“Baby, What Was That?”: A Review of Lorde’s Ultrasound Tour
Gray Gailey ’27 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
Everything you have heard about Lorde’s Ultrasound Tour is true. Yes, she sings on a treadmill. Yes, she strips down to her briefs. And yes, she walks through the crowd, adorned in LED lights, as if walking towards a baptism.
She is, in the words of the singer herself, “wild and fluorescent.”
Lorde’s Boston stop commenced with performances from British artists The Japanese House and Blood Orange. The Japanese House set the mood with atmospheric pop, and Blood Orange followed with a set that came across more discordant than dreamy, yet the crowd met their performance with loud cheers. The openers may have catered to different types of fans, but they both fit the Lorde vibe perfectly.
When Lorde—birth name Ella Mairja Lani Yelich O’Connor—finally emerged in a faded tee and a pair of ripped blue jeans, she greeted the crowd like an old friend.
“It’s been a while; I have so much to catch you up on…” said the singer.
From the start, the show felt raw, real, and jam-packed with emotion. On the stage was Lorde and no more than four backup dancers, who moved (rather than danced) across the stage. They encircled the New Zealand singer, running to and from each other, careful not to take focus away from the main act, who rose and fell with the music. She still dances like a teenager, uninhibited, the lyrics seeming to make their way directly through her body.
“I’m 19 and I’m on fire / But when we’re dancing, I’m alright.”
At times, lasers appeared to form shackles around her ankles, perhaps suggesting entrapment, her music the release. Dancers followed Lorde with handheld cameras, projecting close-ups of the singer’s abs, face, and legs onto the big screen. During her fourth song, “Buzzcut Season,” Lorde gyrated on a large fan.
“It was… messy and unglamorous, in the best way possible,” said one fan. In a world where artists are using pyrotechnics, flipping onto stages, and learning complex choreography, Lorde’s on-stage unraveling is refreshing and immensely intimate. That sense of intimacy was a theme throughout the night; in an arena of 19,000 people, there was a remarkable sense of closeness.
“It’s incredible this many people have enough in common to spend one night here together… It’s harder and harder to have a lot in common for a lot of people,” the singer told the crowd. “Soak in this feeling…”
The setlist was a blend of classics and songs from her latest album, Virgin. In what felt like the climax of the night, Lorde performed one of these new songs, “Man of the Year,” and duct-taped her chest onstage, recreating her iconic look from the single cover. The camera captured her every move in glitchy, close-up shots. It wasn’t about provocation; it was about autonomy. Right then and there, she claimed her identity, in song, with tens of thousands of her closest friends watching.
The night ended with a surprise song (“A World Alone”) and “Ribs,” both fan favorites from Lorde’s debut album, Pure Heroine. The singer performed from a small platform directly behind the pit. As the last notes faded out and fans tried to catch their breath, Lorde reached toward a laser beam, grazing it gently, until it disappeared.
For fans who have grown up alongside her music, Lorde’s concert was a reflection of her growth—and their own. One fan commented that it felt like being 19 again.
“Lorde’s songs so perfectly capture the rush and the agony of being a teen. [The concert] felt like one giant slumber party.”
Baring all, both physically and emotionally, “Lorde” became Ella again—just that teenage girl from New Zealand who somehow made us feel so seen.