Billboard: a Star-Making performance by Lana Del Rey
Coachella 2014: Lana Del Rey Debuts 'West Coast' Single In Star-Making Performance
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The fact that the debut of Lana Del Rey's anxiously awaited new single, "West Coast," amounted to an afterthought of her performance at the 2014 Coachella Valley Music & Art Festival on Sunday night (Apr. 13) is perhaps the biggest compliment the set can receive. "West Coast" entranced upon its unveiling, but Del Rey's presentation of her previously released material was so self-assured and soundly captivating that the song debut could only act as a bridge between the other highlights. With a performance this singular in front of a Coachella crowd that was expectedly enormous, Del Rey inched farther away from the memories on her unsure footing as an artist (remember that :SNL" debacle?") and closer toward undeniable pop stardom.
And she didn't: as the set-closing "National Anthem" wound down, Del Rey stepped offstage to greet the front row's hardcore supporters and quickly placed a gifted crown of pink flowers in her hair. She hugged some fans; she kissed a few others on the lips. The ending spectacle would have felt strange if another artist had been carrying it out, but with Del Rey, the physical gratitude felt genuine.
Del Rey's Coachella performance was so strong that the 27-year-old would have been forgiven if "West Coast" proved to be a dud, but thankfully, the new single sounded like a winner when played live for the first time. A mid-tempo ballad that collapses into woozy surf-rock following a fragile pop chorus, "West Coast" expands Del Rey's reach without sacrificing the main tenets of her appeal. The same can be said of her Coachella set.
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