Huntsville, AL @ Orion Amphitheater - 21st Sept 2023

[fl0r1dakil0s 21,529]

39 minutes ago, Stoned Mary in the Garden said:

Is he on here… he disgusts me and I want to degrade him 

He definitely doesn't "nerd out" with any of Lana's bandmates

 

He should go to jail he's scary 

[rocknrollgroupie 4,508]

28 minutes ago, Stoned Mary in the Garden said:

Seriously… and it makes me sad. I’ve loved Lana as an artist for over a decade. But I know her and I aren’t friends and we don’t have some sort of bond… lol. It’s really scary how people use her authenticity and personable vibe as an excuse to pretend they’re friends or that she cares about them. Poor Lana. 

This is so true and reminded me of what an interviewer said to Lana back in 2018 abt how certain artists have to deal with these situations more than others “The kind of music… makes people feel like they really know u or u own them something and so they feel entitled to be at ur space” 

around minute 18

[Elle 122,851]

She didn’t play Hope, but it’s 100% okay because of everything else that happened.

I’m still processing everything including last night, but a lil rundown - Before Bartender, she mentioned my charm bracelet to the crowd and held out her arm to show everyone and I immediatelyyyy started sobbing. Then when she came down after Ultraviolence, she came straight to me, held my face, called me cute, and showed me that she was wearing the bracelet I gave her yesterday! I was sooo touched she wore it tonight. Such an honour. I was also able to give her a blinged-out Alabama hat (I told her I’m basically her personal accessoriser at this point lol) and when she put it on and looked at me with a big smile on her face, I melted inside. I’ll forever keep that mental picture in my mind of that moment. She is soooo beautiful, even more so in person, which seems impossible I know but she is just a real life angel inside and out.

Anyway, these past 48 hours have been the best of my whole life. My life is at its peak x

[fishtails 13,842]

6 minutes ago, Elle said:

She didn’t play Hope, but it’s 100% okay because of everything else that happened.

I’m still processing everything including last night, but a lil rundown - Before Bartender, she mentioned my charm bracelet to the crowd and held out her arm to show everyone and I immediatelyyyy started sobbing. Then when she came down after Ultraviolence, she came straight to me, held my face, called me cute, and showed me that she was wearing the bracelet I gave her yesterday! I was sooo touched she wore it tonight. Such an honour. I was also able to give her a blinged-out Alabama hat (I told her I’m basically her personal accessoriser at this point lol) and when she put it on and looked at me with a big smile on her face, I melted inside. I’ll forever keep that mental picture in my mind of that moment. She is soooo beautiful, even more so in person, which seems impossible I know but she is just a real life angel inside and out.

Anyway, these past 48 hours have been the best of my whole life. My life is at its peak x

This is so sweet omg 

[Elle 122,851]

Someone just sent me this of her talking about my bracelet

 

 

[Beautiful Loser 49,646]

I never doubted that she’d mention the bracelet or Elle. 

[Stoned Mary in the Garden 6,831]

49 minutes ago, fl0r1dakil0s said:

He definitely doesn't "nerd out" with any of Lana's bandmates

 

He should go to jail he's scary 

Lol it is scary. And honestly just … really sad. We all love Lana for her music, but when people start thinking they’re her friend just because she’s kind and welcoming it turns into stalker behavior. And it’s the only bit of joy or validation people like him have in their life. I wish she was just fuckin mean bc he gives Bjork stalker energy. 

47 minutes ago, rocknrollgroupie said:

This is so true and reminded me of what an interviewer said to Lana back in 2018 abt how certain artists have to deal with these situations more than others “The kind of music… makes people feel like they really know u or u own them something and so they feel entitled to be at ur space” 

around minute 18

EXACTLY Omg. It’s so messed up.. no wonder a lot of young women singers act cold and unkind. 

[Elle 122,851]

56 minutes ago, Beautiful Loser said:

I never doubted that she’d mention the bracelet or Elle. 

I really didn’t expect it

 

 

A screencap of a video someone took of her coming up to me to show me that she was wearing the bracelet

 

[rocknrollgroupie 4,508]

20 minutes ago, Elle said:

I really didn’t expect it

 

 

A screencap of a video someone took of her coming up to me to show me that she was wearing the bracelet

 

This is the sweetest thing ever..ugh I fckn love this woman and happy for u miss Elle 

[BartenderDeco 19,645]

7 hours ago, Elle said:

Someone just sent me this of her talking about my bracelet

 

 

now which one of us was yelling lanaboards-

[Let the Light In 18,863]

8 hours ago, Elle said:

 

 

 

9 hours ago, Elle said:

Someone just sent me this of her talking about my bracelet

 

 

 

 

OMG, these made me teary eyed. So magical 

 

And the person who was shouting out to Lanaboards, I think it's cute 

[Pico Ocean Boulevard 41,445]

10 hours ago, Elle said:

She didn’t play Hope, but it’s 100% okay because of everything else that happened.

