October 1, 2023
All Things Go Festival, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD
Week: 359
This week’s thing: I saw Queen but I also saw THE Queen, Lana Del Rey. I’ve been trying to see her for years, getting closest when I bought a fucking Bonnaroo ticket in 2021. I was prepared to CAMP to see her before she pulled out of her headlining slot and I got my refund. But God was smiling down on me when he made the All Things Go lineup this year, and I finally got my chance.
Music: 5/5: I really think Lana Del Rey is the greatest songwriter of our/my generation and she played some of my favorites for the festival crowd: “Norman Fucking Rockwell,” “Young and Beautiful,” “Margaret” and “Venice Bitch” with special guest Jack Antonoff on guitar, “Video Games,” “Born to Die.” And her voice sounded really, really good. Brilliant setlist filled with brilliant songs.
Lighting/backdrop/visuals: 4/5: We got background singers and a troupe of dancers, a swing hanging from a pretty-real-looking tree, Lana singing a song or two in a small chair in front of a vanity. Classic Lana stuff.
Overall vibe: 5/5: LDR is truly at home in a festival setting, and the crowd was vibing (and honestly still buzzing from the boygenius set that preceded Lana’s… I don’t get them but we don’t have to got here). The weather was lovely. Everything was immaculate.
Bonus points:
Fashion: +1, Lana was looking HOT in a long black dress with hair down in a ponytail
Final: 15/15
What else I saw this week:
Queen + Adam Lambert in Baltimore. Love Queen’s songs and I think Adam Lambert does a pretty good job stepping into Freddie Mercury’s shoes for these tours. I will say this tour felt less impressive, less grand and exciting than the last time I saw Queen.
MUNA, who was also at All Things Go and whose set I caught before Lana’s. I love MUNA.