The adoration levels were off the scale as Lana Del Rey played the 3Arena

Usually when somebody plays a 'surprise Dublin pop-up gig’ it's in somewhere like Whelan's or the Workman's Club, but such is Lana Del Rey's elevated position that she's managed to jam 14,000 adoring fans into the 3Arena with just ten day’s notice.

The crowd runs the full gamut from grizzled veterans who experienced the seismic '60s pop culture moments she references first-hand, to kids who a few weeks ago were bopping away at Slane to Harry Styles and have the merch on to prove it.

Like David Bowie, Lady Gaga and Iggy Pop, Lana Del Rey is a construct that's been honed to perfection by Elizabeth Woolridge Grant who happily posed for selfies with fans and gifted them tickets on Thursday whilst vintage clothes shopping in Temple Bar. If she thought that by donning jeans, a baggy shirt and baseball cap she'd go unrecognised, she was mistaken.

Lana Del Rey at 3Arena on July 7th, 2023. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

There’s no dressing down tonight, though, as Lana arrives on stage in a floral-print baby-doll number that's definitely not off the peg, and gets straight down to musical business with 'A&W' and 'Young And Beautiful', which is Brian Wilson-esque in its pop perfection.

Accompanied by a swarm of dancers and soul sister backing singers who do a lot of the vocal heavy lifting, ‘Bartender’ finds Lana inviting us into her boudoir with a crew member fixing her hair as she sits at her dressing-table.

The highlights come thick and fast after that with ‘Chemtrails Over The Country Club’ as yearningly epic as always; ‘The Grants’ sending a tingle up the spine with its close gospel harmonies; and ‘Ride’ an excuse to throw some serious Jackie O shapes.

Lana Del Rey at 3Arena on July 7th, 2023. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

The show may be choreographed to the nth degree and shot through with self-mythologisation, but that doesn’t mean the passion and connection with the audience aren't genuine, as the megawatt smile on Lana's face after a mass singalong version of 'Blue Jeans' attests.

The activity on stage becomes even more frenetic with a trapeze artist flying overhead while hands are laid on the front-rows when Lana goes walkabout in the crowd and gets rewarded with a bunch of flowers from a fan.

If there's a criticism it's that, like her records, it's all a bit one-paced and, dare I say it, formulaic. That formula is clearly a winning one, but I'd love to hear her really rocking out or giving somebody like Brian Eno a call to see what they could bring to the party. Looking round an enraptured 3Arena - seriously, it's as much messianic cult meeting as it is gig - mine is very much a minority opinion.

Lana Del Rey at 3Arena on July 7th, 2023. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

Unlike at Glastonbury, there’s no cutting Lana short tonight with a triple-whammy finale of ‘Summertime Sadness’, ‘Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard’ - the crowd loses its collective shit when she gets to the “Open me up, tell me you like it/ Fuck me to death, love me until I love myself” part - and ‘Video Games’, which is greeted like an injury time World Cup winner.

Lana Del Rey exists to be adored and tonight the adoration levels are off the scale.

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