Conceptually, Lauper explained, the Farewell Tour is intended as a piece of living art: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun featured visuals by the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama (and a dot-covered costume for Lauper) while True Colours was accompanied by a version of Daniel Wurtzel’s installation art piece Air Fountain.
There was still plenty of chaos along the way: opener She Bop featured Lauper performing a slightly honking recorder solo, and ahead of a cover of Mardi Gras song Iko Iko, she clambered out of a trapdoor in a frill-covered dress by designer Christian Siriano, accessorised with a washboard chest-plate.
Lauper still has pipes after all, it turns out: unleashing an operatic quaver for her cover of Prince’s When You Were Mine, and belting out the high notes of I Drove All Night to huge cheers while her floaty white skirt served as a projector for images of cars and streaming headlights.
Earlier iterations of the tour’s setlist featured a cover of Wanda Jackson’s Funnel of Love, but last night Lauper got too carried away with one of her winding tales.
Last summer, Lauper drew a huge crowd at Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage, but gave a rocky and uneven performance in a show beset with technical difficulties.
