Right at the Golden Hour in the Swedish summer night, the Lollapalooza audience gets served a big dose of Solar Power by none other than New Zealand pop powerhouse Lorde.
Lorde and some of her musicians (all color-coordinated in yellow suits), enter the stage on a rotating staircase, which looks very similar to the sun dials one can find at Jantar Mantar, the ancient observatory in Jaipur, India. Very fitting, as her latest album is all about the sun and the nature, bringing environmental awareness to the world of pop music.
The staging prop is very clever and is used effectively throughout the show. Lorde herself has gone blonde and wears sunglasses, so she isn’t instantly recognizable – well until she starts moving in her familiar way. Right away she gives off the vibes of the coolest pop star around, and the one that will be the highlight of the festival day.
Lorde speaks a lot about how wonderful the Swedish summer is, but also reminisces about her first visit to Stockholm when she saw snow for the first time ever and felt healed. She also endears herself to the audience even more when she speaks the words “Stockholm i mitt hjärta” in plain Swedish and promises she means it with every fiber of her being.
Lorde serves many different emotions with songs from all three albums, as well as a Bananarama cover, Cruel Summer. The hits toward the end of the set really get the crowd going wild, starting with her breakthrough hit Royals. Can you believe it’s already almost ten years since that song came out? And can you get your head around Lorde being just 25, when she’s been such a self-evident presence in the pop world for that long.
The party goes on with Green Light, and the people close to the stage actually form a mosh pit of sorts, to Lorde’s absolute delight, seeing as she notes it’s the first time ever that has happened at her show.
It’s no surprise she ends the sun-tinted show to the tunes of Solar Power, shedding some clothes and dancing in the sunset together with the audience. The yellow confetti rain halfway through the song forms the absolute climax of the show (and when the confetti lands on the audience, some pick up the pieces of paper to read the messages: “Breathe out, and tune in…”, “Wear sunscreen”, “Serve the bees”…
Lorde was truly shining brighter than the sun through the whole show, and the audience was most definitely left with big smiles on their faces and happiness in their hearts.
All photos © Nina Uddin
1 Comment