What do you do after releasing a new album for the first time in four years? If you’re singer-songwriter Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Conner, also known as Lorde, you go on a world tour. Shortly after the release of her album “Virgin” this summer, Lorde has kicked off a tour that will visit North America, Europe and Oceania. The Ultrasound Tour started on Wednesday, Sept. 17, and it came to Boston on Friday, Sept. 26, which I had the honor of going to. Let me tell you about it.
To preface, the Ultrasound World Tour began in Austin and ends in Perth, Australia, going until Feb. 25 and including a variety of venues. As well as performing in the 20,000 capacity Madison Square Garden in New York City, Lorde is also playing in more intimate venues, such as The Pinnacle in Nashville with a maximum capacity of 4,000 people. Lorde performed only one night in Boston, selling out all 19,500 available seats in TD Garden and becoming one of the largest venues of her tour.
Some concerts today have an unspoken theme in concert-goers outfits. While the crowd included more variety of outfits compared to some other artists’ tours, there seemed to be a theme of mini skirts or jeans, as well as a color scheme of silver, blue and black. A lot of attendees were also wearing merchandise purchased at the show, with T-shirts and hoodies being sold with the album cover or related images.
For this Boston performance, Japanese House was the first opener, playing a short set of seven songs. Lorde has been touring with a number of other openers for different performances, including Blood Orange, Chanel Beads and Jim-E Stack. After Japanese House finished their set, Blood Orange performed twelve songs, including TikTok sensation “Champagne Coast” and closing with “The Field” from their new album, “Essex Honey.”
At around 9 p.m., the lights went out and the opening synthesizer of “Hammer” began to play. This marked the start to the main act, Lorde herself. Hammer is the first song on “Virgin,” which dropped on June 27 and contains 11 tracks. All 11 songs are on Lorde’s setlist for this tour.
Shortly following “Hammer,” Lorde performed her 2013 pop hit,“Royals.” Royals was originally released as a part of Lorde’s five track extended play titled “The Love Club” and was included in her debut studio album “Pure Heroine,” which was released four months later. After performing Royals, Lorde addressed the crowd for the first time of the night, welcoming everyone to the show and expressing her excitement to be in Boston.
Although the setlist was relatively short with only 23 songs performed, it included songs from all of Lorde’s albums, including less popular songs, like “Big Oceanic” and “Big Star” from her 2021 album “Solar Power.” The setlist also included “No Better,” a song written when Lorde was only 14 years old and later released as an extended version of “Pure Heroine” in 2013. Before performing the song, Lorde spoke to the crowd about the process of writing the song and the struggle to recreate it live almost 16 years later.
Throughout the show, the display screens showed an artistic combination of close ups of Lorde and her dancers. It also displayed visuals designed to go with the vibe of the music. Lorde only had a few dancers with her the entire time, and she did not have an excessive amount of dancing or special effects on the stage. During her song “Supercut,” she walked and ran on a treadmill while she sang, eventually coming to lay down on it as the song drew to a close.
As the show wrapped up, Lorde played some of her biggest hits, such as “Greenlight” and “Team.” When the popular last track “David” on her new album began to play, the stadium got dark with Lorde emerging in a jacket covered in lights and reflectors. Lorde made her way through a line of fans in the pit, finishing the song on a stage in the middle of the crowd.
With one song left on the setlist, Lorde surprised fans by performing “A World Alone” on a stage in the crowd opposite the main stage. She credited this surprise song to Boston because they were a “great crowd,” and this is the first time she has played the song on the tour. The concert finished up with the pop hit “Ribs.” Lorde previewed this song by addressing the crowd, saying it was her favorite song she had written and discussing the fear of growing old that the song portrays.
Personally, I thought that the show was very well done. Lorde played a great show with strong vocals that really enhanced the music. Hearing her live was a very special experience. The simplicity of the dancing kept the focus on her, and the crowd was electric, especially at the end of the show when she played her top hits. Being surprised with “A World Alone” was also special as I love the song and was not expecting to hear it. This was undoubtedly one of my favorite concerts, and I would definitely recommend seeing her if you have the chance.
