Bruno Mars, Dua Lipa at Perth Arena

[Nergal]

 

FROM the moment he stepped out on stage at Perth Arena there was little, from the sold-out crowd’s perspective, that Bruno Mars could do wrong.

Having already been whipped into a frenzy by support act Dua Lipa, the audience was eager to see the Grammy Award-winner and welcomed him with raucous screams.

These screams were quickly rewarded with Mars launching into his current single, Finesse, which coincidently this week gave the Hawaiian born singer-songwriter his ninth Number 1 on the US Billboard Pop Songs airplay chart.

Throughout the evening, Mars, with his trademark swagger, served up a smorgasbord of hits from his last three albums belting out crowd favourites from Treasure, Locked Out Of Heaven and 24K Magic to Versace on the Floor, Marry Me, and Calling All My Lovelies.

But it wasn’t just that he played those crowd favourites that had the audience at Perth Arena dancing in the aisles. Mars, flanked by his band, the Hooligans, who also served, quite refreshingly, as his back up dancers, worked the crowd and threw in the odd local reference (Calling All My Lovelies featured a fake phone call about taking a trip to Balga) as well as harmonised version of Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi.

Even if you were not a huge Bruno Mars fan, you would have found it difficult to ignore the party vibe that seemed to encapsulate the first half of the show.

And if you were sitting on either side of the stage you would have found it difficult to ignore the pyrotechnics. Each time the fireworks went off in time with a beat, those sitting by the stage could feel the reverberations from the blasts. Not that it detracted from the spectacle, it was just odd.

While most of the show was high energy there were parts where it seemed to lag. An almost five minute piano solo seemed to slow the mood but this was quickly saved with Mars bursting back out on stage with Locked out of Heaven.

Mars finished up with mega hit Just the Way you Are and one-song encore of Uptown Funk.

And while most were at Perth Arena to see Mars, many were just as excited to hear support act Dua Lipa. The British pop sensation’s meteoric rise over this past year has arguably made her one of the hottest artists on the world stage right now.

As soon as the 22-year-old, who this year took home two Brit Awards, one for British Female Solo Artist and the other, British Breakthrough Act, launched onto the stage with her hit, Hotter Than Hell, the half empty Arena quickly filled.

While Lipa’s stage show lacked the theatrics of Mars, her raw, edgy soulful performance of singles such as Lost in Your Light, Blow Your Mind, the break-up anthem, IDGAF and the global hit, New Rules showed she is someone to watch over the next few years.
Bruno Mars and Dua Lipa will again play Perth Arena on Thursday, March 29.