Rosalía at the O2 review: An ambitious, operatic masterpiece where music and art collide
"When I was studying music in Barcelona, I always dreamt of singing in one very specific place.”
Listen to this article
Those were the words spoken by Rosalía that echoed around the O2 arena at the opening night of her run of London shows. “That place is the Royal Albert Hall,” the megastar added with perfect timing.
It was a joke, of course, maybe even a hint. However, after witnessing for myself the musical behemoth that is the LUX tour…the suggestion doesn’t feel entirely unreasonable.
I’ve been a fan of Rosalía for a number of years now. I fell in love with the flamenco-pop fusion of ‘El Mal Querer’ and then again with the sonic twists and turns of the triumphant ‘MOTOMAMI’. Further still I fell, when LUX exploded onto the scene and pulled me under.
The critically-acclaimed album was recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra. Throughout it, the Catalan songstress explores the lives of a venerable girl gang of mystics, saints and icons including Hildegard, Saint Clare of Assisi and the Old Testament prophetess Miriam.
Blending avant-pop and classical music, Rosalía dances with themes such as religion, materialism, surrender, sex, celibacy, rage, revenge and a certain ‘terrorista emocional’ in 14 different languages including Ukrainian, Sicilian, Mandarin, Arabic and Hebrew.
It’s music that knows no boundaries or borders. It’s wildly ambitious in an era of increasily commercialised, risk-averse, background music. And yet it works. It was a risk that certainly paid off.
On LUX, Rosalia seamlessly strings together a treasure trove of contradictions. The ancient and the contemporary, the prostitues and the saints, the scholastic and the electronic. This is particularly exemplified in 'La Yugular' (the jugular).
"I fit in the world and the world fits in me / I occupy the world and the world occupies me / I fit in a haiku and a haiku occupies a country / a country fits in a splinter, a splinter occupies the entire galaxy / the entire galaxy fits in a drop of saliva".
Many artists struggle with this merging, but to Rosalía, it appears to be second nature. It’s a contridiction that lands. A modern classic. Una yuxtaposición.
Dubbed the album of the year, LUX garnered adoration and praise from a number of big names ranging from the Vatican to pop icon Madonna (who declared her a visionary) to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
To say I was excited to see this beast of an album in the flesh was an understatement. I was hungry for it and so was the audience. I knew I would be impressed. She is predictably brilliant as a performer as she is unpredictable as a musician.
But even then I underestimated how hard I’d be dazzled by the light of LUX, it’s namesake. Reaffirming this position was a begrudging boyfriend who I dragged along with me for the night who didn’t know a single song. Within minutes of the show starting he turned to me wide-eyed declaring: “She’s incredible”.
Incredible is the correct word but also not enough. Before she even came out, it felt like we were being spoiled.
True to the musical skeleton of LUX, a 21-piece orchestra took their seats (amid rapturous applause) in the middle of the standing section.
The superstar herself then arrived for the first act, coming out to ‘Sexo, Violencia y Llantas’ (Sex, violence and cars) as she emerged from a large wooden box. The opening number delves into the tension between the mundane, physical life and spiritual devotion. The first contradiction of the evening.
Dressed as a prima ballerina, she performed on tiptoe as she hit operatic high notes under a full moon.
If Timothee Chalamet had been there, he’d be in tears.
In a very thoughtful gesture to her UK audiences, a screen hovered above the stage to give gringos like myself the chance to understand the lyrics. To this inclusivity, I say muchas gracias!
Heartful ballads like ‘Reliqia’ (Relic) and ‘Divinize’ gave Rosalía’s outstanding vocals the justice they deserve. You could literally feel the music in your bones. The sound reverberated round the room and sent the audience into a sort of mesmerised state of astonishment and awe as she sang.
When she performaed ‘Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti’ (My Christ cries diamonds), the Spaniard leaned even deeper into the Catholic aesthetic and donned a mother of pearl veil giving her a holy, saint-like look. The whole thing was like attending your own personal church, in fact one at point a speaker even billows smoke as it pendulums back and forth over the audience like incense. It’s akin to a one-on-one with god herself, who might just be Rosalía.
This idea is even explored in her track ‘Dios es un stalker’ (God is a stalker), a tongue-in-cheek POV from the big woman herself. More humourous than blasphemous, Rosalía explores the concept of god as an omiscient, omniprescent being while blending the emotional thorns of obsession and fixation.
