Lorde
14th November 2017
Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Doug Peters.
“It doesn’t hurt me
Do you wanna feel how it feels?
Do you wanna know; know that it doesn’t hurt me?”
The words to “Running up that Hill” by Kate Bush resonate around the walls of the Powerstation as the lights come down and an old television set flickers to life side of stage. Snippets of movies, and old commercials flash by in faded colours – she’s watching – nostalgic scenes of carefree summer days spent skateboarding – again a close up of the eyes that every fan here knows so well – she’s watching. A single frame of an astronaut floating in space, drifting slowly almost as if frozen in time; to dream of an astronaut is often symbolic of expanding ones awareness and consciousness, rather apt imagery considering the themes of this tour named after a rather conceptual album.
The word melodrama is often defined as ‘a sensational, dramatic piece’ and as Lorde takes the stage in a stunning black bodice and skirt that flowed like water from her tightly cinched waist – the neon silhouette of that astronaut captured in time behind her – you know that is exactly what you are about to receive. Lorde is home, not just in the country she was born to but the city whose blood runs through her veins. These are her streets. Because of this, tonight this young woman standing before all has a fire inside her.
As Lorde delivers her first song of the night ‘Homemade Dynamite’ its lyrics fraught with intimate dangers she does so with such urgency that it threatens to pull her apart. She moves about the stage, dancing in that quirky way the world has come to know and embrace. The audience no longer able to contain themselves scream and cheer encouragement upon witnessing her abandon herself to the music – Lorde responds by unleashing a genuine smile of delight and another wave of limb defying energy. Straight into the Disclosure track ‘Magnets’ and those lyrics that speak of emotional jeopardy continue; indeed in many ways this is a rather emotive show. It is befitting then that Lorde- who could have easily sold out far larger venues has instead chosen to perform in the rather more intimate settings of Auckland’s iconic Powerstation. By doing so she has gathered her fans close – as if to whisper forbidden tales into their ears. Here in these close confines she can offer up these inner most pieces of her soul and know that they will be cradled by gentle hands.
“Auckland, welcome to the Melodrama world tour; thank you so much for being here with us, it means so much – how you doing?”
Unsurprisingly the fans are beside themselves and let her know with screams of ‘I Love you Lorde!”
“This show – is a dancing show, so I hope you’re going to dance with us tonight”
By the time Lorde begins ‘Hard Feelings’ – two identically dressed dancers in shimmering black joining her on stage – the crowd is completely transfixed. Eyes wide they drink in the shapes that this young woman is throwing freely on stage; Lorde and her dancers channelling a little of Kate Bushs’ dance moves as they reflect her swaying arms. The word ‘Melodrama’ in neon lights hangs on the backdrop curtain – every so often it flashes in pink or deep red illuminating the three musicans working behind her; Jimmy Mac on keyboards and drummer Ben Barter have been with Lorde since the release of Pure Heroine; for this tour they are also joined by guitarist and Lordes musical director Ray Suen. The three remain in darkness the entire evening – providing the musical earth in which Lorde grounds herself but never distracting from her luminosity.
Tonight’s offerings from Lorde and her crew are far more reminiscent of a theatre production (a setting that Lorde has felt more than comfortable in since her formative years) than a standard pop show with the evening being broken into three acts. The second act is ushered in with Lordes voice emerging through the amplifiers in hushed tones, it speaks of secret worlds and the question of whether to make or destroy love. Indeed love and all the complicated human emotions that are attached to it is the overarching theme of this show and it is one that resonates with each and every fan, regardless of age. Love, desire, intimacy all words of a universal language. Appearing under a neon archway of brightly coloured flowers, Lorde stands resplendent in white – a symbolic colour in many ways. Beginning with ‘The Louvre’ there is a power to her now, gone is the young girl who was afraid of growing up – in her place a strong and confident woman who sashays across the stage with purpose and meaning.
