I celebrated girlhood with Lorde in her hometown for three hours and left a changed person, and I think everyone else in that crowd did too.
Shrouded in fog and silhouetted against a slither of white Lorde opens her headline show in Auckland with ‘Hammer’, the opening track of her recent album ‘Virgin’. After Kevin Abstract’s (former Brockhampton member) opening set that blended his early tiktok hits with his new material the crowd was more than ready, erupting as soon as the singer took the stage. Immediately it was obvious how much Lorde valued this show, stage production coming into play with her opening track as she rose up on a riser in the centre of the stage. Most artists travelling to New Zealand skimp out on production, cut songs and downscale their shows as opposed to what those in America, Europe and even Australia get. In recent years Twenty One Pilots brought their Clancy Tour without their B stage risers, cryotechnics and pyrotechnics and Tyler, the creator brought his Chromakopia tour to Auckland without the infamous shipping crate stage. In a post covid world travel and shipping has only become more expensive, it is understandable why artists cannot bring their full production, but it shows all the more when an artist brings their full show to the bottom of the Earth.
Following ‘Hammer’ was cult classic ‘Royals’. The single slither of light from the previous song had transitioned to warm lighting and spotlights on the singer. The screen behind Lorde however is noticeably blacked out, a trend for most of the set. The screen behind her only giving way to simplistic visuals, often a singular block of colour or a projection of herself in that moment. Often grand visuals are seen as the standard for arena shows, a way to pull and keep the attention of the audience in the nosebleeds, or to lend in the story an artist is trying to tell. The absence of such visuals lends to the story Lorde wants to tell, that despite this being a sold out show in the largest city in New Zealand, this is an intimate and personal moment. This is a club show with the capacity of an arena. It is a compliment to Lorde too, that she does not need visuals to hold or capture an audience, that her dynamic stage presence alone is enough.
It is a large scale production show that only uses that production sometimes, bringing attention to those big moments and capitalising on them. For example, the climbing of the tower at the back of the stage and lighting a flare at the apex of ‘the Louvre’. Or stripping down to her underwear as they rose up during ‘Current Affairs’ then later revealing her breasts bound by duct tape in ‘Clearblue’, reflecting back on those stripped down themes of ‘Ultrasound’ and the persona of Lorde. A stand out moment for me was during ‘Teams’ when the stage lighting came together to create the flag of Palestine. A moment that felt truly divisive and powerful during a song about when during her tour of Australia and New Zealand the president of Israel was visiting the former country. As the lights made the flag the arena rose into cheers, showing a unification among thousands of people against the atrocities being committed by the Netanyahu regime.
The performance itself was a stripping back of who Lorde is as person, taking the crowd through her hits, her adolescence, their love for their country and struggles with fame, body image and gender. Every single moment was intentional, a peak into Ella and not the global superstar that is Lorde. Before ‘Liability’, Lorde paused to address the crowd, explaining how important this show was, how they felt that after their previous album ‘Solar Power’ and that she didn’t think that she’d ever release another project. She talked about how Auckland and her home had been a beacon for them and that there would be no Lorde without the people present in that room. Later, Lorde sat alone, kneeling, performing a rendition of from ‘Solar Power’ in Maöri.
As the night drew to a close, Lorde stepped down from the main stage, immersing herself in the crowd. For the entirety of ‘David’ they walked amongst the crowd, holding the hands of adoring fans, pausing every so often to take it. No one moved, no one pushed or shoved or charged towards the singer, they gave her nothing but respect. At the end of the song Lorde arrived at the B stage, wearing a hoodie and jeans, almost as if shedding the personality of Lorde for the final song ‘Ribs’. ‘Ribs’ is a special song, it is the eldest in her catalogue, an ode to friendship and growing up, written when she was 15. Now, Lorde is in the final year of their 20s and in her words “performing this song for her oldest friends”, in the place where it all started. The B stage is practically atop of the barricade, fans able to reach across it and place their palm upon it. There is no one on the stage, but Lorde, there was never room for anyone else. The same slither of light from the start of the show is now a halo above them at the other end of the arena. As she sings, dances and reaches out for the crowd, her hands grace the light, fracturing it and creating the illusion that they themselves are glowing.
By the end of the night I don’t think there was a single dry eye in the entire building. Both Lorde and the crowd having given everything for the past three hours. As she rushed away from the B stage, a fan besides me yelled out “Thank you, Ella, you saved me.”. Though I feel as if those in the crowd tonight had saved her as much as she had saved them.
Backbeat Mag 
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