Lana del Rey at Terminal 5

Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, known professionally now as Lana Del Rey, was born in New York City and raised in Lake Placid, New York. She was a cantor in her church choir when she was a child. After graduating high school, she moved to Long Island with her aunt and uncle while working as a waitress. During this time, Del Rey's uncle taught her how to play guitar, and she began writing songs and performing in New York music clubs, where she called herself Sparkle Jump Rope Queen, Lizzy Grant & the Phenomena, and May Jailer. While a student at Fordham University, she lived in the Bronx and then North Bergen, New Jersey. After graduating university in 2005, she moved to Brooklyn, where she resided for four years. She became Lana del Rey and moved to London, England. As Lana del Rey, she won numerous music awards and scored number-one albums; her second album, Born to Die, sold 3.4 million copies in 2012, making it the fifth-best-selling album of that year. She released her fifth and most recent album, Lust for Life, on July 21, 2017, and it became her second number-one album in the United States. She now resides in Malibu, California.

Beginning in January 2018, Del Rey will headline an LA to the Moon Tour through North America. Perhaps her more intimate concerts at Terminal 5 tonight and tomorrow night were among the warm-ups for the arena tour. The stage was dressed with palm trees, other foliage and two swings, plus two sets of steps mostly for her two dancers/backup singers' choreography. In keeping with the tropical theme of the stage set and that which her name envisaged, del Rey opened with "13 Beaches." The set began with a slow torch song, and pretty much stayed there for the entire performance. The concert was intriguing in that except for a few songs that ventured into light rapping, the show was not rocking at all. Pianist Byron Thomas, guitarist Blake Stranathan, bassist Kevin McPherson, and drummer Tom Marsh played subtly behind del Rey, almost invisibly but providing the cleanest context for del Rey's compositions. Del Rey's repertoire consisted of light pop songs, but several cleverly deviated from the dynamic verse-chorus pattern desired by radio. Del Rey reportedly possesses an expansive contralto vocal range which spans three-plus octaves, but regrettably it was challenging to confirm that because the audience drowned her out for much of the performance. Much of the audience, largely young and female, seemed more intent on singing along than listening attentively, which speaks strongly of how del Rey's lyrics articulated the soulful experience of these fans.

Lana del Rey performs again tomorrow night at Terminal 5 (sold out) and then returns to the New York area for a concert at the Prudential Center on January 19, 2018.

Visit Lana del Rey at www.lanadelrey.com.

Setlist:

1. 13 Beaches (Live debut)
2. Diet Mountain Dew (tour debut; first live performance in six years)
3. Cherry
4. Shades of Cool
5. Blue Jeans
6. Born To Die
7. White Mustang
8. Lust for Life (tour debut)
9. Music to Watch Boys To
10. Ultraviolence
11. Change
12. Ride
13. Love
14. Video Games
15. Summertime Sadness
16. Get Free
17. Off to the Races