RITA ORA | LIVE REVIEW
Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Tue 21 May
Seven years since she stormed onto the scene, Rita Ora kicked off the first UK leg of her Phoenix tour in Cardiff on Tuesday night. Large screens which expand the width of the arena flash white and black as the dictionary definition of a Phoenix is spoken over the audio, before Ora rises from beneath the stage looking like a goddess dressed in all white and silver, her 2018 hit For You leading directly into Your Song.
As lights go down, the background image changes to a nighttime forest for Only Want You – a showcase for Ora’s trademark raspy vocals, in full form this evening. Psychedelic kaleidoscope imagery accompanies the controversial Girls, which extends into an a capella version of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. A turning point in engaging crowd which until now seemed to be more immersed in chatter than Ora – who, as if picking up on this engagement, serves up a dimmed-light, backing dancer-free Let You Love Me, a clear fan favourite.
Leaving the stage before returning in a dark wig and black cape, Body On Me is followed up with what Ora describes as her “most honest and open-letter song” she’s ever written. Soul Survivor’s lyrics clearly reference her bitter court battle with Jay-Z and record label Roc Nation, the main reason she hasn’t released a new album in six years. The tour’s drilled-into-us-throughout theme – a phoenix rising from the ashes – makes sense now, naff as it may seem.
One thing you learn watching Rita Ora live is that she doesn’t take herself too seriously: perfectly polished, sure, but with a goofy nature befitting the lightened mood of her upbeat, dancealong number I Will Never Let You Down. Aesthetically pleasing as this tour’s production is, the staging at times feels cheesy. Ora’s brand shoots for edgy and cool but there’s often something fluffy and marshmallow about it all. She’s clearly not comfortable with choreography. Moreover, the sound – a regular bugbear of punters at this venue – is lacking. If you were sitting at the back, you almost felt outside of the gig.
However, the final segment saves her. Sporting gigantic phoenix wings in front of a flaming background, the crowd begin to bounce in unison to Black Widow, whose dubsteppy electronic vibe is clearly where Ora feels more at home. She looks palpably more relaxed and the crowd pick up on that: for the first time of the night, she has the whole arena under her influence.
Momentum which holds for RIP, Coming Home and her 2012 breakout hit Hot Right Now. Finally, this feels like a Rita Ora show – more so during an encore of Lonely Together and Anywhere in which the singer is raised on a platform above the crowd, an explosion of pink confetti showering the audience.
words DENIECE CUSACK photos TIM ALBAN