However, the delicate, godly act didn’t last long and she quickly transformed into a creature of the night for Act 2. A diablo with whispy, feathered horns to perform her smash hit ‘Berghain’, the dramatic German opera ballad featuring Björk.
As she crawled on stage with her dancers like a many limbed monster, the crowd was hypnotised. A feast for the eyes and ears before the tone quickly shifts again and the pulsing and endlessly catchy ‘SAOKO’ took over, briefly turning the O2 into the other Berghain.
Amongst the LUX setlist, Rosalía then throws in a few numbers from her previous album MOTOMAMI such as the viral hit ‘Bizcochito’ (biscuit), the rhythmic number ‘Despecha’ (unbothered) and my personal favourite ‘La Combi Versace’ (the Versace combo).
Her ensemble of original songs was then briefly interrupted by a cover of Franki Valli’s ‘Can't Take My Eyes Off You’ where Rosalía frames herself as the Mona Lisa in a portrait gallery as ‘tourists’ (fans from the audience) gawked and took photos of her.
Perhaps a dig at generation iPhone, or maybe an attempt to criticise the glaring spotlight of fame, Rosalia doubled down on her displeasure with life under the lens with her song ‘La Fama’ (fame). Delivered with deep-seated passion and gumption, she likens fame to a “lousy lover” whom she claims comes as easy as they go. Fickle and unreliable.
In an unexpected turn of events, British singer Lola Young then joined Rosalia on stage where the pair did a mock confessional with each other and shared embarassing dating anecdotes.
Lola confessed the moment she realised she was dating a married man after overhearing a phone conversation with his wife about needing to buy nappies. Leaping on this, Rosalía then rallied the crowd and shared with us her disappointment and disillusionment with men, a theme that bleeds throughout LUX.
On that bombshell, the setlist then crash lands on her smash hit ‘La Perla’. In this, Rosalia can’t hide behind high art and convoluted Biblical allegories, it’s a brutal diss track seemingly directed towards an old flame - most likely Rauw Alejandro, the Puerto Rican singer whom she broke off her engagement to in 2023 following infidelity rumours.
In the song, she drags him to filth with a smorgasbord of choice words such as ‘ladrón de paz’ (peace thief), el mayor desastre mundial (the world’s biggest disaster) and ‘medalla olímpica de oro al más cabrón’ (Olympic gold medal for the biggest bastard). While her ex may not appreciate the lyrics, the crowd certainly did.
Building with the help of the live orchestra to reach dizzying sonic heights, the heartbreak anthem was a collective, cathartic experience for the O2’s 20,000 jaded lovers.
Slowing things down slightly for the next act, Rosalía then brought out a grand piano and a large glass of white wine to perform her pensive number ‘Sauvignon Blanc’ in a silky, flowing, ivory outfit. Then, adorning angel wings, Rosalía fell off the back of a high block of stairs into nothingness, not unlike the ending of the film ‘Black Swan’.
A moment later, she was back. Rosalía is resurrected as she sang her encore ‘Magnolias’ and finally bowed off stage to thunderous applause.
A dramatic, eclectic, kalaedoscopic carnival of sound and spectacle. LUX and its ensuing tour is a reminder of what can happen when artists dare to take a creative risk. Ambitious, theatrical and completely spellbinding, it’s a performance that feels less like a pop concert and more like a work of art. A museum come to life.
¡Bien hecho!, as they say in Barcelona.
And finally, on the off chance you’re reading this Royal Albert Hall, book her immediately! Her music and art belongs there.
When she does. I’ll be in the front row.
Full Rosalia setlist:
ACT I
Sexo, violencia y llantas
Reliquia
Porcelana
Divinize (With parts of Thank You by Dido)
Mio Cristo piange diamanti
Interlude
(Video of dancers attempting high notes of Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti)
ACT II
Berghain
SAOKO
LA FAMA
LA COMBI VERSACE
De madrugá
ACT III
El redentor
Can't Take My Eyes Off You (Frankie Valli cover)
Confesionario (with Cara Delevingne)
La perla
Sauvignon blanc
La yugular
Art Cam (Famous artworks are shown on the screens, with audience members filmed recreating the poses)
INTERMEZZO
Dios es un stalker
La rumba del perdón
CUUUUuuuuuute
ACT IV
BIZCOCHITO
DESPECHÁ
ENCORE
Magnolias