…then turn away because that is exactly what me, my dear friend, KJ, and 17,000 other somebodies were doing for one hour and 45 minutes on a rainy Sunday night in San Jose.
Let’s rewind to January 2021, the height of the second wave of the pandemic. I told KJ that the first concert I’d want to see “when the pandemic ends” is Dua Lipa.
Apparently the pandemic ended in October 2021 because that’s when Future Nostalgia Tour tickets when on sale and there KJ and I were, at work, with Ticketmaster pulled up on both of our phones AND desktops, buying concert tickets. I couldn’t figure out Ticketmaster on either devices but KJ pulled through and got us sweet seats for Sunday March 27th, 2022 at the SAP Center in San Jose.
Let’s rock and roll kiddos!
Side thought:
Elder Millenials will remember being 12 and staying the night at a friends house because their parents didn’t mind driving you to Longs Drugs at 4:30 am to get in line to buy The Backstreet Boys tickets. GOOD. TIMES.
Two Songs Hold Special Places in My Heart
The last time Belgian Husband and I were in…Belgium visiting his family, “New Rules” was on the radio all the time. We criss-crossed the country from Antwerp to Bruges and (my personal fave) Ostend and every 38 minutes we heard that song.
En nu popsensatie Dua Lipa met haar hit, “New Rules.”
Belgian DJ
It was such an amazing trip and now I cannot hear that song without being transported back to Belgium. And that is a great thing.
“Don’t Start Now” came out in March 2020, when the world ended. I was at home with The toddler, who was The Infant at the time and I was that parent who didn’t want to have the TV on around The Infant so we listened to Pandora all day. What song should pop up every 38 a minutes on Pandora? You guessed it…”Don’t Start Now.” I spent three months at home listening to that song while watching The Infant learn to crawl. I cannot hear that song without picturing The Infant scoot across the living room floor backwards. And that is a great thing.
Anywho…
Belgian Husband let me have the night off for the concert so KJ and made a date of it. We got a hotel room (so that I could drink) and had dinner before the show.
It took forever for us to pick out a spot for dinner. The market hall type place we originally wanted to go to was slightly overwhelming, and my weed gummy might have been happening at the same time we were trying to navigate the area. I jokingly suggested The Old Spaghetti Factory but I feel like the food isn’t as good as it was when I was 8 years old, so we settled on some place that I don’t even remember the name of because they gave KJ a Moscow Mule in a regular glasssssssss. We had time before the show, and the weed gummy wore off so we went back to the market hall type place and got a beer.
Now, Let’s Get to The Dua Lipa Concert!
The stage was set up as three mini stages that stepped down to each other (super great description, I know) and the sets designs took us on a tour of the neon desert in a convertible to the disco roller rink that happened to be on the way to Ibiza ultimately landing on a the Moon sponsored by Lisa Frank.
Dua Lipa started out HOT with “Physical” and then right into my fave “New Rules.” I was singing at the top of my lungs! I looked around and everyone was singing at the top of their lungs. It was only 8 minutes into the show. It was AH-Maaazing!
She then jumped into “Love Again,” “Cool,” “Pretty Please,” “Break My Heart,” “The One.” I learned two things during that set. Number 1: “Pretty Please” is a dope ass song that I sing with all the emotion I have in my body and Number 2: I’m really good at Molly Ringwald dancing to “The One.” Just listen to the song, it’s the only way to dance to it. She ended that set with a cute “IDGAF” roller dancing interlude.
The second set started with a weird comic book intro and a weird dancing lobster thingy during “We’re Good,” or as I referred to it in my notes “the sleeping and cocaine song,” which was a little unsettling but so is the song.
A third thing I learned that night is that I am not a fan of the aforementioned “sleeping and cocaine” song. I also don’t like “We’re Good,” “Good in Bed,” “Fever,” and “Boys Will be Boys.” I danced and drank my big beer but did not sing at the top of my lungs during this set.
We got back on track with “One Kiss.” She took us to Ibiza with that one – green strobe lights – but in true Calvin Harris form, missed the pop drop. As she started “Hallucinate,” I noticed a platform hanging out above the bottom stage and I spent the rest of the show waiting for Dua Lipa to fly across the area on it. I didn’t have to wait too long though. After the weird Elton John song…I don’t know the name of it, it samples “Rocket Man,” anywho she graced us with “Levitating” and yes, she was in the damn air soaring around the Lisa Frank Moon. It was so obvious, of course she would sing that song in the air, but I still squealed with delight when Dua Lipa made her way up there
She ended the show with an encore of “Future Nostalgia” and “Don’t Stop.” I missed “Don’t Stop” because I had to make my way to the merch counter. I picked up a shirt that is too small and too big at the same time. Modify it to fit and do a blog about it!
In conclusion
Dua Lipa puts on a great fucking show. She sang and danced for 90 minutes and the entire area was on their feet dancing and singing along. I am a jerk and have said on multiple occasions that I will only go to concerts and The Fox in Oakland and The Greek in Berkeley, but the SAP Center is not a bad place to check out a show. It’s smaller than some of the other arenas in the bay area and there were a lot of food options. We should have just eaten there instead!
Right on and thanks for checking out this post! Did anyone else go to see Dua Lipa? Drop me a line and let me know what you thought. I’m going to see Lord Huron next month so tune in for another recap!