Review: Hilary Duff at RAC Arena

Hilary Duff at RAC Arena
w/ La Roux
Thursday, October 29, 2026 

Star of song and screen Hilary Duff made her long-awaited Perth debut last Thursday night to complete the 2026 portion of her Lucky Me tour, which had seen the artist on the road for five months across three continents playing 46 individual shows. With Duff returned to live concerts for the first time in almost twenty years and bringing forward album luck… or something, her first new release since 2015, there was a breathless weight of expectation from tonight’s audience, their longing partially camouflaged under a plethora of pink sparkles, glitter, straw-coloured wigs, and strong Y2K nostalgia.

Opening the evening was another singular talent from that decade, La Roux. What may have seemed a left-field choice as a support act for a former Disney princess came more into focus as both artists heaped praise and respect onto one another over the course of the night. There seemed a longstanding and very real connection between the two.

La Roux danced across the stage and back, with not a care in the world, nothing left to prove to anyone, and a confidence likely visible from space. With new album Old Flames set to be released over the next few days, the artist and her two-piece band brought easy swagger and the funkiest basslines to latest singles Babyline and Cabin Fever.

La Roux saluted the audience as a very nice crowd to end the tour on, stating she wanted to make things last as long as possible, with all her albums given their fair dues across an exceedingly fun set. She teased I’m Not Your Toy as the big hit, “but no, not that one”, then gave her fans what they craved most with first In for the Kill before she ended her portion of the evening with Bulletproof. Near enough the entire arena joined in song for the latter piece, with a distinct sense of joyous release.

Another knowing smile to the audience led to more appreciation for her fans, her headliner, and her current station in life before La Roux departed for the backstage. Her set had been a wonderful appetiser for the evening, and the crowd were now hungry for the main course.

Between the support and the headliner, as the arena was swathed in dollhouse pink with shiny translucent curtains placed back of stage, the venue DJ and wider audience proved they understood both the assignment and the evening’s demographic, belting out Robyn’s Dancing on My Own and Kelly Clarkson’s Since U Been Gone as passionately as if they were part of the actual gig.

A huge scream ripped through the audience as the arena went dark, and the band came out to play an extended overture, which led to Hilary Duff emerging into the light. Launching directly into two of her earliest hits, Wake Up and So Yesterday, Duff cut a serene and relaxed figure as she gave the widest smile to all in attendance. Beyond GA standing on the venue floor, it appeared that already half those in the seated sections were on their feet dancing.

Duff broke away from song for a minute to apologise for taking so long to get to Perth, reminding all that this was the last concert she had for 2026 and that she felt so lucky to have spent the last few weeks in Australia and New Zealand. She brought two of her newest tracks out next, Roommates followed by Weather for Tennis. Although they retained the easy pop sheen of her teenage career, the lyrical content spoke of Duff’s lived experience since then, with far more adult themes than her Lizzy McGuire days.

2015’s Sparks followed, an infectious bubble-gum whistle-along one couldn’t stay mad at even if one wished to. Duff paused again, looking out into the crowd, and acknowledged how much effort so many audience members had put into the evening, especially on how they had dressed. Duff stated it was a privilege to see so much of her own life reflected back at her, with so many different portions of her past captured in this one moment.

As much as Duff explained her own feelings, within the audience it was blazingly apparent that she also meant so much to so many in attendance. Even on the deeper cuts, much of the crowd kept dancing and singing near the tops of their voices, with multiple musical epiphanies occurring every thirty seconds or so.

Duff gazed out into the front rows again, asking directly for audience participation for her With Love dance. It was the last night of the tour so there was no holding back as she selected an easy twenty or so to join her on stage, everyone getting a hug from their idol before the full group broke into 2007’s fanciest footwork.

A video montage accompanied newer track You from the Honeymoon, a beautifully exquisite collection of images and clips from Duff’s younger years. As it continued, it almost felt as if the audience were in the public eye as much as Duff had been herself: to constantly be in the spotlight, unremittingly on message, to always smile, to never having time for a break.

That montage was followed with footage of Duff’s life as it is now, focused on her children and family, whilst across the music sphere there was a sense of actual enjoyment and authenticity, beyond merely playing the PR game. Duff spoke to the crowd again, stating that spending the last five months on the road after a two-decade break had been both terrifying and exhilarating.  Some of the best memories and triumphs of her life had occurred this year, and she sincerely thanked all her fans and audiences for turning up. For every ride home after a breakup that she had soundtracked, or for every set of friends who had bonded over her songs, Duff was so grateful for every space that had been held and every care that had been given.

On not having recorded in ten years, Duff laughed softly at the thought and said she hardly recognised the person she had been a decade ago, let alone any further back. She was that same person; she had had the experiences and the life of those times, but she acknowledged it all with a somewhat rueful smile.

All the new songs from the latest album were of high quality, but perhaps the catchiest earworm was Mature, a sharp-edged missive to an unnamed ex in which Duff directly called out the age differences of his dating past and present. Also of note was Growing Up, a pop interpolation of blink-182’s classic Dammit, in which Duff looked back over her life to date with a light and gentle fondness.

The night ended as it only could, with The Lizzy McGuire Movie track What Dreams Are Made Of.  An almost literal explosion of joy from the audience took place, with balloons falling from the roof and confetti flying everywhere. Duff departed the stage, leaving the message across the screen in bright pink, ‘Lucky Me’. It may have taken her entire career to date to get here, but Duff’s performance in Perth was far more a case of ‘Lucky Us’.

Duff is obviously not the teen starlet she was, but her experiences then have informed her maturity now. There was an obvious and clear delineation between the old material and the new—often with artists they weave both past and present into one, but that was not the case here. The performance indicated that while Duff is still proud of her earlier career, she has no need to go back to it.

PAUL MEEK

Photos by Adrian Thomson