Melodrama, the sophomore album of New Zealand pop artist Lorde, was, in my humble opinion, one of the most slept on albums of 2017. The mix of new age pop production and her raw, sometimes cryptic, lyrics allows her to create a unique and recognizable sound that people can’t get enough of. Take her 2013 hit “Royals”, that, among other things, won Song of The Year at the 56th Grammy Awards, had 10 million in sales in the US, and has nearly half a million plays on Spotify, and— oh yeah— she was barely 17 at the time.
And to think I got to see her live at TD Garden as part of her “North America Dance” tour.
She had two interesting opening acts; Mitski, a soft alternative pop rock solo act, and Run the Jewels, a vulgar, but HYPE, rap duo. I was struck by the contrast between the two acts, and couldn’t help but laugh thinking of Lorde hanging out with all of them backstage.
Run The Jewels hyping the crowd before the main act.
She obviously runs a tight ship, as everything ran perfectly to the minute, and when she walked out the second the clock struck 9:45, all 20,000 people went crazy. Her presence was ephemeral and captivating, and she floated across the stage like actual royalty. My friend and I determined that she could pretty much open with any one of her songs, but when the first beats of “Sober” played, we knew it was the perfect choice. The rest of the set list was a wonderful mix of songs from the touring album Melodrama and her first work Pure Heroine, equally amazing, along with covers of Frank Ocean songs, remixes of old favorites, and even an unreleased song during the encore that I pray she will release somewhere, called “Precious Metals”.
What made me love the experience so much was that she seemed to be genuinely enjoying herself the entire time; dancing around the stage, connecting with her music in the way she was often criticized for, and truly giving it her all. Not to mention, besides a handful of beautiful dancers and a large clear box (that floated, tipped, and changed colors accordingly), it was just her on stage, but she commanded it like she’d been doing it her entire life, when she’s barely a year older than me. Along with this fact, the only other thing I could think of throughout the concert was how I truly didn’t want it to end just because I was having so much genuine fun.
Aforementioned clear box, floating and turning appropriately.
Midway through the show she opened up to us and became seriously vulnerable about the meaning and story behind some of her songs, and the fears she had about releasing them, noting she kept asking herself, “are people gonna get it?”
Yes, Lorde, we get it. And it’s wonderful.
The queen, herself; beaming.
*All photos provided by author.