Dua Lipa with support from Griff
at Utilita Arena in Newcastle, UK
photos and words by Dylan Maggs

On the 23rd of April 2022, world-renowned pop star Dua Lipa took to Utilita Arena in Newcastle as part of her Future Nostalgia EU Tour. Firstly, I think this was the best concert I’ve been to post-lockdown, and it would make sense that plenty of other people have said the same with them long-awaiting to see Dua Lipa, especially as this tour was one of the thousands set back by restrictions.

Despite only being able to catch 3 songs by the support act, Griff, it needs to be said that the English singer/songwriter sounded absolutely incredible and was definitely the right person to open up for an amazing night ahead. I have been listening to Griff’s music for quite a while now and I was so excited to hear her perform, so much so that I was in awe when she walked on stage and almost forgot to start taking photos.

It’s time for the main show to start. The lights dim to black and the crowd screams with excitement as the large screen spanning across the entirety of the backdrop turn on, playing an incredible visual graphic that takes the style of a retro workout video with the purpose of introducing the show and each of the dancers before Dua herself.

Easily one of the best introductions to a show I have ever witnessed.

The screen turns red and you can see the dancers walking from either side of the stage to behind a balance beam. As they reach center-stage, we see Dua Lipa appearing via a rising platform, and the crowd once again belts out a deafening scream of excitement as Dua proceeds to start the first song of an incredible setlist. The show starts off with ‘Physical’ which plays into the starting theme of the graphics. I was instantly blown away by how incredible Dua’s vocals were, especially given the fact she was engaging in a full-blown choreographed routine involving the dancers.. It was incredible to see that she could keep in tune, never mind managing to sound almost studio-like.

The incredibly well-thought-out choreography was a consistent factor throughout the whole show with the entire dance team being in complete cohesion all night. I don’t recall there being a pause unless it was to engage with the crowd, otherwise, it seamlessly transitioned into the next song... In this case, it was a song I knew all too well, ‘New Rules’, a song which dominated our works playlist over lockdown so I knew every lyric. The choreography took a step further as they paced down the runway-like stage, umbrellas in hand and pulling off what to me looked like tricky choreography (I'm no expert, but I wouldn’t be able to do it no matter how much time I put into it).

Between each act, Dua disappeared for a few minutes as she got ready into a new costume (she did this 4 or 5 times) however this was not leaving the crowd in silence, the fluid and flawless transition into each song remained and the gaps were filled in by her dancing team. During the first act, two dancers on stage commanded the area as they did an incredible choreography routine... ON ROLLERSKATES! It was absolutely mental watching them doing pirouettes on the stage whilst holding a tray of what looked like drinks.

She came back on to a comic-book style clip of her being attacked by a lobster before her breaking free and appearing on stage in a new outfit (very sparkly)… and then out of nowhere a massive inflatable lobster gets blown up behind her (I don’t know where you get one from, or how much they cost… but I most-definitely want one) and thus was the start of the next song, ‘We’re Good’.

The performance of ‘Good In Bed’ was dedicated to one of the girls in the crowd that was pointed out for singing her heart out for the whole performance - and I don’t blame her at all because that song is now all that’s stuck in my head! People in the stands started to fill the stairways as they couldn’t stop the urge of dancing to every song, and that carried on for the rest of the show.

During act four for her song ‘Levitating’, it made sense that Dua… levitated… so to speak. She got onto a platform and raised her up above the crowd's heads and from side to side as she performed, and I have never seen so many fans in awe of what was going on - and to be fair, so was I!

The show was rounded off with one of Dua’s most popular songs, ‘Don’t Start Now’, which was both incredible to watch and listen to, but also sad to know that the song was coming to a close. But I couldn’t help to think of what an incredible show it had been, and that was down to a few things... The incredible choreography, the magical lighting, the amazing singing, the enthusiastic crowd... But most importantly Dua Lipa herself. The production that Dua and her team put together was flawless and is definitely one of the best shows I have witnessed. Hopefully, in the future I get to attend another one of her shows, as I’m sure the standard will be to the same level.

DUA LIPA: NEWCASTLE, UK - 23.04.22

GRIFF

DUA LIPA