I’m still processing everything including last night, but a lil rundown - Before Bartender, she mentioned my charm bracelet to the crowd and held out her arm to show everyone and I immediatelyyyy started sobbing. Then when she came down after Ultraviolence, she came straight to me, held my face, called me cute, and showed me that she was wearing the bracelet I gave her yesterday! I was sooo touched she wore it tonight. Such an honour. I was also able to give her a blinged-out Alabama hat (I told her I’m basically her personal accessoriser at this point lol) and when she put it on and looked at me with a big smile on her face, I melted inside. I’ll forever keep that mental picture in my mind of that moment. She is soooo beautiful, even more so in person, which seems impossible I know but she is just a real life angel inside and out.

Anyway, these past 48 hours have been the best of my whole life. My life is at its peak x

 Elle, I'm so happy for you  This sounds so sweet, magical , iconic and like an out of body experience 

 

The bracelet looks so cute too  

 

A moment in Elle's & in LanaBoards history

 

The new pfp is a serve, you & Lana look so beautiful 

 

[PARADIXO 33,090]

Oh my god @Elle congratulations for everything!!! You deserve it 100% <3

[Black to Blue 5,697]

Did anyone find out what Lana said at the end that we couldn’t hear? I’m so curious. 
 

@Elle I’m so happy you got such a special, personal moment with her. You deserve it more than anyone!

[shadesofblue 16,882]

13 hours ago, Elle said:

I really didn’t expect it

 

 

A screencap of a video someone took of her coming up to me to show me that she was wearing the bracelet

 

i’m so happy you got to see her up close at the show and she wore your bracelet that’s the cutest thing ever you deserve it queen lanaboards!<3 the bracelet is so cute btw i love all the details. i’m sure she loves it! 

[mssainttropez 14,800]

Her hair at this show was one of my favorites. It makes me so happy to know that Elle got to witness it live and have Lana give her recognition and immediately chat with her. So deserved 

[ultrabanisters 46,090]

lana hearing the word lanaboards being shouted at her: 

[Unidentified Major Tom 2,137]

I'm surprised no one has posted these photos yet, taken from backstage after the show :

Such a cute dress and lovely braids 

 

Other photos and videos on ig :

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cxha9FnIff9/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cxio3emuLHl/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cxipko6OR1l/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

[peachlipgloss 3,094]

congratulations to @Elle and what a beautiful show <3 i’m seeing lana on october 3rd cannot wait y’all 

[Cordon Gole 103]

Lana Del Rey’s sold-out Alabama concert: Star power, songs, spectacle

 

By Matt Wake | mwake@al.com

Click. Click. In between singing lyrics of her last song of the night, Lana Del Rey casually mimed taking a couple pics of the sold-out crowd.

 

It was, like basically everything Del Rey did during her concert last night at Orion Amphitheater in Huntsville, Alabama, effortlessly cool and relatable. Like something a friend would do among friends hanging out.

 

Except the holder of this imaginary camera was a still-in-her-prime legend who just gave 8,000 passionate, mostly young, mostly female fans a night that’ll stick with them until they’re old.

 

Del Rey’s 90-minute show opened with blue light and smoke onstage and Beatlemania screams in the audience. They’d also screamed huge moments earlier when the houselights finally went down. Also when Del Rey’s four-piece band took their places. Even when a guitar tech appeared for one last tune-up.

 

The blue lights seeped into purple and red, and Del Rey walked onstage. Poised, wearing a white mini-dress and knee-high boots. Looking like she’d teleported straight from one of her album covers. Except now, mic in hand and singing the title track to her acclaimed 2019 album, “Norman F---ing Rockwell!”. The fans gave her a fighter-jet-takeoff-volume greeting.

 

Musically, like much of the set, that opener was anchored by tasteful piano and string-section-emulating synth. Once the crowd noise came down and you could hear her in the mix better, Del Rey did her songbird vocals, including call-and-respond blue-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh’s with her three backing singers.

