August 27, 2026, will forever be one of the best days of my life. o, that is not an overstatement. To preface, I, being naive, did not research concerts in Paris before I hopped on my little flight here for the semester. Given that I did not know that I would be seeing Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor until the day before. Not only was I hearing that she was headlining a festival a 30-minute metro ride away, but it was only $109. I immediately bought that ticket and said goodbye to whatever trip isn’t in my budget anymore.
The festival itself was beautiful, with lots of space, the cutest decor and immaculate vibes. I got there about an hour before Lorde came on, so in my head I imagined I would have to push my way up to even be able to make out her figure on stage. Thankfully, I was wrong. After Djo finished his set, the masses suddenly started leaving, and before I knew it, I was 5 people away from the front. I’m not sure if there is just no barricade-fiend culture in France, but I was not complaining. Then she came on, my soul left my body, and has yet to return. The set list (below) was a Lorde fan’s dream.
- Royals
- What was that
- Broken Glass
- Perfect Places
- Shapeshifter
- Buzzcut Season
- Favourite Daughter
- The Louvre
- Current Affairs
- Hard Feelings
- Oceanic Feeling
- Liability
- Hammer
- Supercut
- Team
- Man Of The Year
- Girl, so confusing
- Green Light
- Ribs
Bar for bar, I sang my heart out. The gut-wrenching words I have listened to since I was 12 were all of a sudden being sung to me by the woman herself. She is actually perfect. The only thing I would change is to add all of Solar Power to the set list, which I know is just a me thing. These songs on their own are so powerful, but there is something about an artist who connects with an audience during their performances that just makes my sparkle shine.
The whole show wasn’t overproduced; it felt like it was just her, us and the music. When she came down into the audience and was a mere 10 ft away from me while closing the show with Ribs (of course), I knew I could die happy. I will forever be grateful that she lived a chaotic life so she could write my bible; that is her discography. I will be even more thankful to have a cool older sister who showed me the staples of girlhood music: Lana, Lorde, and Phoebe.