Katie Weiford

Lana Del Rey performing “Did you Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard,” her final song on the tour. Photo by Katie Weiford.

The singer and songwriter Elizabeth Grant, known as Lana Del Rey, performed her first show in West Virginia on October 5th at the Charleston Coliseum. Fans from all over the state were in shock and disbelief, because it’s basically unheard of for an alternative artist like Del Ray to perform in our little state. Known for hit songs like “Video Games,” “Young and Beautiful,” and “Summertime Sadness,” Del Ray has climbed her way to the top of the music artist food chain.  

When I first heard Del Ray was coming to WV, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I sat in my room in disbelief for hours, until I realized I needed to tell my mom and ask permission to go. I am a die-hard fan of Del Ray and her music means more than words can describe. My favorite albums are Lust For Life and Honeymoon, and my favorite songs are “Get Free,” “Cherry,” “Freak,” “Swan Song,” “Born to Die,” “A&W,” and “Paris, Texas.” I’ve been one of her number-one fans since middle school, and she is my number-one artist on Apple Music. 

When the day came that tickets went on sale on Ticketmaster, I was beyond scared, because my best friend Gypsy and I were supposed to go to this concert together. Once it was our turn in the queue, not even eight minutes passed before every single seat was sold and resellers were already selling them for prices that were out of this world. But a few weeks later, Gypsy told me about a third-party site known as SeatGeek that had decently priced tickets for sale. The cheapest ones were nosebleeds, but that didn’t matter to either of us and we got seats right next to each other, facing the stage. 

The months passed and the concert date neared. I was beyond excited, and I began to boycott the songs in Del Ray’s concert set list so I could hear them fresh live. I was most excited to see “Cherry” and “Young and Beautiful” performed. Finally, the day of the concert arrived. I couldn’t concentrate on school. The only thing I could concentrate on was seeing my favorite artist on stage that night. 

When it was time to make the trip to Charleston, Gypsy and I blasted all our favorite Del Ray songs, and once we arrived at the venue, we ran straight inside and straight for the merchandise line because we both wanted the tour-exclusive tote bag. Once we got situated and found our seats, we took really cute pictures for our social media pages and sat in blissful anticipation for the show to begin. We obviously had to wait, because Del Ray had a singer named Zella Day open for her. I didn’t know too much about Day other than she sang one of my favorite songs called “Hypnotic,” and I was devastated she didn’t perform it. Once she finished, Del Ray didn’t go on for another hour, so we made friends with the people sitting around us and took some selfies. 

Suddenly, the colosseum got dark and everyone started screaming. I could see Del Ray’s father, Robert Grant, filming in the back corner of the stage, and then there she was. She walked onto the stage and immediately starting singing one of her biggest hits called “Norman F*cking Rockwell” and the crowd went wild.

“Katie, oh my God she’s actually here,” said Gypsy, in shock because she was a Del Ray fan way before I was, and seeing her sing in person was truly an out-of-body experience. I was shaking, and I just couldn’t believe that the one and only Lana Del Rey was here performing 100 feet away from me. 

After her first song, Del Ray went straight into “Arcadia,” and when she was about a quarter into the song, the tears were running down my face because I never thought I would hear a song so of such grace. She then played other songs such as “Bartender” and “The Grants,” but then she suddenly played “Young and Beautiful” with zero warning and, once again, the tears came when the entire crowd sang along to the lyrics “Will you still love me when I got nothing but my aching soul?” The last song I cried to was “Chemtrails Over the Country Club,” specifically the lyrics “You’re in the wind, I’m in the water. Nobody’s son, nobody’s daughter. Watching the chemtrails over the country club.” During that song I felt like I got every sad emotion out of me and I was ready to hype my girl Lana up. 

Eventually, Del Ray performed the best song of the night, “Cherry.” When the lighting turned red, I knew that it was time for my song. The moment she started singing, I screamed and cheered and filmed the first half of the song, but for the second half, I put my phone in my bag and simply started dancing the dance she was performing to the “My cherries and wine” part of the song. 

One of the first songs I ever heard Del Ray sing is “Ride,” and this is the one I sang along to the most (screaming at the top of my lungs). I consider “Ride” to be a “venting” song, and singing every verse that I know by heart makes me feel like I’m letting everything that’s wrong with me out and it’s just gone…Poof! 

After a few more songs like “Ultraviolence” and “Video Games,” Del Ray told the audience: “At least in my mind, West Virginia is the epitome of what’s in our hearts as a group and our nature, so for what it’s worth, it’s incredibly special and is actually my dream come to life, to be here to end this tour here in West Virginia.” This touched me, and I remembered that Del Ray’s birth name is Lizzy Grant, and that she bases her music on the trashy country, motel, trailer park, sketchy area type of aesthetic that tends to define West Virginia. It seemed like destiny for Del Ray to come here at least once in her lifetime to perform. 

Once we reached the grand finale, I was sad but I was still beyond grateful that I got to see my favorite artist to ever walk on this planet. Del Ray ended the night with “Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard?” which was one of the most powerful songs of the night because Melodye Perry, Pattie Howard, and Shikena Jones–known for their part in the song “The Grants”–joined in the song. All those beautiful voices coming together as one created an out-of-body experience, but the joy made all of the tears stay inside my eyelids. Getting to see Lana Del Ray perform was most definitely the highlight of 2023 and one of my greatest dreams come true.