Rita blockbuster is worth the wait
LIVE: Rita Ora (Bournemouth International Centre) Verdict: Rita rises again ★★★★✩
RITA ORA has taken the scenic route to her first ever arena tour.
She released her debut album seven years ago and kept fans waiting six for a sequel, last year’s Phoenix, as her music career was derailed by legal wrangles and extra-curricular roles as an actress, X Factor judge and all-round brand ambassador.
The singer, 28, is making up for lost time. She has one of pop’s strongest voices, and her Phoenix tour is a blockbuster. Even a foot injury sustained in rehearsals proved no obstacle; she simply swapped her stilettos for Doc Martens. ‘Thanks for sticking with me,’ she said. ‘Now I’m going to get you all out of your seats.’ This show was broken into different acts — Genesis, Flight, Torment and Rebirth — and an encore. The instrumental interludes allowed for four costume changes, but also interrupted the show’s fluency.
But Ora is a trouper who worked the crowd like a seasoned pro. She rose, all in white, from a trap-door in the floor and launched into her hits, including For You, Your Song and Summer Love. Girls segued into Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Want To Have Fun, and she prefaced a confessional Let You Love Me by telling fans she co-wrote the song after she ‘looked in the mirror and realised I had to grow up’. She then dropped to her knees as she sang.
The chart-topping I Will Never Let You Down was a mass singalong. For the night’s final act, Rita re-emerged as a winged bird — every inch a phoenix from the ashes.