Lorde wowed her hometown at Auckland's Spark Arena. Photo / Sam Penn
How do you describe a night with Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor at her long-anticipated hometown return? Ethereal, raw, quirky, emotional, bizarre? All of the above? But one thing I didn’t expect was to walk out feeling even more proud to be a Kiwi.
Be it standing in her Calvin Klein underwear and Blues rugby T-shirt, sipping from her rainbow water bottle (her Instagram profile picture that is “probably more famous than her”, she jokes), or running on a treadmill while singing Supercut, Lorde proved to her Tāmaki Makaurau brothers and sisters that being yourself, especially when things are against you, is one of the most empowering things you can do.
Did I understand what was going on at times or the exact symbolism involved? No. Did I know all the songs? Maybe 75% of them. But from the moment the camera panned to the crying, smiling faces of fans screaming the lyrics to Perfect Places, it was hard not to feel a pang in your heart and realise the gravity of our homegirl’s achievements, and what it means for her to represent us on the world stage.
The Ultrasound Tour is a world-class production that has graced more than 40 international stadiums already. Multiple, purposefully invasive cameras follow her every move, capturing every bead of sweat, tear and smirk.
A live synth band and an incredible group of backup dancers parade around a massive boombox – and even a giant industrial fan – while strobe lights and smoke assault the senses.
We were in Lorde’s personal playground of pleasure and pain.
Earlier tours have seen her float about with glee and joyful youth (Solar Power), cave into herself (Melodrama) or simply try and get over her stage fears (back in the Royal’s days as a young 16-year-old).
I loved her extremely intimate 2023 Hawke’s Bay show for many reasons, including her dynamite vocal abilities and genuine sense of love, but I secretly left wanting a bit more of a gut-punch to the soul.
Her Virgin (latest album)-era and show was a different beast altogether. No stone was left unturned, and all of those past eras were bottled up and stripped away in front of us in real time. It takes guts for an artist to do that, especially a Kiwi trying to keep hold of her place in a brutal American music market.
The deafening roar when she came on at Spark Arena was something I’ll remember for a long time. The crowd of teens, parents, millennials, and grandmas (and grandads) was fervent, a flurry of phones whipped out as she emerged from below to open with Hammer, which was quickly followed up by Royals (I could probably safely say everyone knew the words to that one).
“We’ve got a lot to catch up on,” she laughs. Too right, we all wanted to know the reason behind those crazy YMCA Queen St toilet cubicle shows.
Her belt came off to cheers at Buzzcut Season. Things were getting serious, and at times, pretty saucy, as expected, owing to much of the latest album covering topics like bodily truth, sexuality, and identity.
GRWM (Get Ready With Me), which Lorde says she wrote in the shower after kissing someone she really liked, saw the star drench herself in water as the camera panned up and down her bare torso.
“So, you can sing? I assume you can dance then, right?” she asked as 400 Lux got bodies twisting and turning. The pace shifted from ethereal dance to artistic brilliance at breakneck speed.
There were sporadic shouts of a deep love for being back home from the singer throughout the night, but the real turning point came just as she launched into crowd-belter Liability. She knew what she wanted to say, but none of it felt rehearsed.
“I’m always particularly nervous for the Auckland show, because, well, you know why. I can’t hide anything from you. You know me to my core.
“This music comes from so deep inside me, it feels so intimate,” she says, dropping a bombshell that she was seriously considering not making music anymore before Virgin.
“I grew up pretty fast ... I had to really go back and strip it all down ... I feel simultaneously older and younger than I’ve ever felt.”
One of the greatest feelings I’ve experienced was singing in te reo Māori on the Sydney Opera House stage (Auckland composer Takerei Komene’s Ngā Roimata o te Tūrama with the Auckland Youth Choir). When Lorde began Oceanic Feeling in te reo, a sense of national pride hit me like a ton of bricks. How lucky are we that we can represent our “little island at the bottom of the world” with such beautiful waiata, and be given the privilege to share one of our official languages on such a wide scale.
Team saw the colours of the Palestinian flag light up the stage, and Green Light had everyone, including me in the seated section, go wild in a euphoric fit of fun. In a Florence and the Machine-esque twist, she even ran through the crowd for David, those lucky enough to be in the light-stream path getting a close encounter with the star.
It was teenage anthem Ribs that was the finale on the lighting box B-stage at the back of Spark Arena, before Lorde soaked it all in, smiled, and rushed out the front door to no doubt enjoy a special late night of fun with friends and whānau in her hometown.
Credit should also go to BROCKHAMPTON alumni Kevin Abstract, whose moody, grungy set brought the house down before Lorde hit the stage. Opening acts can be hit or miss, but I‘d pay full price to see him if he ever came back to our shores.
As I walked back to the office, feet sore and humming What Was That, I thought back to when I caught up with Lorde at the New Zealand Music Awards last year. Given one question, I asked her what she’d tell any up-and-coming artist or creative.
“Do you to the nth degree,” she said. Similar words were echoed tonight.
“To live the most beautiful, brilliant, alive, curious life you can live, you have no choice but to be completely yourself,” she cried, the crowd latching on to every word like gospel.
“It’s the best thing I ever did, and it’s the reason I’m sitting in front of you. I want to say thank you for sticking with me for 12 years through all those phases, through all my wins and mistakes. I’m so grateful, Auckland.”
It’s true Kiwis can fly, and tonight, Lorde was the inspirational proof of that, and I’m so glad she’s flying the flag for us.
Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald’s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke’s Bay Today.