On Oct. 18, Lorde brought her “Ultrasound Tour” to Los Angeles for a one-night-only performance. The sold-out Kia Forum reminisces with her nostalgic setlist, with songs from “Pure Heroine,” “Melodrama” and “Solar Power.” With performances from Lorde’s latest album “Virgin,” the concert gave its audience a more intimate glimpse into her personal experiences.
From the age of 16, Lorde has been praised for her songs about coming of age and adolescence. She extends her reach with “Virgin” by talking about gender and intimacy. Her concert’s lighting, set design and costuming perfectly capture the raw and stripped-back feeling of her album.
Linear laser beams of light are a constant feature throughout the concert. Reflecting her X-ray album cover, the blue and white lights cut through Lorde and the dancers as she performs. The show opened with a single laser beam from the ceiling, flickering onto the stage to the opening beat of her song “Hammer.” As Lorde’s silhouette appeared through the fog as the light expanded, the crowd erupted into cries and cheers.
This laser beam made another appearance during her song “Perfect Places,” cutting straight through her torso. This song describes the endless partying and drinking present in adolescence as a means to find this utopia in the face of reality. The light, similar to her lyrics, cut straight through her, revealing a vulnerability to the audience.
Closing her setlist with “Ribs,” the light, rather than dissecting Lorde, fell right above her head. “You took care of me,” she sang as the opening notes to the song began. She reached the tips of her fingers into the light, willingly giving a piece of herself to her fans by way of the song.
Lorde’s costuming throughout the show also reflects the layers of herself that she is pulling back through her music. Starting the show with her iconic white t-shirt and jeans, her look is authentic to herself and the album. During “Current Affairs,” she removed her jeans, revealing her boxer underwear beneath, paralleling her lyrics about sexual intimacy. Later, as she sang “Man of the Year,” her single that touches on her exploration of her gender, she’s outfitted in her jeans and duct-taped chest, as seen in her music video. Her outfits paralleled the different areas of her body that she revealed to the audience through her music.
Lorde is also well known for her transparency on social and political issues that she is passionate about. While performing “Royals,” a song that rejects the idea of consumerism and capitalism, she screamed, “It’s No Kings Day!”
An issue that she advocates for at every concert is the ceasefire in Gaza. As she performed “Team,” a powerful anthem about unity overcoming difficult periods, red, green and white lights illuminated the arena.
Towards the end of the night, Lorde wrote on her hand in black marker, “GIRL.” The crowd erupts into cheers as Charli XCX appears in the crowd on the Jumbotron. Together, they perform the remix of “Girl, so confusing,” a song about how the music industry pits celebrities, especially women, against each other, which creates tension and difficulties within friendships.
“The Ultrasound Tour” concert displayed the power of an intimate and stripped performance. Concert-goers felt the vulnerability radiating off the stage, relating to the songs and reminiscing in nostalgia. As a long-time fan of Lorde who attended her previous “Solar Power Tour,” I loved the raw vulnerability this concert brought. Standing in a sold-out arena surrounded by people feeling the same nostalgia and power of Lorde’s music, I felt an overwhelming sense of euphoria and connection.