Lorde 

Live reviews

• Lorde

  The Melodrama World Tour Brisbane

  Lorde of the Riverstage

  The best time to see an artist perform is when they have less than three albums, you are pretty much guaranteed to get an awesome set without filler and no exclusions. In this respect Lorde did not disappoint and along with Porter Robinson (also at the Riverstage in February) was one of the best gigs of the year.

  Melodrama is an interesting album, despite receiving critical acclaim, I often glean that some yearned for a repeat of Pure Heroine. At 40 minutes the album at face value do not appear substantial, but those will be some of the best minutes of the year, emotionally charged, unique, at times energetic and more diverse than her first offering.

  Lorde opened with Homemade Dynamite, a great way to start. Magnets was a special treat, I didn’t expect that the Disclosure track would make it into the set despite it’s strong showing in the 2015 Triple J Hottest 100. Lorde weaved here own personal narrative through the set, recalling the stories behind tracks Tennis Court (a personal favourite), A World Alone and the Louvre.

  Lorde covered Springsteen’s I’m on Fire with guitarist Ray Suen, and worked in 400 Lux, a seminal moment which slowed the tempo at the midpoint of the set. Paying homage to Brisbane band Powderfinger, “I was raised on Powderfinger. That was my shit,” she said before blending an intro from My Happiness into Liability.

  Pure Heroine tracks Royals and Team were well received, and built the intensity to the final song Green Light, cue the confetti storm. Lorde returned to play Loveless as the encore.

  On the down side, there were no tracks from Hunger Games, Meltdown or Yellow Flicker Beat could have been worked well with the set. Writer in the Dark was a curious omission.

  All in all, one of the best shows of the year, on a beautiful night, and well supported by George Maple, who will be playing in Brisbane this coming February.

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  by Instadentastic

• Lorde is revolutionary for her age. Her first album to go big is one of the few that I can listen to all the way through and love every song that plays. "Pure Heroin" is exactly right, it's so addictive. Lorde is only 17 but speaks to issues and a lifestyle that is so much more than the other teenagers making music right now. There's real depth to it, unlike Kesha or Miley Cyrus - and her voice is amazing! I saw her live in Austin earlier this year, and it was incredible - her stage presence is so delightful and you can tell she is loving every minute of her success right now. She played all the songs on her album and talked a bit about them - but not so much that you just wanted her to get on with the show. Her music is so simple but her voice is so strong and powerful that it doesn't need any fluff in it. I love how she embraces her flaws and encourages us all to do so as well. You'll find her commenting on photoshopped pictures of herself ousting the editing that was done. She also tries to be conscious of the audience she is playing to - she knows that young people, girls especially, are listening to her music and she wants to portray the message of strength and independence; this is a welcome message from the boy dependent, superficial, materialistic songs that are being made by most pop music artists. She really stands out. Doesn't try to be sexy or show the world that she's growing up, it's much more grounded than that. If you haven't listened yet, I highly recommend it. I know I'll be waiting for her next album.

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  by tonenix

• Omg. Where do I start? Amazinggggg.

  The show all started when Tove Styrke got on stage. She was alright. I did like her cover of liability.

  Next was Run The Jewels. And they focused on 3 things, People yelling “R T J!”, middle fingers, and flashing lights that could give you a seizure. I couldn’t even understand what they were saying. They had talent though.

  Then, the queen came on. She started with Sober, like blue lights. Next was Homeade Dynamite and Tennis court. Amazing. Then colorful stage for magnets. Then Buzzcut Season and 400 lux, then came a new version of ribs. Then the louvre, hard feelings, and yellow flicker beat. Then she sat down, gave a 7 minute speech, and sang both writer in the dark and liabillity. Both really beautiful. Then she got up and sang Sober ll, and Supercut. Then, came the hits. ROYALSSSS. She invited us to sing and we all lost our voices. Then came Perfect Places. With a child choir which was cute. Then the last song was green light, she sang it and before the confetti, she told us to jump, and “fucking lose it”. Then there was A LOT (almost too much) CONFETTIII!!!! Then she went off. Then came back on for the encore, It had Loveless, then a non released catchy song called “Precious Metals”, then her last song (for real) was Team. She went down to General Admission at the end. And gave everyone high fives. IT WAS AMAZING. Definitely go see her if she’s coming near you.

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  by Totodile_37

• Oh Lorde she is not one to disappoint! Singing all the favourites from her most recent album 'Pure Heroine' and more of her latest songs I hadn't even discovered before. While performing at Festival Hall, in Melbourne I didn’t think the venue put Lorde’s talent to justice but maybe it was just the seating. I feel like Lorde deserved a much larger ‘stadium-like’ venue to allow as many people as possible to witness one of the most prominent artists in the "post-millennial" era. Only a 17 year old from New Zealand, I don’t think you can get anymore unique than that! I was worried it was going to be one of those ‘one set stage’ performances but Lorde managed to have a costume change in the middle of her hit song “Team”! Along with varying Special effects including lights, cameras and a lot of action in the background while she was singing. There was a revolving chandelier, many different coloured lights, and a screen to allow those not in the mosh pit to see her face up close, adding to the atmosphere. Her accompanying act was way better than I expected, SAFIA has now got a new number one fan. The concert overall was very memorable leaving me wanting to relive all the songs performed on the night from both acts. Can’t wait for another concert from the one and only, Lorde!

