Racy, lacy Dua Lipa serves Auckland a piping hot dance party
Sparkly miniskirts shimmied, knee high boots jumped and popstar Dua Lipa transformed Spark Arena into a spicy, sweaty nightclub where under-18s were allowed.
Dua Lipa threw a racy, lacy dance party in Auckland on Wednesday night – and I had to wonder if it was safe for the sparkle-eyeshadowed eyes of the many younger fans in the room with their folks.
On the drizzly Auckland evening, Spark Arena was bursting with a sea of mums and daughters adorned with matching embellished makeup, a plethora of golden mini-skirts and a dance floor packed with knee high boots.
The Albanian-English popstar snatched the attention of every young and old eye in the capacity crowd from the moment she strutted out in her first bodysuit of the night – a pink satin piece, teamed with black fishnet stockings and dazzling boots. Dua Lipa’s trademark long, luscious, mermaid-like locks flicked as she opened with a big band and a dozen backup dancers atop a bridge to ‘Training Season’.
Dua Lipa and a dozen backup dancers raised the roof at Spark Arena.
Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Related Stories:
Dua Lipa moved her hips, shook her booty and sashayed out onto the thrust stage, working the crowd into a frenzy for the first big hit of the night, ‘Break My Heart’.
From here, the high energy and good vibes barely took a breath – ‘One Kiss’, ‘Levitating’, ‘Hallucinate’ – she took the hyped-up crowd, literally jumping, from one banger to the next.
The only lull we were given was to allow for confetti to be swept from the stage and for our star to swiftly change into another spicy outfit.
There was smoke, lights, lasers, fire and confetti guns - Dua Lipa captivated the crowd.
Cole Eastham-Farrelly
There was the black lace full-body catsuit with leather belt, a red lace dress with a thigh-high split and suspenders and my favourite – her encore ensemble of a black bodysuit adorned with heavy gold chains and a chunky Chanel medallion hanging around her neck which screamed inspiration from the book of pop star queens Cher and Beyonce.
Dua Lipa transformed Spark Arena into a wild party – there was smoke, lights and lasers. She danced with props, smouldered in a ring of fire and was raised in the air. It was all quite sexy but somehow remained family-friendly. I’m not quite sure how she did it. I guess it’s all in how we read it.
Dua Lipa slayed Spark Arena - eyes, young and old, could not look away.
Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Dua Lipa mingled with the excited front row of fans on the floor - taking selfies, holding hands and telling us all what a good time we were.
New Zealand is just the second stop on the three-time Grammy winner’s 55-date Radical Optimism Tour – a treat for the Southern Hemisphere to go first on a round-the-world slate of a big star.
Her Australian shows were peppered with special guests – her “friend” Troye Sivan chimed in for a ‘Rush’ duet. Kevin Parker popped on stage for a cover of his band Tame Impala’s ‘The Less I Know the Better’. Angus Stone and Vance Joy also assisted Dua Lipa at shows across the ditch.
Sadly, no special guest for the Kiwi crowd on Wednesday, but Dua Lipa decided to add a cover from a musician in her host nation to the line-up for each show. She served the Aussies covers of AC/DC’s ‘Highway to Hell’ and Natalie Imbruglia’s ‘Torn’. She wooed the Melbourne crowd with a take on Kylie Minogue’s ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’.
Dua delivered us a crowd-raising rendition of Lorde’s smash ‘Royals’ – but alas, no sign of Ella herself. This time.
Dua Lipa will play one more Auckland show at Spark Arena on Friday, 4 April.
