Electric Picnic review: Dua Lipa – Supercharged and preening like a pro

DUA LIPA

Main Stage
It's one of the most poptastic Electric Picnics ever, with Kendrick Lamar and Chvrches owning Friday night and Sigrid providing one of Saturday's big Instagram moments when an adoring crowd moved her to tears. (Either that or she remembered she'd left her phone charger in the car park.) So the glittery gauntlet has been laid down to Dua Lipa, the Kosovo-British singer who has set the charts aflutter with stormers such Blow Your Mind (Mwah). ("Mwah", coincidentally, is the sound some of us were making exiting the Portaloos earlier.) She seizes the moment with a turn that confirms both her star wattage and that pop at the Picnic is absolutely a good idea. Preening like a pro, Lipa belts the song out as though it were a call to arms. And, with the sunshine a fading memory, she raises the temperature with One Kiss, a stomper showcasing her Adele-goes-to-Ibiza vocals. She also gets away with wearing a bra and open wavy shirt on a September night in Laois, making it feel like a fashion statement rather than an attempt to catch pneumonia. The song everyone is waiting for is New Rules, a break-up banger for the ages. Supercharged and high-kicking, it's a sizzling conclusion to what may prove one the weekend's more scorching performances.