Much has been made about the Lorde (aka Ella Yelich-O’Connor) saga since her quick rise to fame starting almost exactly one year ago. At first, the hype was mostly centred on the young New Zealander’s age and how a teenager was burning up the charts, even though that shit’s been happening since time immemorial. Age may be the talking point, but at the end of the day it’s indicative of entirely nothing besides how many punches you’ll get each year on your birthday. The real hurdle that faced Lorde was how to take her minimalist approach to music and translate it to the arena spectaculars necessary for her forever bulging audience.
The stage looked like it was set for some sort of cult ritual, with a simple black draped curtain as a back drop, large candles placed sparingly, and a giant chandelier overlooking the sacrificial platform. It’s a bold move by Lorde to not rely on many props and keep all the attention focused on her and the music. Opening with Glory and Gore she somehow managed to fill the entire stage with her presence, as if props would just get in her way. She looked at home as she lost herself in erratic dancing far and away from the usual choreographed moves you might expect from a young pop star.
Midway through Glory and Gore the curtain background dropped revealing a keyboardist, drummer and giant picture frame broken into three segments acting as a video feed. The reasons behind the simplicity of the stage finally become apparent when the light show really started to kick in. A synaesthesia-like effect was created during 400 Lux when the hall became drenched in blue, and Buzzcut Seasons saw the room turned into a rich red sauna.
Lorde took many opportunities between songs to express her gratitude to the audience for their overwhelming support and gave a shout-out to a guy named Ben who was one of her very first fans. The audience replied during any pause of her speech with an ear shattering scream that could only resonate from a mass of teenage girls, and as the crowd surged forward quite a few fans were seen being rushed to the St John’s medics by security.
Closing with Royals, Team and A World Alone the little lady disappeared for a minute during the second last song returning in a glittering gold dress and cannon fire of confetti covered in drawings of her face. Lorde is a new breed of pop star that relies on intelligence and simplicity rather than the gratuitous overzealous behaviour that usually comes from a genre filled with under-talented over-hyped twats.
BY RHYS MCRAE
Photo by Charles Newbury
Loved: The retina-destroying lights.
Hated: Incessant high-pitched screaming.
Drank: Not enough.
