Photo: WENN.com
Lana Del Rey appeared at Glastonbury this afternoon for her first ever performance at the legendary festival, and her debut UK show since the release of second album Ultraviolence.
Taking to the stage after a lengthy introduction, Lana (real name Lizzy Grant) expectedly brought her ethereal ambience in spades.
Kicking off with ‘Cola’, an older track from her repertoire that perhaps perfectly encapsulates the controversial charm she has capitalised on throughout her career to date, she contrasted swoon-worthy instrumental foundations with adult lyrical grit to cultivate a mesmeric ambience that washed over the audience, a confusing progression for a mid-afternoon slot.
Providing minimal stage banter (with the exception of reciprocating to a fan’s professions of love), Del Rey instead opted to maintain a sense of allure throughout the set, playing heavily off 2012’s ‘Born To Die’ with tracks including ‘Young and Beautiful’, ‘Body Electric’ and ‘Summertime Sadness’ resonating well with the large audience, as she traipsed around the stage unassumingly.
“It’s an honour to play at such a legendary place” gushed the singer towards the end of the performance, a genuine sense of gratitude in her voice after an overwhelmingly positive, sway-inducing response to breakthrough single ‘Video Games’.
Playing only two tracks from her latest release (single ‘West Coast’ and title track ‘Ultraviolence’) it was clear Lana’s intentions were to get an audience on side with hits rather than indulging herself. However, one can’t help but feel underwhelmed at the finished result which didn’t live up to the visually stunning bar she has set herself throughout her career.
Needless to say, this perhaps wasn’t the show-stopping performance it could have been, but Del Rey’s stunning talent isn’t something that should be dismissed by one poorly scheduled performance.
Kelis was on before, and she was incredible too - like, seriously good.