At one point during the second act Lorde seats herself on a plain wooden box set beneath her flowery archway and addresses the audience, a curtain of soft and now slightly damp curls framing her devastatingly beautiful face. She speaks of her synaesthesia and how because of it she vividly sees things from the past as she sings the songs that she wrote on home soil “How witchy is that?” she exclaims. What follows is a rather meandering but endearing soliloquy accompanied by a single keyboard in which Lorde speaks of finding herself; she reminds one and all that “sometimes you have to be your own best friend” – wise words indeed for anyone who has had their heart broken. It was therefore an inspired move by Lorde to perform a heart-wrenching version of ‘Liability’ which judging by the way it was sung along to by more than a few hundred fans is a song whose words have touched many. To end the second act, Lorde performed a rather aptly chosen cover; ‘Somebody Else’ by the 1975 seamlessly fitting into the set list, Lorde performing it with such fervour that it was palpable.
As a pulsating rhythm filled the chests of all who were present, once again Lorde’s voice came through in those soothing tones as they told the story of a King with twelve daughters whose shoes had been danced to pieces. “Can an evening really hold so much?” the King wonders. A single shooting star has now replaced the flowers – an emblematic representation of all that night affords us. Lorde adorned in fine silver mesh coveralls over bright lime green hot pants and matching crop top stands before the microphone, strong, defiant, larger than life itself. Her rendition of ‘Supercut’ is fresh and raw; her vocals have a bite to them as she growls the ends of her sentences. The audience feels it and responds with vigour. ‘Royals’ while still such an iconic track forever synonymous with Lorde no longer quite holds the intensity it used to for either Lorde or her audience. It is more an affectionate nod to the past with a combined realisation that we have all moved on from that place in time.
‘Perfect Places’ sees Lorde once again embody that majestic persona as she slyly smiles at the audience while she sings about kissing and the taking off of clothes. But it is ‘Team’ that sees her return to us, embrace one and all as not only a fellow human being just trying to navigate the crazy paths of social sentiments, but as a fellow Kiwi. She dashes down a set of stairs onto the floor and throws her arms around a group of fans in the front row, the crowd suddenly surging forward to be closer to this positively glowing entity. By the time she returns to the stage to perform arguably one of the biggest tracks of the night ‘Green Light’ – every single person is grinning from ear to ear. They dance and sing with just as much abandon as Lorde herself, her vocals still crisp and clear despite the copious amounts of expended energy. Streamer cannons shower the audience with paper white stars – some with tiny snippets of scrawled lyrics emblazoned across them. They flutter and reflect the lime green light from the Melodrama sign as they fall to the ground, the audience giddy as they attempt to catch handfuls of them.
And with that she was gone, the credits rolling on the old TV screen an indication that the performance had come to an end. However after what seemed like an anxious wait for many, Lorde once again appeared accompanied only by a miniature soundboard. She places her finger to her lips signalling the audience to remain quiet. She repeats this several times before performing an almost ethereal version of ‘Writer in the Dark’ – crossly waving her arm at any audience member who attempted to sing along to the words. This was obviously a deeply personal moment for Lorde and one that she needed complete silence for as she fell back from the microphone and sang into the cold darkness that appeared to be creeping up on her from both sides. She signed off this powerful piece by moving straight into ‘Loveless’ a piercing and almost bitter song that simultaneously felt completely cathartic for both Lorde and her audience.
“Can an evening really hold so much?” Yes, indeed it can.
Were you there at the Powerstation for this sublime pop gig? Or have you seen Lorde perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Homemade Dynamite
- Magnets [Disclosure Cover]
- Tennis Court
- Hard Feelings
- Buzzcut Season
- Sober
- The Louvre
- Ribs
- Liability
- Sober II (Melodrama)
- Bravado
- Somebody Else [1975 cover]
- Supercut
- Royals
- Perfect Places
- Team
- Greenlight
- Writer In The Dark [encore]
- Loveless [encore]
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