across as being unready rather than apathetic.
Throughout her entire performance, she faced persistent microphone issues that resulted in uncomfortable pauses, unexpected starts, and instances where she gestured towards the audience to assist with the singing.
The way she sang was off-key and uncertain, reminding listeners of her catastrophic appearance on Saturday Night Live in 2012, which some regard as the most awful in the show's history (although that discussion is best left for another time). At that time, reviewers savaged her performance, which seemed both empty and desperate. However, Del Rey has since reclaimed her reputation through great music, and sufficient time has passed to allow her to poke fun at the debacle.
As I was cruising my way into the city, I caught sight of a billboard put up by Del Rey that seemingly made a jest about the SNL blunder and noted the date when it occurred. I reckon it was meant to be comical and demonstrate her progress over the years. However, it got me worried that it might have been a sign of something ominous.
Did Del Rey's performance lackluster or was it just a video to prove she was still alive? I shared a chuckle with a woman beside me when we heard Del Rey's monotonous delivery of the opening line of "Summertime Sadness" which went "I'm feeling electric tonight". It was quite apparent that she was not feeling electric at all. The dancers in the background, however, gave a magnificent performance, executing graceful and flowing movements. There was one point where Del Rey tried to drape herself attractively over one of the dancers, but she looked like she might doze off any moment.
Del Rey proved that she can still amaze the audience. Just when everyone thought that she couldn't be bothered, walking around the stage and muttering the lyrics, she surprised them by lying on the stage and singing with a passion that could make the bed shake. She did this during her performance at Coachella.
Del Rey had a tough time with her microphone at the show, but it's not just technical difficulties that made the performance less memorable. When she had Jon Batiste and Billie Eilish on stage with her, or sang alongside her background singers, their voices were powerful and impressive. Unfortunately, Del Rey's vocals were not up to par and sounded amateurish - like someone singing at a school talent show. The crowd was polite and supportive overall, especially the devoted fans who came to see her. However, after only 20 minutes into the performance, some people began leaving early and the exodus continued throughout the night.
A lot of people left before Eilish, who was rumored to be the main special guest for Del Rey, came on stage. It's unfortunate because their performance of Video Games was the best part of the show. Del Rey praised Eilish, saying she's "the voice of a generation." Eilish had the best line of the day when she pointed at Del Rey, who started the flower crown trend, and said: "You're the reason why half of you live."