 

Cowritten with Jack Antonoff, the A-list producer known for his Taylor Swift collabos, “Norman Rockwell” features the kind of Del Rey lyrics that cut right to the bone. Lines like, “Why wait for the best when I could have you?” She’s probably the only singer alive who could make a lyric like, “You f---ed me so good that I almost said, ‘I love you’,” sound pretty.

 

Del Rey’s songwriting’s just as impressive as her laidback star-power. The melodies and arrangements never outsmart themselves. As a singer and lyricist, Del Rey revels in her femininity. She clearly loves being a woman even if it isn’t always easy. She sounds both young and from another era. Vivacious yet world weary.

 

Del Rey’s a better than good singer with great feel, which along with her songwriting, really connects with her audience. Her vocal range includes a celestial falsetto. But she isn’t glass-shattering belter, so (as my friend pointed out) fans can sing right along in the same key. During last night’s Orion Amphitheater crowd sang with her much of the show. They knew literally every word – from the early stuff to songs from the four albums Del Rey’s released in the last four years. (Her discography now includes nine albums.)

 

At the Huntsville show, “Young and Beautiful,” an orchestral pop stunner from 2013 film “The Great Gatsby,” was a massive singalong. Much of Del Rey’s audience is comprised of girls in their teens, 20s and early 30s.

 

In her songs, Del Rey’s singing about her life but their life too. It’s easy for fans to slip inside the lyrics of songs like “Young and Beautiful,” cowritten with Adele collaborator Rick Nowels: “Hot summer days, rock and roll. The way you’d play for me at your show and all the ways I got to know your pretty face and electric soul. Will you still love me when I’m no longer young and beautiful?”

 

Between fully performed songs, Del Rey slipped in shortened versions of recent standouts like “Arcadia” and “A&W.” A short but sweet “Diet Mountain Dew,” with its hip-hop groove and “you’re no good for me” hook, charged the crescent moon lit night. Other bite-sized renditions: the travelogue “Ride”; and “The Grants,” the stirring gospel-tinged and family-themed (Del Rey was born with the surname Grant) “Ocean Blvd” opener.

 

One of the things Del Rey’s music is known for is its cinematic quality. Her Orion set was like living inside an arthouse film with a cool soundtrack.

 

As a recording artist, Del Rey is an iconoclast singer/songwriter. Femme-fatale alto, auteur lens, but with a mall-girl heart and pop-art pen. Onstage she adds pop-star/Broadway spectacle to that.

 

At the Orion show, a troupe of six female dancers gave physical expressions to Del Rey and her four-piece band. The band included a pianist, drummer, and two keyboardists who also picked up guitar and bass for some songs.

 

During much of the set, Del Rey stood center stage at the mic stand. Gently grooving with the music but focused on singing. Occasionally she walked up stairs leading towards the back of the stage, where oversized gilded frames, with curtains hanging down for silhouette effect for the dancers, were stationed.

 

At times, hot red LED lights punctuated the stage. Other times, the performers were bathed in psychedelic patterns. A big video screen behind the stage flickered with vintage looking images and other moody textures.

 

Most songs in the set went right into the next. Even though the show’s mostly ballads, the energy in the venue remained electric throughout. This was impressive.

 

Del Rey paused for fan interaction a few times. For melancholic piano ballad “Bartender,” she walked to the front of stage right. Before starting the song, she talked about going to a local Huntsville mall the day before, where she ran into fans shopping for their outfits for this show.

 

Onstage at Orion, she thanked fans for the gifts and jewelry they’d given her during her Huntsville stay, as well as notes they’d written her. “I read every one,” she said.

 

Then, Del Rey sat down at a vanity at stage right. A stylist came out and did her hair as Del Rey crooned and cooed the words to “Bartender.” Meanwhile, the singer’s dancers swayed while holding candelabras aloft.

 

Last night, Del Rey left most of the dancing to her dancers, but she did join in for some brief choreography a few times, which always goosed the crowd. Honestly though, Del Rey could pour herself a bowl of cereal onstage and her fans would go nuts.

 

Del Rey is to her young fans what Stevie Nicks is to many women in their 30s, and 40s and 50s. And like at a Nicks show, many of the fans at Del Rey’s Huntsville show were dressed in the style of the star onstage. So many white mini dresses. Enough barrettes to fill a Volkswagen. Maybe a mile or two of hair ribbons.

 

Many fans who weren’t doppelganging had on slinky outfits. Others wore T-shirts and jewelry inspired by Del Rey’s songs and imagery. It adds up to Deadhead levels of commitment, but way healthier and less smelly.

