REVIEW: Dua Lipa brings sassy self-titled tour to Brighton

The 22 year old star Dua Lipa opened her Self-Titled Tour at the Brighton Dome last night (Thursday, October 5).
Dua Lipa in BrightonDua Lipa in Brighton
Dua Lipa in Brighton

Dua was born in London, to Albanian parents from Kosovo who had moved in the 1990s. She attended theatre schools part-time, before returning back to Kosovo with her family in 2008. At the age of just 16, she moved back to London with aspirations of becoming a singer, and working part time as a model.

Starting her career by posting videos of covers and original songs on YouTube, Dua was just 14 years old when she began displaying her music to the world. In 2015, she was signed by the Warner Music Group and released her first single, ‘Be the One’ before working on her debut album.

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Fast-forward six years, and Dua Lipa is now one of the hottest young stars on the planet. Opening for acts around the world such as Coldplay, Bruno Mars and Troye Sivan, and collaborating with artists like Martin Garrix and Sean Paul, the past few years have seen a frantic rise to global stardom for the British singer.

Dua Lipa in BrightonDua Lipa in Brighton
Dua Lipa in Brighton

Following a manic year of touring, festivals and album press; Dua opened the UK and European leg of the Self-Titled Tour at the Brighton Dome last night.

The audience were warmed up by a half hour set by Copenhagen based, techno-pop trio ‘Off Bloom’. The dark, sexy pop tracks electrified the crowd in preparation for Dua and added to the show’s girl-power vibe.

Arriving in style to one of her biggest hits, ‘Hotter than Hell’, complete with an extended opening and strobe lights, the stunning star strutted on stage in oversized, high-wasted denim trousers and a small black crop top.

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Continuing to perform hits such as Sean Paul-collaboration ‘No Lie’, Miguel-collab ‘Lost in Your Light’ and debuting the romantic ballad ‘Garden’ Dua quickly had the audience in the palm of her hands.

Dua Lipa in BrightonDua Lipa in Brighton
Dua Lipa in Brighton

Stating in between songs “Brighton, I’m so excited to be here, on the first night of the Self-Titled Tour!” to which she received a thunderous applause, complete with the screaming and cheering of just about every under-25 in Brighton.

A woman of few words, however, she cracked through a 16-song-set-list and performed all of her greatest hits, including ‘Last Dance’, ‘Scared to be Lonely’ and ‘Begging’, with little chatter in between.

Empowering, confident and sexy songs from her debut album were flawlessly belted out by Dua (and the audience in the Dome), as she performed tracks written about break-ups, loss, and knowing your self-worth.

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Returning to the stage accompanied only by her pianist, she performed the stunningly heart-wrenching, acoustic ballad ‘Homesick’ which was co-written with Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Performing in a spotlight at the side of stage, she had the audience captivated by her powerful, soulful voice.

Continuing to perform the last two songs of the night; she quickly raised the tone again by performing her first ever single, ‘Be the One’. Closing with the world-famous break-up-anthem ‘New Rules’, the nearly 4000-strong audience went ballistic to the final song of the night.

The Self-Titled Tour continues in Bournemouth tonight, before heading on to the rest of the UK and Europe next week. See the full list of dates here: http://dualipa.com/live/