Future Nostalgia Tour

The Future Nostalgia Tour was the second concert tour and first arena tour by English and Albanian singer Dua Lipa, in support of her second studio album, Future Nostalgia (2020). It began on 9 February 2022 at the FTX Arena in Miami and ended on 28 November of the same year at Tirana's Skanderbeg Square. The tour visited cities across North America, Europe, South America and Oceania.
The tour was divided into four sections and an encore. It was produced by creative studio Ceremony London, promoted by Live Nation and sponsored by Truly Hard Seltzer. Lipa wore custom outfits by Balenciaga, Marine Serre, John Galliano and Mugler during the show. The Future Nostalgia Tour was met with highly positive reviews from critics, who praised Lipa's stage presence, vocals and the pace of the show. It also experienced commercial success; on the 2022 Billboard year-end boxscore chart, it was ranked the world's 18th highest-grossing tour of the year, grossing $89,302,575 from 71 shows.
The first European dates of the Future Nostalgia Tour were announced in December 2019, and were scheduled to take place from April to June of the following year. These shows were postponed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lipa announced North American and Oceanian dates in September 2021, as well as extra European dates and Latin American dates in November and December respectively. She announced the final show of the tour would take place in Tirana in November 2022, commemorating the 110th anniversary of Albanian independence.
In January 2018, whilst still on the road with her Self-Titled Tour, Lipa began working on her second studio album. Inspired by the time spent touring with her band, she aimed to create a record that mixed live instrumentation with electronic production, and that could "sit alongside some of [her] favourite classic pop songs". Lipa's management confirmed in October the following year that a global arena tour would begin in April 2020. The singer's second studio album, Future Nostalgia, was released on 27 March 2020. The first European dates of the Future Nostalgia Tour were officially announced on 2 December 2019, with ticket sales beginning four days later. The album's title track was also released in conjunction with the announcement. British DJ Buck Betty and American singer Lolo Zouaï were initially announced as opening acts for these dates.
On 23 March 2020, Lipa announced the postponement of the tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but confirmed plans to add worldwide dates. The following day, the tour was rescheduled for January and February 2021 and shows in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo were cancelled. On 23 October, the tour was rescheduled for a second time to September and October 2021. Ticket sales for the Future Nostalgia Tour increased by 70 percent following Lipa's livestream concert, Studio 2054, in November. On 28 June 2021, the tour was rescheduled for a third and final time to April, May and June 2022, with several new European shows announced.
Lipa announced shows in North America and Oceania in September 2021, with Megan Thee Stallion, Caroline Polachek and Zouaï as opening acts in the former. Extra dates in Los Angeles, Auckland, Sydney and Melbourne were added due to high demand. Four new European dates were added in November, with Angèle, Griff and Tove Lo announced as the new opening acts. Lipa announced Latin American dates in December; an extra Buenos Aires show was added after tickets for the first sold out in less than an hour. The Montreal and Toronto shows were postponed until July 2022, and shows in Milwaukee and Elmont were added. A show in São Paulo was announced in May 2022. In November 2022, Lipa announced that the final show of the tour would take place in Tirana on 28 November, commemorating Albanian Flag Day and the 110th anniversary of Albanian independence. The tour began on 9 February 2022 in Miami. It was produced by Ceremony London and promoted by Live Nation, with Truly Hard Seltzer as its official sponsor.
The Future Nostalgia Tour staging was designed by Es Devlin Studio. It consisted of a main stage, as well a smaller stage near the middle of the arena connected by a runway. Lipa's band, consisting of a keyboardist, drummer, guitarist, bassist and four backup singers, appeared on a slightly lower stage on the wings of the main one. The LED screen was described as a "huge bowl", which showed visuals created by Luke Halls Studio. Lipa and her team aimed to create a show inspired by the album's title, creating multiple "worlds influenced by the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s". The staging also featured a "nightclub ceiling" which lowered over Lipa and her dancers at a point during the show, in order to create a more intimate setting for the audience. Glow Inflatables created a series of inflatable stars, moons and clouds which were suspended above the stage to create an "intergalactic" atmosphere, as well as a giant replica of a lobster.
