Dua Lipa Radical Optimism Tour

Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia was my family's lockdown soundtrack. It helped keep us going and has a special place in my heart, so when given the opportunity to write about her current Radical Optimism world tour for PLASA's Light & Sound International mag, I jumped at the chance.

In June I was fortunate to be invited to Anfield to meet the team during the day and, in epic rain, watched the show that night. I met a team of people absolutely at the top of their game, delivering an astonishing performance and production. Everyone across the management and crew was so generous with their time, talking about what they do, how they do it, and why.

The resulting article appears in the latest September edition of LSi —it covers everything from the tour's ideation process and in-depth technical details of sound, light, video and comms, to crew welfare and what it takes to put on a production of this scale while travelling the globe.

I want to first say a huge thank you to the brilliant Tour Director Pete Abbott, Production Manager Ross Maynard and Production Designer Matt Pitman, who all provided incredible insight with openness and clarity. And to the fantastic people I spoke with about their specific production departments: Will Nicholson (FOH Engineer), Alex Cerutti (Monitor Engineer), Lucy Mackinnon (RF Tech), Matt Canter (Head of Video), Phil Woodhead (Camera Director), and Autumn Eve (Comms Tech). Also thanks to backline tech Carl Lewis, who I enjoyed chatting with on the day about his work (and Taylor/Gibson guitars!).

Finally, thank you to Richard, Holly and Rachael at DawBell for their help in facilitating the story.

At Anfield and in subsequent interviews, there was tremendous pride evident throughout the team for the work they're doing on this tour, in conjunction with a set of brilliant trusted suppliers. I truly hope this comes across in the story, and I hope you enjoy reading it.

Production Photos: Luke Dyson