Dua Lipa’s long-awaited Future Nostalgia tour finally made its way to Spectrum Center in Charlotte on Wednesday night, and the wait was well worth it.
Released in March 2020, just as lockdowns began to take effect across the country, Dua Lipa’s second studio album Future Nostalgia far exceeded expectations. Releasing a project during a pandemic was a complete unknown, but Dua Lipa managed to pull it off. Now, nearly two years after its release — after pushing the tour back three times due to COVID — she’s able to finally bring the album to life.
The show, broken down into four acts, gave Dua Lipa fans 90-minutes of much-needed relief from the routine of pandemic life with a nonstop dance party to the album that got them through it. If you watched her Studio 2054 livestream back in November 2020, you’re already familiar enough with the flashy disco spectacle that is Dua Lipa live. But nothing can prepare you for the stage presence displayed by the 26-year-old, who has grown leaps and bounds since her since her premiere album, Dua Lipa.
There was plenty of spectacle to behold on the stage: tightly choreographed dance numbers that showcased Dua’s own dancing ability; monochromatic neon ensembles rotated through quick wardrobe changes that featured break-dancing rollerbladers; dazzling light displays as the audience’s heroine was lifted into the sky, sparkling in a revealing cutout onesie, for the appropriately titled “Levitating.”
What felt like a four-song set flew by in a matter of seconds, several fans expressing shock at how quickly the 19-song performance went. Two years of buildup culminated in a 90-minute display of pure, raw vocal skills, perfectly executed choreography and stage visuals that felt futuristic yet familiar (perfectly on point for the Future Nostalgia vibe).
Dua Lipa seemed comfortable with every transition into a new aesthetic, just as easily embodying the sultry vixen for “Good in Bed” as the strong, powerhouse woman singing about the patriarchy and issues faced by women in “Boys Will Be Boys.”
It’s easy to see that this is Lipa in top form and tempting to conclude that it will be her finest work yet. But that’s the great thing about Dua Lipa: She’s only 26. Fans will have plenty more musical evolutions to look forward to — and plenty more live spectaculars to bear witness to.
Setlist
Act 1
Physical
New Rules
Love Again
Cool
Pretty Please
Break My Heart
Be the One
Act 2
We’re Good
Good in Bed
Fever
Boys Will Be Boys
Act 3
Club Future Nostalgia
One Kiss
Electricity
Hallucinate
Cold Heart
Act 4
Levitating (extended version)
Encore
Future Nostalgia
Don’t Start Now
Become a Nerve Member: Get better connected and become a member of Queen City Nerve to support local journalism for as little as $5 per month. Our community journalism helps inform you through a range of diverse voices.
This work by Queen City Nerve is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
