"Studio-perfect vocal": Lorde American tour reviews thread
Effortlessly authentic Lorde shows studio-perfect vocal delivery at Dallas show
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She comes off as effortlessly authentic in her approach to every part of the pop-music process, in fact. Her physical performance mirrors what she’s singing and hearing — no movement appears overly rehearsed. And, as she explained to the crowd Tuesday, she composes lyrics more for herself than any potential listener.
“That’s how I comfort myself; I write songs about things,” she said while explaining the concept behind “Ribs,” which laments the conflict between wanting to grow up and fearing change.
Lorde and her band members made the most of South Side’s basic stage — live and edited footage on three large video screens helped to enhance sonic moods. Yet the singer proved through studio-perfect vocal delivery and impressive showmanship that she requires few visual crutches.
She comes off as effortlessly authentic in her approach to every part of the pop-music process, in fact. Her physical performance mirrors what she’s singing and hearing — no movement appears overly rehearsed.
Every song had been familiar and singalong-worthy to these fans, so many chose to let their phones document “Royals” and “Team.” I get why they didn’t simply unplug and enjoy the moment: After the show they’d just witnessed, they wanted proof that they’d seen a diamond in the flesh.
Unlikely pop star Lorde enchants at Austin Music Hall
Fans packed Austin Music Hall on Monday night with the kind of cramped jostling reserved only for the biggest, most beloved acts. They stood in the aisles, they spilled into the wings aside the bleacher-style seats, and they peeped through speakers to see the stage.
The sold-out show packed in a youthful mob — twentysomething professionals, college students, and a surprising number of crimped-hair middle and elementary school girls. When the house lights went down, the ominous synth opening to “Glory and Gore” and the crowd’s deafening roar heralded the show’s star.
It’s not until you see her live that you fully realize this truth: It is deeply weird that Lorde is a global pop star.
But Lorde, with her smoky studio-good vocals, performs like a girl possessed. Actually possessed. Like, Linda Blair possessed. With her untamed, wavy anemone hair and dark lipstick, she would give off an authentic goth vibe, even if she didn’t also dress exactly like The Cure’s Robert Smith (right down to the shiny black boots). There she was, choppily jerking her body like a stop-motion marionette to each haunting beat of “Biting Down.” With every spasm, the crowd absolutely lost its mind.
Pop music, your power is great and mighty indeed.
She completely captivated all on her own, pulling gut-wrenching soul from songs like “Swingin Party” and seeming to share wry intimations with her fans on “Tennis Court.” Moving like the lovechild of full-twirl Stevie Nicks and a 1980s hip-hop hype man, the singer cast a spell with a threatening rendition of “Still Sane” mid-way through the set, the stage completely washed in blood-red light.
And the fans were actually fans: This was no packed house of car-radio jockeys that had only heard “Royals.” Every song came with its own Greek chorus in the audience, a testament to the resonance of Lorde’s excellent debut album, last year’s “Pure Heroine.” From the floor to the rafters, people shouted “We love you Ella!”
Yellow lights and fog complemented a cinematic, remixed buildup for “Royals.” It felt like Pantera was about to emerge on a hydraulic platform underneath a stadium. Lorde sang the song as if she was releasing a thunderstorm with her voice, recalling her sparse and rhythmic performance at the Grammys.
The audience barely had time to scream with delight before the singer launched into “Team,” the showcase song of the night. If “Royals” seemed to crescendo in intensity, this song’s build dwarfed it, building to a fevered, sonically layered, sweeping opus. Lorde’s final enchantment: conjuring an explosion of confetti that rained down on the grateful mass of fans.
The wonder of tiny bits of paper swarming through the air is hard to beat. The closing number, “A World Alone,” was just a formality. The set winding down, eerie atmospherics swirled in startling, electric dissonance. Call it a hex or call it charisma, but the adoring devotees of bona fide popstar Lorde would probably just call it magic.
Lorde Enchants Austin on Opening Night of First Full U.S. Tour
Lorde began the opening night of her first full-fledged U.S. tour completely alone. With only a solitary microphone at center stage of the sold-out Austin Music Hall, the pop sensation slinked out front while funereal synth tones set the mood before the opening lines of "Glory and Gore."
Even as a young woman the singer is clearly comfortable and in control onstage and when a black curtain behind her dropped to reveal her only two band members – on drums and keyboards – the picture of Lorde as a performer became even clearer.
A more menacing and sparse arrangement on many of the songs suggested she wants to keep things fresh, and production staff at the venue reported she'd spent six hours rehearsing the previous day to get the reworked songs where they needed to be for a live show. If that's true, it shows Lorde is serious about this whole business of being a star for the long haul, and one who will challenge herself creatively as she matures and moves from teenage angst as lyric fodder.
Lorde’s Swingin Party: Teen Kiwi stuffs Austin Music Hall on sold-out tour opener
The place was stuffed: teens, snobs, a whole grip of stressed-out moms. Obvious first concert for a number of souls. Good. Pop’s majesty was on full display.
Lorde tells us she wrote “Ribs” in the twilight hours of a high school party – as her house emptied and the unfinished drinks were poured listlessly down the drain. “It was the moment where we realized we were doing grown-up things,” says the 17-year-old New Zealander.
It’s a song about that brief flash of self-awareness that comes in the midst of your teenaged years, where the things adults do start to make sense. It’s an exciting and frightening time – your first flash of what you’ve left behind. Amazing that a girl born in 1996 wrote one of the best songs about aging, but we’ve already come to expect just such posture from Lorde.
God bless the honesty of Lorde. God bless her cult, god bless young talent both unbelievably popular and happily unrefined, god bless a crowd of kids far too enchanted to talk through the deep cuts. Maybe even bless the music industry for trusting her with her own songs, her own style, her own voice.
Lorde on a black and white stage, singing to other 17 year olds. Her words didn’t pass through fumbled nostalgia. The perspectives were neither borrowed nor bought.
This is her life and times. They relate to Lorde, and Lorde relates right back. We know we’re on each other’s team.
I chopped the articles up as much as I could to comply with the infringement rule, and bolded the important bits for those of us who don't want to read all the articles
Feel like going to the show now? Too bad - it's 100% sold out nationwide.
It is a triumph for her to be that successful and at the same time for most of us she displays a certain kind of awkwardness
This is what we call charisma, I mean every artist we discusses here, good or bad, have charisma but she has more than most of them, she is someone who will never have the elegance of a Beyoncé but could get in the future the same relevance as her and that's beautiful.
"The audience barely had time to scream with delight before the singer launched into “Team,” the showcase song of the night. If “Royals” seemed to crescendo in intensity, this song’s build dwarfed it, building to a fevered, sonically layered, sweeping opus."
well deserved 