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  by remy-schneider

• EPIC. Fireworks, smoke, flashing lights ... costume changes, short videos, chat sessions ... this was one of the best concerts I’ve been to ! Somehow it didn’t feel super super extravagant and large scale though, which I loved because it made the whole experience so much more intimate. We arrived at around 6, and because that was when the gates opened we expected people to have been already lining up for ages and we thought we would get a terrible place in the mosh pit but we were actually still so close to the front! I loved how Lorde chatted to us like friends and really interacted with the audience. She comes across as such a wonderful, kind and genuine young woman, and it was so gorgeous to watch her sing and dance her beautiful heart out. She played a lot of her old music from Pure Heroine as well which was awesome - including Royals, Team, Tennis Court, Buzzcut Season and Ribs. She also played Magnets (by Disclosure) and a beautiful rendition of I’m on Fire (Bruce Springsteen) in combination with 400 Lux. That was possibly my favorite performance of the night. Green Light was the finale and was absolutely awesome of course. I would highly recommend you see Lorde live for an amazing once in a lifetime experience!!

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  by grace_apted

• Oh my Lorde! I highly recommend all lovers of music to attend at least one Lorde concert - it was the best concert I've been to yet! Couldn't fault it; her tone was perfect, her dancing crazy and awesome, her humbleness astounded me especially how she informed the audience of meaning of her songs. The atompshere was buzzing! She captured her audience, with her use of the whole stage and just having a good time! The lights were great and added a good vibe to her performance. I thought it was lovely how she apologised for rescheduling her show "I'm so sorry for having to reschedule I became gravely ill in Las Vegas - mum told me I had to reschedule. I told her 'I'm going to Australia if I have to go on my own'. I also thought if I'm this sick I can't give you guys a proper performance- I wouldn't be able to dance around and get into it like I'm doing tonight!" I honestly cannot stress enough how great this show was - any age can go, sing their heart out and dance till their feet fall off. This young kiwi girl definetly has a "speeshil" (how she pronounces the word special) nack for performing and entertaining - knowing what the audience wants to see! If I was to rate it, honestly 10/10- had the best night ever!

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  by maddy_jade

• At the center of the stage there’s a staircase on the top of a round structure. The whole thing is placed on a round platform.

  During the first song, Leader of a New Regime, Lorde plays from behind a screen.

  The support singers look like akward nerds dressed like The Beatles in the 60s. Their dresses are the color of the sun. Lorde's look is curated by Karla Welch.

  She is really good at switching between her newer songs, with acoustic guitars, and the older ones with electronic bases.

  In Buzzcut Season the support singers do a good job providing support voices. Their performance is quite staged, with them turning towards the audience only when they are singing.

  It’s in this song that I realized how powerful the voice ensemble is.

  Lorde’s songs, like Lana Del Rey’s, seem to describe a lazy life spent on the side of pools, just enjoying oneself.

  During the songs she takes time to interact with the crowd, she reflects on what happened in Oslo last week, and she tells about her memories of visiting the city. She also shares how she got rid of stage fright.

  A camera films her so that it is possible for everyone in the audience to see her expressions.

  A great experience overall.

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  by tommaso-querini

• What can I not say about this queen bee? She's barely 18 years old (birthday in November) and it's exhilarating to watch her evolve. Today's pop music needs a facelift and a lot of us are counting on Lorde. She is currently touring smaller theater venues to get her feet wet. Sure, she could have accepted the offer to tour with Katy Perry and jumped right into the stadium crowd. But this is Lorde, and she already knows that she will be bigger, and she will do it her own way. For those of you who got to see her in theses smaller venues, consider yourself lucky because she will get bigger and bigger and pretty soon it will get harder to get that intimate experience. I'm one of those lucky ones and what I saw was just mind blowing. To me, she almost has that spellbinding Stevie Nicks presence. Her outfit was a simple two piece (with costume changes into different colors) yet she was more seductive than artists who show more skin.

  Right now, her live performance is a bit unpolished, but what I saw was a taste of possible perfection to come. Give her two more years to work out the kinks and she will surely bring magic to stadiums across the world!

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  by Ken_Oceanside_CA

• Shoutout to Lorde for being the most wonderful human being on the planet.. Only seventeen and across the world from her home of New Zeland touring?? Fricken amazing.

  So I love Lorde and she made the wait to see her live sooo worth it! She played most of my favorite songs from her album Pure Heroine. The concert was crazy and up beat. Not to mention the awesome lights, fog bubbles, and confetti (WITH HER FACE ON IT) that covered the crowd!!! The venue I was at had GA so everyone was all squished together in an amazing pit of Lorde love and sweat, dancing and having the time of their lives. Definitely my favorite concert I've ever been to and I can not wait until she is back in the area so I can see her again!!! Some fun facts: All of her props that she uses on stage are from her home town in NZ The bass is sooo crazy, be ready! She spent a good six minutes just talking about her life and creating her album (Not gonna lie I was tearin up a little) It was actually the best night of my life

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  by abbison1021

• Lorde's first of two shows in Berkely 10/2/14 was nothing short of amazing. She sounds just like she does on her record with her powerful vocals. The atmosphere was incredible with her energetic dancing around stage, her multiple costume changes, visually beautiful setup and all around great music quality. She played her entire album along with 2 EP tracks (bravado and biting down), 2 covers (Kanye west and Bon iver), her single song No Better, and what made the night really special was premiering her single she dropped 2 days before Yellow Flicker Beat for the first time live. She reflected on the times she's been in the bay area before and made us all feel special and loved, everything about the show was great I couldn't have asked for a better show, and afterwords she met the fans, myself included making it one of the best concerts I've ever been to. She is incredibly sweet, kind, and talented. I would always recommend for others to see her live show, it'll make them say Praise the Lorde!

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  by Carlykinz101