Throughout the Radical Optimism tour, Dua Lipa has used the surprise song section of her set to celebrate local legends with city-specific covers — and on occasion has brought them out to perform with her. In New York, she got soulful with Lenny Kravitz for “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over.” In California, she rocked out to “Don’t Speak” with Gwen Stefani. Last night, closing out the North American leg of the tour in Seattle, Lipa stripped it down for an acoustic version of Death Cab for Cutie’s emo classic “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” with Ben Gibbard.
“Everything we’ve done so far, we’ve touched on so many different genres and artists,” Lipa told the audience at the Climate Pledge Arena. “I thought tonight I’d do something by an indie legend. I love this song for so many reasons. I feel like it just really defines what love is in such a pure form of wanting to follow somebody until the very end. This song really moves me and I feel very, very lucky because this indie legend happens to be here tonight and he’s going to come up and perform with me. Seattle, please join me in welcoming Seattle’s very own Ben Gibbard.”
Unlike other nights when Lipa has welcomed a special guest, the pop star’s band cleared the stage when Gibbard emerged with his acoustic guitar. The pair performed the record in its most bare form, trading verses back and forth before harmonizing together on the chorus.
Gibbard marks the last entry on the list of artists who made appearances during the North American section of the Radical Optimism tour. He joins Mustafa the Poet, Chaka Khan, Nile Rodgers, Kravitz, Leon Bridges, Lionel Richie, Stefani, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Brandi Carlile.
“This was my idea,” Lipa recently told Variety about her covers project. “It came about purely because I had done a song for the American Country Music Awards with Chris Stapleton, and it was so much fun that I proposed it to the band and to the team: How fun would it be if every night we do a different song? And everyone was like, well that’s quite ambitious.”
More covers will follow when the Radical Optimism tour resumes in Buenos Aires in November.
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