Kiwi songwriter and producer Joel Little talks to Mitchell Hageman about his current projects and how he’s giving back to the Kiwi music scene. Video / Alyse Wright
Lorde hinted at an impromptu performance in Tāmaki Makaurau via a cryptic Instagram post.
Fans gathered in the CBD at the location Lorde was rumoured to be performing at.
Footage showed the star treating her audience to a special pop-up show.
Lorde has treated her hometown fans to a special pop-up show in Auckland’s CBD tonight after earlier hints of an impromptu performance.
Fans have gathered outside the YMCA on Vincent St for Lorde, with images showing hundreds of youths waiting in the cold for the star.
“People will be let in, see her perform and ushered out the back,” he said.
“Lots of people have shown up who may not have received an invite, hoping for the best or hoping she may come outside.”
Hundreds of people turned up hoping to see Lorde perform in Auckland. Photo / Supplied
Just after 1pm Wednesday, the Melodrama singer – born Ella Yelich-O’Connor – posted a cryptic photo to her Instagram story showing the top right of a cracked iPhone peeking out of a pair of jeans.
The picture was captioned “Auckland” and included a hyperlink to Lorde’s WhatsApp Business Account.
Messages sent to the singer received a link to sign up to her database and then received a message from the singer that read: “Auckland I wanna play you something.. Meet me in the city tonight? Message me if you’re keen”.
Lorde has told Auckland fans on Whats App she wants to play them something. Photo / Tom Rose
A police spokesperson, responding to questions about Lorde’s earlier message, told the Herald:“Police are not immediately aware of anything at this stage.
“We will monitor and respond to any issues that might arise accordingly.”
Lorde hinted at a hometown meet-up on her Instagram story. Photo / @lorde.
Lorde released What Was That, the first single from the album, on April 24. A pop-up event hosted by the singer in New York’s Washington Square Park before the song’s release was shut down by police less than an hour beforehand because of large crowds.
In 2017, before the release of her song Green Light, the singer tweeted a map to three locations around Auckland that displayed a green-lit, smoking car in Ponsonby, green lights at a Herne Bay beach, and a projection of her performing the song in the city centre.
Earlier this month, in a Rolling Stone cover story, the singer recounted how she wrote Man of the Year in a period where she had stopped taking birth control, been diagnosed with premenstrual dysphoric disorder and was exploring her gender identity.
The article outlined the single’s inspiration coming to Lorde as she was “sitting on the floor of her living room, trying to visualise a version of herself ‘fully representative of how [her] gender felt in that moment’”.
“What she saw once again was an image of herself in men’s jeans, this time wearing nothing else but her gold chain and duct tape on her chest.
“The tape had this feeling of rawness to her, of it ‘not being a permanent solution’.”
On May 21, Lorde posted a reel to her Instagram account showing the singer wading waist deep in water on an Auckland beach with Rangitoto in the background.
The video was soundtracked by a short clip of the upcoming single with lyrics that say “Let’s hear it for the man of the year, hear it for the man of the year”.
