concert recap
The more you watch of Lana Del Rey supposedly going country, the more apparent how ridiculous any talk of her pivoting to any genre really is.
For 15 years now, LDR has essentially been a genre unto herself: a unique and borderline-illogical blending of obviously classic influences with some game-changingly modern sensibilities, one that mostly befuddled critics and radio and the charts early on, even as she was inarguably becoming one of the most important pop stars of her generation. Sheâs been wildly influential without ever being less than unmistakable; no matter what sonic, thematic or characteristic elements other artists may borrow from her, none of them would ever risk being taken for Lana herself. This is all to say: no matter what style of music sheâs making, Lana Del Rey has one genre and thatâs âLana Del Rey.â
But of course, Lana did lean into The Stagecoach of It All while making her debut performance at the Indio, Calif. country festival on Friday (Apr. 25). Singing in a white dress in front of a set of an idyllic-looking rural house at dusk, she looked like she walked on stage straight from an old Loretta Lynn album cover. Early on, she brought out George Birge â himself a Saturday performer at the festival â to duet on his current hit âCowboy Songs,â an extremely country radio-friendly song Del Rey says she canât get enough of. (You can certainly imagine a Lanafied version of the chorus, though it was strange to hear her singing on such a zippy and muscular hook in 2025.) And of course, she invoked two all-time genre classics during the show by covering Tammy Wynetteâs âStand by Your Manâ (âYou canât do this set without itâ), and then closing the proceedings with a family singalong to John Denverâs âTake Me Home, Country Roads,â a recent entry into the LDR cover canon.
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But the new songs? Country-ish in their tempo and in some of their thematic content (and occasional lyrics about âall these country singersâ), perhaps, but not in any way that feels at a remove from what sheâs done her whole career: Lana has long centered the emotional abandon and cinematic sway of country in her songs. You could hear that even in some of the crowd-elating classics Lana performed in the midst of her Grand Ole Opry moment â tweak a couple lyrics and add some banjo and âRideâ is basically a The Chicks single; turn down the sex and turn up the sarcasm and âVideo Gamesâ couldâve been penned by Kacey Musgraves. Nothing about the stately balladry and gender-role explorations of songs like set-opening duo âHusband of Mineâ and âHenry, Come Onâ felt without precedent in her catalog; she could have introduced them as deep cuts from Blue Banisters or Chemtrails Over the Country Club and many of her fans probably wouldâve bought it.
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If there was a pronounced difference with Del Rey in Country Mode on Friday night, it was that she seemed⌠maybe more polite and unassuming than weâre used to her being? Watching her express her very sincere-seeming gratitude at being invited to Stagecoach, and about the size and passion of her Friday night crowd, it was very easy to forget that she was once a highly divisive figure in popular music, one prone to controversy in both her lyrics and public statements. There was no trace of any of that in the smiling, hostly, happy-to-be-here performer who took the stage on Friday night.
Well, almost none. If you missed a little of the unpredictability and ostentatiousness that characterized early-years Lana Del Reyâ and still informed highlights from her work up until this decade â then you probably loved â57.5,â a shuffling new song referring to her number (in millions) of monthly listeners on Spotify, which also includes a bridge which begins with LDR proclaiming âI kissed Morgan Wallenâ and going onto advise listeners against going ATVing with him. It takes a lot of âyes, reallyâ to explain, but it was still probably the best of the new songs that she debuted: some real country sât, but more importantly, pure Lana through and through, in a way no other artist or genre could ever totally capture.

Peso Pluma electrified the Barclays Center in New York City on Thursday (Oct. 3), captivating the audience as part of his Ăxodo Tour 2024, promoting his latest album of the same name. The Mexican superstar performed hit after hit for nearly three hours and was joined by an array of special guests, including Ice Spice, Eladio CarriĂłn, Estevan Plazola, Los Dareyes de la Sierra, Tito Double P, Yng Lvcas, and Jasiel NuĂąez.
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Adding to the excitement, J Balvin made a special virtual backstage appearance right before Peso Pluma took the stage, amping up the crowd as Black Sabbathâs âN.I.B.â roared through the speakers.
With a backdrop that invoked a sense of grandeur, the giant screen displayed verses with a biblical tone: âThere are over eight billion people in the world, each of us different, different origins, different stories that make up our character,â the message on the screens read. âOf course, not everyone has the perfect character, perhaps those who think that are the same ones deciding that our ways are defective. But before all of them, I ask: Can a compass, moral and broken, decide which is the right direction? An anti-hero is among us.â
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Meanwhile, a floating gigantic moon added a stunning element, moving across the arena and enhancing the celestial theme.
Dressed in black pants, a white T-shirt, olive Travis Scott Air Jordans, and silver chains â and sporting a slick hairstyle in place of his classic mullet â the Guadalajara native burst onto the stage kicking off with âLa Durango.â His energy was infectious, marked by a beaming smile and dynamic movement across the stage. Flanked by hip-hop-style dancers and musicians clad in black, including a brass section, a tololoche, guitars, and a bajo quinto, the ensemble impressively adapted these acoustic instruments to resonate in the sold-out Barclays arena.
Spanning such charting hits as âLady Gaga,â âRubicon,â and âLa Patrulla,â the highlight of the night was undoubtedly the performances by the numerous special guests. Ice Spice â rocking her curly red hair and showing off her new slim figure â performed âDeli,â Yng Lvcas joined Pluma for âLa BebĂŠ,â Jasiel NuĂąez â who was the first invite and whom Peso consistently called his best friend â sang âBipolar,â âRosa Pastel,â and âMe Activo.â His cousin Tito Double P also joined the superstar for several songs, including Titoâs âDos DĂasâ and Pesoâs banger âLa People II.â
Eladio CarriĂłn sang a corridos alongside Peso and had his moment with the trap anthem âMbappĂŠ.â Then, Los Dareyes de la Sierraâs frontman impressed with accordion-powered corridos on âHasta el DĂa de Hoy.â Another standout moment was Pesoâs performances of âQlonaâ by Karol G, 2023âs song of the year âElla Baila Solaâ with Eslabon Armado, and the introspective âHollywoodâ from Ăxodo, during which Peso shared his personal connection with the song penned by Estevan Plazola in 2020.
Outside the arena was another story, with fans gathering to share food and beers at a tailgate party while cars nearby blasted Peso Pluma songs and an array of pirated merch was for sale, displaying that he and modern-day corridos have truly become a cultural phenomenon.
Nearly six months into her whirlwind Guts World Tour, Olivia Rodrigo finally landed in her hometown of Los Angeles on Tuesday night (Aug. 13) to perform the first of four dates at the Kia Forum, which sheâll follow with two shows at the soon-to-open Intuit Dome on Aug. 20 and 21. âOh boy, Iâve been […]
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