New Zealand's alt-pop sensation Lorde transformed Manchester's AO Arena into a whirlwind of kinetic energy and raw emotion, delivering a performance that was both a large-scale spectacle and an intimate confession.
A Theatrical Masterpiece Unfolds
Before a captivated audience of up to 21,000 people, Ella Yelich-O'Connor, known globally as Lorde, took to the stage barefoot in baggy jeans for opening number Hammer. The production drew immediate comparisons to Talking Heads' seminal Stop Making Sense, with each song introducing new theatrical elements and props.
The singer's movement was constant and compelling—one moment she sprawled across tabletops in euphoric abandon, the next she paced earnestly on a treadmill during the emotional ballad Supercut. The entire Ultrasound tour production felt viscerally kinetic, as if someone had pressed fast-forward on an early-2000s DVD.
Digital Glitches and Physical Reclamation
Behind the performer, screens flickered in a fast-paced blur of electric blue, sometimes shattering Lorde's projection into pixelated 8-bit dots reminiscent of a Windows screensaver. This digital aesthetic contrasted powerfully with the emphasis on physical presence.
Dancers clasped handheld cameras that zoomed in on midriffs and captured sweat beading under the intense lights. "The lens twists, holding the contours of Lorde's body in a small reclamation of self," observed one critic. During Current Affairs, the singer confided the revealing lyric "You tasted my underwear, I knew we were fucked" while stripping down to her grey Calvin Klein boxers.
Intimate Moments Amidst the Spectacle
Despite the production's scale, Lorde cultivated remarkable intimacy. She gripped a vocoder to her chest Imogen Heap-style during Clearblue, her duct-tape bra catching the strobes as she performed to the adoring crowd. "I'm a little starstruck by you, Manchester," she shouted at one point, bridging the gap between performer and audience.
The night's conclusion saw another powerful moment of connection when Lorde, now wearing a luminous bike-reflector jacket, walked through the crowd and held onto an audience member as he sang David. The live feed glitched between her soft face and pre-recorded imagery, creating a digital echo of both the evening's performance and her artistic journey.
Throughout the show, Lorde demonstrated why she remains unique in contemporary pop—masterfully capturing both intimacy and nostalgia while exploring themes of adolescence and self-discovery that have defined her work since 2013's Pure Heroine. The New Zealand artist continues her Ultrasound tour with dates at London's O2 Arena on 16th and 17th November.
