Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia” was probably the album of the pandemic, one of the few balms of confinement capable of projecting us back onto the dance floors, which is why after two fateful years and several postponements, her concert today in Madrid has been felt like the definitive slam of a dark stage.

It is not surprising therefore that when the lights have gone out and the first notes of the colorful “Physical” have begun to sound, a chill very different from that of covid-19 has run through the more than 15,000 people who have already two years sold out (and saved) the tickets for this appointment at the Wizink Center in Madrid where the tour should have originally started on April 26, 2020. It was at 9:15 p.m., shortly after the performance of his compatriot Griff as the opening act, although many people have queued at the gates of the old Palacio de Los Deportes in the Spanish capital since this morning to get the best position in front of to the pop diva who, with the permission of Taylor Swift, is in better shape commercially.

Dua was surprised with a catsuit look in neon pink, from the Versace firm. Become the claim that many other leading figures yearn to boost their releases (see Elton John, Calvin Harris, or J Balvin ), Dua Lipa has arrived in Madrid with a show of 1 hour and 40 minutes and about 20 cuts that pass like a lightning, impeccable in production and very focused on that “Future Nostalgia”, declared by world critics as one of the great albums of the fateful 2020.

From the original release all its songs have been played, 11, from the one that gives it its name to “Boys Will Be Boys”, in addition to some included in its re-release “The Moonlight Edition”, leaving its homonymous debut in a residual role, of which some They will have missed “Hotter Than Hell” or “Blow Your Mind” and that they were part of their previous “show” in the city, at the 2018 Mad Cool festival.

In those four years apart, this British woman of Kosovar Albanian origin has not only expanded her global dimension but has also greatly evolved as a stage artist, going from a relatively hieratic attitude to treading it with the aura of stars and taking part in almost every choreographic boil. There’s nothing that hasn’t been seen before (even the giant lobster with “We’re Good” harkens back to Katy Perry) and even the stage isn’t particularly dazzling beyond its huge bowl-shaped screen, but the care in every aspect elevates it: lights, production (with shots more typical of a television program) or the departure of a band that breathes blood beyond the purely scenographic section to which these pop quotes are sometimes limited.

The vigorous final feeling has also contributed to a very devoted public from the beginning that has lived it with the spirit of a historical event, expressing its astonishment at each small wink or change, as Dua Lipa herself has recognized.

“Good evening, Madrid! I’m very happy to be here, thanks for all this love, it’s been two years of waiting, but we’ve finally arrived. And thanks for this experience!” in which each number is linked to the next without rest or low moments.

That mastery of “tempo” has been the general trend, even during costume changes, the only one I renounce to a show that from the initial projections presents the 12 dancers as co-stars of a “show” that the star leads with confidence and voice firm and that, in the end, has left with a real feeling of nostalgia and desire for much more in the future.