 

Earlier in the night, opening act Zella Day got the concert off to a hot start. Accompanied by a hard-hitting drummer and nifty keyboardist, Day sang and played electric guitar while exuding charisma. Her originals connected ‘60s pop-rock and ‘90s alternative. Set highlights included a cover of Paul McCartney’s classic “Let Me Roll It.” Day dedicated a performance of her sauntering 2022 song “Girls” to Del Rey, who she described as a longtime friend and a “girls’ girl.”

 

Reductionists file her under “sad girl music.” But Del Rey smiled a lot onstage last night. Mid-set, she and her band played a couple cover songs they appeared to relish.

 

First, a twangy version of Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man.” Del Rey’s vocals proved worthy of this old-school country ballad. Next, a jazzy “Summertime,” the George Gershwin standard Janis Joplin popularized in the ‘60s with an acid-rock version.

 

Del Rey’s vocals and keyboards were the show’s sonic guts. But there were some guitar moments. Her guitarist played a Jimmy Page-style Danelectro (like the kind Page played on live performances of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” but a 12-string) on “Ultraviolence,” the title cut from Del Rey’s most guitar-y album. Live, this one was given a longer outro.

 

With so many songs that have been streamed hundreds of millions of times, Del Rey can’t fit every beloved cut into the set. I would’ve loved to have heard her sidewinding 2013 rocker “West Coast.”

 

That said, even as a primarily hard-rock/heavy-metal listener, I found every second of Del Rey’s show riveting. Songs, singing, star-power and presentation are what matters most in music. Not instrumentation or genre.'

 

Deep into the 19-song set -- I think after that diet version of “Diet Mountain Dew” -- the show stopped. Del Rey walked down stairs to the area between the stage and the barricade that marks the front of the standing room only section on the venue’s floor.

 

For the next 10 minutes or so, she took selfies with fans, and signed autographs. Fans in the front gave her handmade gifts, including a bedazzled cap with “Alabama” across the front.

 

I’ve seen hundreds of concerts in my lifetime. The only other star I recall doing a similar display of gratitude for their fans is Elton John. Early in her career, some music writers questioned Del Rey’s authenticity. What a joke that take is now.

 

After this mid-concert quasi meet-and-greet, Del Rey returned to the stage for a sweeping run through “Summertime Sadness.” This version had more guitar than the original.

 

It was truly epic. A five-minute mini-movie of a song. When Del Rey got to the lyric “I’m feeling alive,” her backing vocalists increased from three to 8,000. Orion Amphitheater lifted up about six inches in that moment.

 

This summer, Del Rey, who has family in the Florence area about an hour’s drive from Huntsville, was seen out and about in Alabama several times. Those include her now-viral stint as a Waffle House waitress and an impromptu recording session at hallowed studio Muscle Shoals Sound.

 

After finishing “Summertime Sadness” last night, Del Rey said to the Alabama crowd, “There is no place I’d be rather be most of the time, especially tonight.”

Then, she and the band went into “Video Games,” the “Stairway to Heaven” of sad girl music. In addition to the gorgeous production and spellbinding vocal, the lyrics’ specific details are vivid. “Kissin’ in the blue dark. Playing pool and wild darts, video games.” She sang this one while leisurely swinging onstage from a swing that looked like it was constructed by fairies.

 

Del Rey’s recent concerts have ended with “Video Games.” But at Orion Amphitheater, after telling the crowd she was “feeling happy,” she gave them one more song.

 

Seated centerstage next to her talented backing singers, they did the haunting title track off her latest album, “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd”. This is when Del Rey did that aforementioned, mimed-camera click-click.

 

Of course, fans documented the show too, with terabytes of their own real pics and vids. A couple of times, this turned the amphitheater into a sea of smartphone screens.

 

As “Ocean Blvd” neared its end, Del Rey and her backing singers stood and continued singing. She waved to the crowd and sang the song’s outro, “Don’t you, don’t you forget me, no oh,” as she walked off stage.

 

Just like that, Lana Del Rey was gone. The band carried on for a few bars before grinding to a halt. On the stage’s video screen, an old-timey-movie font flickered “THE END.”

 

I’ve been to other concerts where the crowd goes wild and loud when the show starts, and for that act’s biggest songs. But Del Rey’s fans do this at the beginning and end of every song. No wonder -- unlike stars who seem trapped by success -- Lana Del Rey enjoys being Lana Del Rey now more than ever.