Jim-E Stack, perhaps best known by the crowd for his role as co-producer and co-writer on ‘Virgin’, began the night with a DJ set of his own work, before Nilüfer Yanya brought a set of rich textures and harmonies, complemented by her band’s tight musicianship and saxophone solos.
Opening with ‘Hammer’, the first track off her latest album, ‘Virgin’, Lorde rose on a platform under the light of a laser beam. Unpredictably moving around the arena stage, she immediately captivated the audience in a simple t-shirt and jean combination, the staple fashion now associated with ‘Lorde Summer’: Her androgyny ever-present in outfit and in lyrics as she sang “Some days, I'm a woman, some days, I'm a man”.
Lorde has built a reputation for her raw and introspective lyricism, never letting a 15,800 capacity venue be a barrier to this effervescent connection with the fans, whom she later proudly declared “matched her freak”. The Ultrasound Tour staging was so carefully produced that it felt improvised, as if it were Lorde’s living room, albeit with a giant fan (‘Buzzcut Season’), larger-than-life climbable speaker (‘The Louvre’) and treadmill (‘Supercut’).
Joined by dancers, Evan Sagadencky and NANA, the show melted and moulded performance art that never felt like an act, complemented by Lorde’s conversational mid-performance chatting. ‘Royals’ unsurprisingly received a huge reception, the audience word-perfect on the 2013 breakout hit; “We’re going to have fun, Birmingham, I can feel it”, whilst a jagged performance of ‘Broken Glass’ found Lorde pulling at her t-shirt and adjusting her belt, as NANA ate an apple. A raw depiction only deepening the meaning of Lorde’s autobiographical exploration of an eating disorder; “I wanna punch the mirror / To make her see that this won't last”. “Do you know this one?” asked the New Zealand singer-songwriter before ‘Perfect Places’, the audience reaction affirming they did.
Never leaving the stage, aside from a mesmerising crowd walkthrough to the B-stage in penultimate song, ‘David’, Lorde had no time for shock-factor costume changes. Instead, she dressed and undressed onstage, as vulnerable as the cover art for ‘Virgin’, an X-Ray of the artist, baring it all in perhaps her most authentic offering yet. Joined by her band onstage for the first time, who became part of the visual performance, she ended ‘Current Affairs’ in just her top and Calvin Klein boxers.
“Birmingham, I’m thirsty”, cued the appearance of Lorde’s infamous Snow Peak waterbottle, which remains her social media profile picture. “I started this song when I was in the shower, so now when I sing it I need to be really wet”, she confessed before ‘GRWM’, close-ups of her glistening torso projected onto the arena screens after pouring water over herself, a showcase of not only her commitment to her art, but also to an intimate connection with the audience. This connection later continued in ‘The Louvre’; “this song belongs entirely to you and I feel like when I sing it I’m borrowing it back from you for four minutes, I can’t sing it as well as you, but I can try, you gotta show me how to do it”.
‘Oceanic Feeling’, Lorde’s “favourite” track from 2021’s ‘Solar Power’, was lit up by a dazzling display of phone torches, paired with ‘Big Star’ also from the contemplative record. On her knees, Lorde reminisced about previous shows, and watching her fans grow and change, before ‘Liability’ declaring, “It is so special getting to meet up in these rooms every couple of years and fall apart and sing along as loud as we f*cking can and cry, it’s astonishing and I feel so lucky”. The show a continuous commentary on femininity, sexuality and bodily autonomy, ‘Clearblue’ found Lorde alone on stage, spotlighted in blue, holding close a vocoder. ‘Man Of The Year’ developed with euphoric momentum, Lorde shirtless except for strips of duct tape as seen in the music video.
As the energy heightened towards the end of the show, Lorde revisited her debut album, ‘Pure Heroine’, bookended by tracks from ‘Virgin’. ‘Team’ lit up the stage in green, black and red in an emotional show of support for Palestine; "Livin' in ruins of a palace within my dreams / And you know, we're on each other's team".Following an electrifying ‘What Was That’, the biggest audience sing-along came from 2017’s ‘Green Light’.
The concert closed with ‘Ribs’, the “most special song we have”, on a B-stage that put Lorde in the centre of the crowd. “You're the only friend I need”, echoing around Utilita Arena as Lorde promised, “You and me forever, Birmingham”.
Maisy Neale
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