"The Queen! The Queen!"
"I love you, Lizzie!"
"Hey, Lana, let's f*ck!"
Internet it-girl Lana Del Rey has a tendency to evoke a whole spectrum of emotions, but no bullies or naysayers could be found at Amoeba Music's Haight Ashbury store on Thursday night.
(SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOS AND VIDEO)
Coming off an SNL stint the the blogosphere ripped to shreds, a redemptive stop on Letterman and a lovefest at Amoeba's sister store in Los Angeles earlier this week, the viral sensation performed five songs for hundreds of rabid fans--some decked out in signature LDR gear, others crying and mouthing the lyrics, and none over the age of thirty. (Except Apple's own Steve Wozniak, spotted backstage.)
"What are you all doing here?" the demure starlet, dressed like a country club wife sprinkled with just the right amount of hipster fairy dust, asked the crowd incredulously. "I'm obsessed with you. I love you."
Despite rampant criticism for shaky past performances, Del Rey (known as Lizzie Grant in another life) pulled out all the stops at Amoeba, showcasing a staggeringly wide vocal range and using the perfect blend of confidence and reserve to flirt with her audience.
Afterwards, she spent nearly two hours signing CDs for throngs of devotees. "It's my birthday and I want a picture more than anything," Emily Mastren, 23, told The Huffington Post.
"Lana Del Rey singlehandedly saved my soul," added 20-year-old Angela Zuniga. "I just want to be able to tell her how much she has inspired me and how much she has changed my life."
Love her or hate her, the sultry songstress isn't going anywhere. Her recent album, "Born To Die," has soared to the top of the charts, Lana Del Rey memes multiply by the minute, and a profile in the New York Times magazine is slated to hit stands this weekend.
And her doting admirers are none too pleased. "I just love how vague she is," gushed Rachel Overcash, 27. "She reigns in irony, classicly."
An Internet celebrity giving a free show at one of the city's last record stores? Nothing ironic about that.
Take a look at video and images from Del Rey's appearance below (photographs by Kaitlin Layher, Gabriel Wheeler and Matthew Alavi):
