ROGERS, Ark — There was a sold-out show for Lana Del Rey at the Walmart Amp Tuesday night, with 11,000 fans coming from all over the country after the concert was announced just weeks ago.
Doors opened at 6 p.m., but for hundreds of dedicated fans, it was much more than a one-night concert.
Early Tuesday morning, fans already lined the street with lawn chairs, umbrellas, and one goal in mind: to get the best spot possible on the lawn.
Ben Bigger, Julia Peterson, and Alex Estrada are Rogers locals, and when they heard Lana Del Rey was coming to their hometown, they knew they had to go.
“It’s crazy to actually see her in concert and see her live performing, especially in Arkansas,” Bigger said.
Music started at 7:30, but the mission to get the best spot possible spot started long before that.
“I was pretty shocked when I got here at 9 a.m.,” Bigger said. “There was already a line. I was like, I don't know what time people got here before me, but it must have been super early.”
For fellow fan Chloey Frates, it was even earlier.
Frates says she drove 13 hours through the night from Columbia, South Carolina.
“I drove through so many states. I drove through Alabama and Mississippi, and I’ve never done a 12-hour road trip like that before,” Frates said. “But she is so worth it.”
Frates says even before the concert started, connecting with other fans throughout the day made the drive worth it.
“It’s so nice, because there aren't many Lana fans where I’m from in the middle of South Carolina,” Frates said.
The show opened with music from local bands, including Arkansauce, a bluegrass, folk, and Americana band from Fayetteville.
Arkansauce mandolin player Ethan Bush said to play on the Walmart Amp mainstage in their home area is especially meaningful to them.
“We’ve all been coming to shows here at the Amp for a long time,” Bush said. “We’ve all come as a group to watch some of our favorite big bands play here, and we’ve definitely seen it sold out from this side. I don’t think it’s really going to set in how epic it is until we’re on stage seeing it from the other side.”
Before the show
The day before the singer's concert, Rose Antique in Rogers shared a picture on social media of Lana Del Rey and her father, singer Rob Grant, at their store. In a post by Lana on the day of the show, she shared her own info about her antiquing adventures and her short time in Arkansas.
Lana del Rey also shares some of her purchases at Rose Antique, including a Budweiser can radio, a vintage suitcase, a piggy bank, and the Arkansas Mountain MTB baseball cap she can be seen wearing in other pictures in the post. In the caption, she tells her followers “baby it is so pretty here,” referring to her time in Arkansas.
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