Image by Madeline Leesman
Seeing Lana Del Rey live in concert has been at the top of my bucket list for years. So back in August, when she announced a world tour was in the works, I knew I needed to be in the audience if she performed at a city near me. Especially if she came to Nashville.
A few weeks following the announcement, the “LA to the Moon” tour dates were released. Sure enough, Nashville was on the list. I was ecstatic.
On Del Rey’s previous tours, it was not a possibility for me to attend one of her concerts. I was in high school, and the shows were usually too far from my hometown. The shows which were a somewhat plausible driving distance were typically on school nights.
Fast forward a few years, and now my chances of seeing Del Rey were in my favor. I’m in my second year of college, in a different city — “Music City” — and the drive to the concert venue takes only ten minutes. So on February 6, 2018, my friend Kayla and I and hopped in an Uber to take us to Bridgestone Arena to see Del Rey perform.
Kayla and I arrived at Bridgestone Arena way early, standing out in the cold and rain and later waiting inside a nearby restaurant until the doors to the venue were unlocked.
When the doors finally opened, we were some of the first people inside. We bolted up to the merchandise counter to buy concert t-shirts and our tickets were upgraded for free because the entire level where our original seats were located was closed off for the evening.
After an hour or so of waiting, Kali Uchis performed. When Uchis concluded her set, we waited about another hour for Del Rey to take the stage. I had never been filled with so much anticipation to see an artist before.
Without any warning, the lights in the arena went dark as the lights on the stage illuminated. Del Rey came out in a sparkly black dress with matching black boots. Her short, dark hair was straight, sleek and pinned back with two hair clips shimmering like little disco balls under the bright lights. She joked about it, saying “they told me you can never wear too many sparkles in Nashville.” She looked phenomenal, but her voice was even better.
Del Rey opened the set with “13 Beaches,” a song off her latest record Lust for Life, and ended with “Off to the Races,” one her classics from Born to Die. In “Pretty When You Cry,” she changed the lyrics “like my memories,” to “like my Nashville stage.”
Later on in the set, she performed a gorgeous medley of her songs “Change,” “Black Beauty,” and her hit from The Great Gatsby, “Young and Beautiful.” The audience requested her second-to-last song, “Body Electric,” probably because she references an iconic Nashville landmark, the Grand Ole Opry, in the song.
Del Rey’s set had a good balance of songs from all her albums, ranging from hits like “Summertime Sadness,” and “Blue Jeans” to “Cherry” and “White Mustang.” She even threw in a condensed version of the “Ride” monologue and her rendition of Marilyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday Mr. President.”
Toward the end of the set, she descended the steps from the stage and spent time walking up and down the front row accepting gifts, signing autographs and taking selfies her devoted fans.
Overall, the concert was unforgettable. After spending the entirety of last summer counting down the days for the release of Lust for Life, waiting impatiently for a tour announcement and then waiting for the tour dates, this concert was everything I imagined and more. Even my first Her Campus article was “Will Lana Del Rey Visit Nashville On Her World Tour?”
Lucky for me, she did. The “LA to the Moon” tour was the experience of a lifetime. So thank you, Lana, for the amazing show. “I will love you till the end of time.”