The concert began with the house lights lowering as "Body Funk" (2017) by Purple Disco Machine began playing over the speakers and the stage backdrop cut to static before revealing the words "In Stereocolor: Future Nostalgia" with Miami Vice-styled graphics. A 1980s aerobics-themed video montage that introduced the ten dancers that included two roller skaters was then played as the first notes of "Physical" began playing. Lipa then strutted on stage to a ballet barre in centre stage to perform the song. She wore a custom Balenciaga neon-yellow catsuit that featured a lingerie-inspired corseted bodice, built-in pants and heeled boots, a textured floral pattern and matching elbow-length opera gloves while she also had rhinestones on her eyelids and wore diamond-embellished Eéra earrings. The outfit was inspired by the label's summer 2022 red carpet collection. Her dancers wore royal blue outfits, also by the design house, with some sporting long sleeve spandex outfits and others wearing baggy tracksuits made from cotton terry jersey. During the song's performance, they performed 1980s aerobic choreography and Lipa vamped down the runway of the stage.
Following this, there was a seamless transition into "New Rules" where Lipa and her dancers performed choreography similar to that of the song's accompanying music video, including strutting down the runway using umbrella props in the style of Singin' in the Rain (1952). The big screen during the song featured flamingos and retro cars, also similar to the song's music video alongside a personalized screen for the city the concert took place. In the following song "Love Again", Lipa performed square dance choreography and lassoing technique similar to those used in the song's music video. The backdrop for the song had a Martian space western theme. For "Cool", Lipa performed with a mic stand centre stage in the shadow a CGI disco ball as two dancers in light-up rollerblades skated around her. Lipa sang "Pretty Please", "Break My Heart" and "Be the One" before sprinting off stage for a costume change. Simultaneously, an interlude featuring an elevator music-like muted version "IDGAF" and a graphic novel theme titled "Under the Sea" that included a lobster attack was played.
Going into the second act, Lipa changed into a shimmery, sequin-studded silver and white one piece bodysuit with a one-armed top and briefs-style bottoms. "We're Good" was the first song performed in the act, which she sang in front of a giant lobster prop. A menu was featured on the side screen that included fake menu items such as the "Dua thermadore". The song was followed by "Good In Bed" and "Fever". The former song featured a technicolor barrage of cherries for the backdrop. Lipa attached a white, flowing train to her outfit to perform "Boys Will Be Boys" with a spotlight on her, which led into a Club Future Nostalgia interlude for the third act. The interlude included a bombastic carnaval-like parade with the performers dancing down the runway. Lipa changed into a Marine Serre outfit that included a pink lace bra and black skin-tight jacket alongside matching black high-waisted underwear, sneakers and hot pink tights with the brand's signature crescent moon motif for the third act. For the third act of the European leg, Lipa wore a Dior outfit by John Galliano. The performances for this act took place at the end of the runway stage under low neon lights that looked like a night club. She performed "One Kiss" and "Electricity" with her backup dancers. "Hallucinate" followed where Lipa and her dancers performed warehouse rave-influenced choreography, jumping around a secondary stage in the set. The final song of the third act was "Cold Heart" where Lipa duetted with a pre-recorded video of Elton John while sitting on the stage with her dancers.
In the final act, Lipa wore a sparkling black Mugler catsuit covered in 120,000 crystals with beige mesh cutouts as well as sheer and opaque body-defining panels. The outfit was similar to that of Cher's "If I Could Turn Back Time" outfit, and was paired with matching black gloves. The dancers wore also wore outfits by the fashion house, some in similar body suits to the singer and some with a cut out black top and matching trousers. For this act, a glittering moon and stars were brought down and the singer performed "Levitating" while hovering above the general admission crowd on a moving platform before waving goodbye and running off stage. She was surrounded by hanging iridescent planets and stars with a galaxy image on the big screen. In the encore, the singer belted an aggressive take of the album's title track where she whipped her hair around and walked the runway while teal and dark purple laser lights were used. The show closed with Lipa thanking her opening acts and introducing her band followed by a performance of "Don't Start Now" which opens with the singer reclaiming a dance move she performed during promotion for her eponymous debut studio album that caused her to be bullied online for it being "lazy" and "uninspired" as well as become a meme for the dance. Lipa stated that she looks back at the dance from a different perspective with "fondness" as, although the bullying caused her a lot of grief, it caused her to work harder and grow into the artist she wanted to become. Confetti cannons go off during the performance. The show lasted for approximately 90 minutes. As the audience left the venue, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (1987) by Whitney Houston was played over the PA system.
