On Tuesday Night, the queen of alternative music hit the ‘Burgh.
This year, after four long-awaited years, singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey finally hit the road, with a stop here in Pittsburgh on October 3rd. The show took place at the Pavilion at Star Lake in Burgettstown, PA, just west of Pittsburgh.
Both opener Nikki Lane and Del Rey took the stage to a sold out crowd of over 22,000 attendees. Many fans dressed in creative, fun, and charming outfits. A common theme was recreating a look of Lana’s, whether it was from a music video or album cover. My favorite album of Del Rey’s is Lust For Life, so I recreated the look from the cover of the album.
Lane is a country singer from Greenville, South Carolina and a very close friend of Lana’s. They even have a collaboration together. Though she’s a lesser known artist, fans gave Lane their all. Everyone cheered loudly and danced like no one was watching.
Senior Avery Richard attended the show, and had a tremendous time.
“I had an amazing experience,” she said. “It was life changing. I got there pretty early, around 4 PM, which was very beneficial. I got home at 12:30, earlier than anyone I knew. The setlist was very good. Lana is so inspiring and majestic.”
Del Rey took the stage at 9:15 PM with the title track off her hit album, Norman F****** Rockwell!. The sound of the cheers was ear-splitting — fans of Lana did not come to mess around.
A fan favorite on the setlist was one of her title tracks, “Ultraviolence.”
Taige Miller, a junior who attended, had favorable opinions on the setlist.
“It was definitely really good,” he said. “She played a lot of her hits. I think she should’ve played ‘West Coast,’ though.”
However, a problematic aspect of the show was the Ticketmaster experience. There was no presale, so whenever the tickets went on sale, there was a flood of purchases. For this sale, platinum pricing was turned on, meaning some of the tickets could be significantly more expensive than others, even if there was a ticket for half the price one seat away.
When most got into the sale, they found that rather than only some of the tickets being platinum, nearly every single one was. The face value prices for some seats were around $150 each, yet most were brought for over $500.
This resulted in a significant amount of fans having to purchase tickets from reseller websites. Instead of paying a cheap price for lawn seats, many fans ended up buying those tickets for over five times the price from resellers.
NASH junior Maya Scott had this experience.
“I bought resale,” she said. “I wanted better seats, but I was happy to go.”
Some attendees were not die-hard superfans, but they were nevertheless pleased with their experience.
“I only knew her more popular songs. She isn’t one of my top artists. However, the show was really good. The vibes were all around, immaculate, and awesome.” said junior Gabbie Ibrahim.
After the show, thousands of fans battled through a revolting amount of traffic. Many did not arrive home until around 3:00am. The Pavilion at Star Lake has many lots, and each was released one by one. Those in lots towards the back were out of luck for over two hours. I ended up in the parking lot much longer than Lana’s set.
Nonetheless, fans stuck in this traffic found ways to enjoy themselves. Some sat in their cars blasting Olivia Rodrigo and screaming along. Some got out of their cars and took walks. Some joined security guards on golf cart rides. Some slept.
Amidst the show, Del Rey exclaimed to the audience that she had been waiting to come visit Pittsburgh for a great deal of time. She went on about how this show was the second-to-last stop on the tour. She expressed her appreciation for her band members and dancers and exclaimed how grateful she was that she is still able to tour.
While she was giving this speech to the crowd, fans were hugging, holding hands, and leaning on each other. Even strangers who just met were hugging each other. It was so beautiful to see how music can bring people together.
