Part of the draw of Lana is that she is kind of mysterious. Not a lot of people know a whole lot about her. She isn't a tabloid target. She's not underground by any means but she's also not completely out there, either.
In the time of being her fan I have never seen her announce a tour. I have known her to play one off shows and festivals and that's about it.
Until a few months ago when I woke up and saw an announcement on Facebook about her upcoming tour. And tickets went on presale in 15 minutes! Everything happened so fast, man. I realized I had the money in my account (thanks to my tax return...shout out to uncle sam!) and couldn't let this opportunity pass me by. So when tickets went on sale I was obsessively refreshing my browser until 2 general admission tickets were in my possession.
Now came the hard part: waiting for the show! I had some trouble finding someone to go with me since the show was in another town on a Monday night, but one of my close friends ended up going with me and we had a nice girls night out!
I'm going to start putting in pictures to break up the text, even though I'm not to the actual concert part of the post yet haha
So after an agonizing wait, the day finally came! We began with a small road trip to Orlando (about a 2 hour drive) and set up shop at the hotel. Due to some traffic we got a later start than we expected.
We drank and got ready for the show and tried not to watch the clock even though we were on a time crunch. We ended up getting a really cheap hotel because it was almost right across from the concert venue (which is kind of inside Universal Studios)
When we were just about ready we called a cab (so we could be free to drink without worry!) and took some pictures. Out of respect for her privacy I've cut my friend out of these pictures :P
I brought along a handful of clothes and decided what to wear at the last minute. This is a black crop top from Rainbow that actually hangs really annoyingly. I wore a teal maxi skirt with it which gave me the chance to move freely but also not worry about exposing myself in the crowd.
And of course no ensemble for Lana Del Rey is complete without a flower crown.
Just kidding. This actually made me feel like a basic bitch because almost EVERYONE was wearing one. Which is fine! It IS cute after all. I just, in general, don't like wearing the same thing multiple people are wearing. No matter how cute it is.
I kept my makeup basic with a theme of purple. I really liked the color scheme of purple blue and teal. Also because the purple and teal weren't next to each other it didn't look too weird.
I used the Elf lock & seal and a bh cosmetics purple to create purple winged liner. Other than that there is only eyeshadow from the Naked palette on my eyes. This worked pretty well but throughout the concert when I was sweating it got into my eyes and stung a little so I wouldn't advise doing this if you're going to be sweating or swimming or crying etc.
On my lips i tried the ombre effect I did on easter- MAC Punk Couture on the outside and Impulse Cosmetics on the inside. The ombre effect didn't work as well as it did on Easter so I still have to practice this technique.
So I only have phone quality pictures because the venue doesn't allow cameras so I didn't bother bringing mine. However I just switched to an Iphone 5s so I was excited to see the kind of pictures I could capture!
When we first got there WOW the line was long. I have been to a lot of concerts in my day and it was definitely one of the longest lines I've ever seen. So, being the practical, savvy people we are, my friend and I decided to go inside the Hard Rock Cafe to get a drink and wait for the show. Since the show was at the Hard Rock, we could keep an eye out to see if the line was moving, etc.
Doors were supposed to open at 7 but in reality didn't open until closer to 7:30. Our plan was to wait for the majority of the line to go inside and then waltz in after the crowd had died down (I have done this for many concerts that I didn't care for the opening bands) however Lana didn't have any opening acts. It was just her. So I started to get nervous that she would start while we were still waiting to get in. We watched the line start to move and finished our drinks to rush to the end.
Even though it looked like the line was moving fast from the front, the back had not moved at all. We stood in line for about 30 seconds until, miracle upon miracles, someone casually mentioned a second line for a different website. Immediately I zoned in on this as I somehow knew he meant the website I had bought our tickets from. A little prodding and sure enough there was a second "preorder" line for those that ordered from the different website. My friend and I happily skipped past the loooong line to find ourselves in a much shorter line. It was awesome. For once my over-anxiety worked out!
Everyone surged forward and we were instantly packed like sardines. I am used to this from going to shows but my friend was not. However she stuck it out and was a true trooper! Everyone was going so crazy during the first two songs that I barely caught any glimpses of the Queen, much less alone any pictures. I felt relieved that I didn't know or like those songs as well as the others, as I couldn't pay very much attention to them.
Before we knew it we were not in the back but found ourselves getting quite close. A fight broke loose and that was the final push we needed to be as close as possible. I was giddy. She was right in front of me! She was perfection in the flesh as she floated across the stage with her heavenly voice ringing out.
The big screen behind her played clips from her videos, montages of creepy vintage images, and live feed from her on stage. It was actually really cool. And the stage itself was covered in palm trees and a throne for her to sit in like the royalty she is.
Her set list surprised me. It wasn't as long as I would have liked, although to be honest I would be fine for her playing forever. But considering she didn't have an opening act a 14 song set is pretty short (this is according to Setlist.fm...I was a little too busy to count the songs!)
Towards the end of her set I decided I really needed some water and was tired of being pushed from all directions. So I left the crowd and headed towards the bar in the back to get some water (which was free- props to Hard rock for that)
Even though I initially didn't want to leave because I was so close to her, I am ultimately glad I did. The back of the venue was a different world. Everyone had their own space! No one was screaming the (oftentimes wrong) lyrics in your ear! You could actually hear her!!!! So I am really glad that I got the best of both worlds.
I got to sip my water and watch her perform in peace and it was the perfect ending to the show.
Something that really surprised me is how interactive she was with the audience. At the beginning of the show and at the end she went down in front of the barricade of the front row and walked along it. In fact after the show for a good 15 minutes or more she walked down the front row taking pictures, signing autographs, and just generally being perfect. If I had known she would do this I would have honestly camped out the night before (I have done this multiple times for other bands) but I decided not to for her because I figured it would be too hot (it was unbearably hot) but for a picture with Lana? WORTH IT!!! Oh well, maybe next time.
When we were at our closest, she also got down and close to the crowd and was so close I almost cried again.
I couldn't get the best pictures because as you can imagine the crowd was going crazy. But still. She's so close!
The setlist was as follows according to Setlist.fm
- Cruel World
- Cola
- Body Electric
- Blue Jeans
- Born to Die
- West Coast
- Young and beautiful
- Million Dollar Man
- Ride
- Carmen
- Gods & Monsters
- Summertime Sadness
- Video Games
- National Anthem
Apparently Cruel world is a new song of hers but I don't remember that one being played. I am almost certain she opened with Cola (who can forget an opening line like that?) but what the hell do I know? *shrug*
Here is a short video I took of Young and beautiful. It's so short because I wanted to post it on instagram. Looking back I definitely wish I had taken a longer video but, what can ya do.
And there's my short video of Video Games, aka my favorite song by her.
Overall there were a few songs I wish she had played: Radio, Once Upon a Dream (the theme song for Maleficent which I'm guessing Disney didn't give her permission to play), and off to the races. I would have swapped a few out for those but other than that it was a great set and I am so happy I got to see her.
I left in a euphoria and went back to the hotel to order pizza and have some more drinks.
I also stopped at the Cosmetics Company Outlet in Orlando on the way home the next day but didn't see anything that caught my eye.
Well I'm glad I could share one of the best concerts of my life with you. If you ever get the chance to see Lana I highly suggest you do so.
Are you a fan of Lana Del Rey? What's your favorite song?
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