The Future Nostalgia Tour was met with highly positive reviews from critics. E! Online named the tour one of 15 "must-see" concerts in 2022. In a review from Rolling Stone, Celia Almeida praised Lipa's stage presence stating she's a "superstar" that's "every bit the female alpha she proclaimed herself to be on the album’s title track" while also mentioning that the show is "a powerful reminder of Lipa's pop savvy". For Consequence, Mary Gibson stated that "Lipa delivered exactly the kind of lively, dynamic show fans have been aching for". Adam Graham of The Detroit News praised the "rich" production that "worked like clockwork" and complimented Lipa's stage presence saying her "confidence and her control of the stage was the best stage trick of the night". The Columbus Dispatch's Margaret Quamme commended the "loose, joyous" choreography that lets the "glossy, admittedly shallow disco-tinged" set list breathe. Emmalyse Brownstein of Miami New Times commended singer's vocals stating they sound "just like her studio recordings" while also praised Lipa's "impressive" stage presence for commanding the stage and leading the dancers. The Tennessean reviewer Dave Paulson praised the concert for being "beyond well-rehearsed, and synchronized down to the millisecond", while also appreciating the singer's stage presence stating she is "self-assured" and "a cool, consistent presence than a diva aiming to set the stage ablaze".
In The Charlotte Observer, Théoden Janes complimented Lipa's performance, which he praised for hitting "pretty much all of her marks" in "terms of her command over her vocals and her command over her body". Edward Pevos of MLive named it "one of the most well-paced shows we've seen many years" while praising Lipa for commanding "the stage like a seasoned pro". Writing for The Oakland Press, Gary Graff said Lipa ticked "off all the boxes we expect from these kinds of shows". Writing for The Boston Globe, Maura Johnston said the show "leaned into that kitchen-sink mode feeling of the present while also offering an escape" while describing Lipa as "a charismatic performer with a striking look" that "commanded the stage". Dan DeLuca of The Philadelphia Inquirer praised the tight choreography and Lipa's "more-than-capable" vocals. In a more negative review from OnMilwaukee, Matt Mueller praised the "spectacle" show production but criticized Lipa's performance and stage presence, saying that at times her backup dancers stole the show.
For Expresso, after Lisbon's show, Rita Carmo, also complimented the show, stating "Don't they make pop stars like they used to? Wrong. Dua Lipa proved tonight, in Lisbon, that she has the fiber of someone who came to stay in a musical territory used to chewing and throwing away. In just over five years, the British artist, of Albanian origin, went from a proposal that was perhaps too alternative to widespread acclaim, achieving the feat of pleasing both the masses and those who look at these pop things with some cynicism".
Pitchfork named the Future Nostalgia Tour one of the most anticipated tours of 2022. The tour debuted at number five on the February 2022 issue of Billboard's Top Tours Boxscore chart with a total gross of $13,523,248 and a total attendance of 138,638, from 11 shows. The following month, it dropped down to number seven with a total gross of $25,027,606 and a total attendance of 239,855 from 17 shows. The first leg grossed $40,100,000 and sold 394,000 tickets, an increase of 346% in ticket sales and 1,479% in gross-per-show compared to when Lipa toured the US in support of her debut album. In every city except Milwaukee, ticket sales topped 11,000; Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum had a scaled down capacity and only sold 6,312 tickets. The highest grossing show of the leg was the show of 1 March 2022 in New York City grossing $2,100,000 while the following night in Washington D.C. had the highest ticket sales with 16,068 tickets sold. The shows in Inglewood had a gross of $3,228,158 and an attendance of 30,270, causing it to chart at number 29 on the March 2022 issue of Billboard's Top Boxscores chart. On the 2022 Billboard year-end boxscore chart, the Future Nostalgia Tour was ranked the world's 18th highest-grossing tour of the year, grossing $89,302,575 from 71 shows.
This set list is representative of the show on 9 February 2022 in Miami. It is not representative of all concerts for the duration of the tour.
Credits adapted from DublinLive, Dincwear and the BIMM Institute.