The pair performed the Crowded House hit, Don’t Dream It’s Over.
Video / Supplied
Review by Jenni Mortimer
Jenni Mortimer, Chief Lifestyle & Entertainment Reporter for the New Zealand Herald, is passionate about telling stories and providing a place to escape for kiwis in amongst the hard news.
Neil Finn and Dua Lipa sang a duet of the Crowded House hit song, Don’t Dream It’s Over.
The show was the second night of Dua Lipa’s New Zealand stop – added due to “extraordinary demand”.
This was Dua Lipa’s third trip to NZ, following the release of her third studio album, Radical Optimism, in May.
Dua Lipa shocked fans at a packed Spark Arena on Friday night with a special guest appearance and duet with none other than Neil Finn.
Taking to the stage for the final night of her Australasian leg of the Radical Optimism tour, Lipa told fans that oneparticular part of the tour had fast become her favourite - Lipa had begun inviting homegrown talent on stage to perform with her.
The 29-year-old told the Auckland crowd she was about to perform “one of my favourite songs, ever”, before revealing she would be doing so with a “Kiwi legend”.
The crowd erupted as Lipa declared, “Give it up ... for Neil Finn” and the Crowded House frontman appeared from side of stage.
Dua Lipa invited Neil Finn on to the stage to perform Crowded House's song Don't Dream It's Over. Photo / Getty Images
Finn and Lipa then broke into a duet of the Crowded Househit song Don’t Dream It’s Over to massive applause from the crowd as the pair playfully serenaded one another.
The show was the second night of Dua Lipa’s New Zealand stop – added due to “extraordinary demand”.
At her first show on Wednesday night, Spark fans were treated to her rendition of Lorde song Royals, but it was Friday night’s guest appearance that sent them into a frenzy.
Neil Finn and Dua Lipa perform during her Radical Optimism Tour at Spark Arena. Photo / Getty Images
The pop phenom first performed in New Zealand in 2018 as the support act for Bruno Mars and again in 2022 for her Future Nostalgia tour.
The crowd this time around was an interesting mix of young teens with supervising parents, 20-somethings in outfits attempting to rival that of Lipa and millennials booking in a double reformer Pilates session after getting a glimpse of Lipa’s striking physique.
The only thing they all had in common was that almost every one of the above groups was documenting the experience for social media clout.
Dua Lipa performs during her Radical Optimism Tour at Spark Arena. Photo / Getty Images
Opening with Training Season, the breathtakingly beautiful Lipa emerged in an outfit that was the holy trinity of global pop stardom - feathers, a champagne corset bodysuit and sparkly knee-high boots.
The singer then launched into Break My Heart and her 2018 hit with Calvin Harris, One Kiss.
The design of the show is something to be marvelled at and a logistical puzzle involving dancers, a live band, confetti cannons, flames, giant HD screens, oceans, chrome, fans and so much more.
The show was divided into four acts, each consisting of four or five songs and with their own costume change, which was somehow always better than the last.
After each act, the lights dim as the audience’s eye is meant to be drawn elsewhere – dancers, drum solos or an extravagant graphic – so changes can be made and Lipa can change. But I couldn’t take my eyes off the roadies whose job it was to scurry across the stage in darkness, moving pieces, preparing pyros and frantically waving leaf blowers at confetti littering the stage and shooting it into the faces of the front row – an absolute feast for the eyes.
The stage design of the Dua Lipa Radical Optimism Tour. Photo / Getty Images
The show’s cycle, much like Lipa’s stage presence, was perfection, and fans couldn’t help but be in awe as she performed their favourite songs without missing a beat.
While the performance’s spectacle was immaculate in every sense, it was Lipa who truly won over the Kiwi crowd, taking time to take selfies and speak with fans, even wishing a happy birthday to an adoring under-10.
Dua Lipa performed to a packed Spark Arena in Auckland. Photo / Dave Simpson - Getty Images
In her fourth act, Lipa’s team quickly harnessed her, adorned her in a red fur coat and hoisted her on a platform that levitated in the sky above open flames as she performed Love Again. It was an occupational safety hazard waiting to happen, but boy was it thrilling to watch.
“I feel so myself here with you guys tonight,” the singer said, before revealing that her next stop was “home”.
But first had to come the encore – potentially the strongest part of her set – where Lipa emerged in another corseted bodysuit, adorned with gold chains as she sang her breakout hit New Rules, which catapulted her to international fame in 2017.
Lipa then broke into a medley of Dance The Night from the Barbie movie and Don’t Start Now, before the singer finished with Houdini.
Ahead of the Spark Arena shows, the singer enjoyed a lavish trip with her family to the Bay of Islands. She took to social media, captioning the post “wine tasting on the edge of the world” and “AUCKLAND I’M SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU TOMORROW.”
Kiwi artist Benee was one of the many commenters on the post, saying, “Eee, NZ suits u”.
And suit her it did, with Kiwi fans clambering into Ubers, still singing their favourite banger of the night and haphazardly picking confetti out of their hair, hoping she comes back soon, leaf blowers and all.
Jenni Mortimer is the New Zealand Herald’s chief lifestyle and entertainment reporter. Jenni started at the Herald in 2017 and has worked as their lifestyle, entertainment and travel editor.
