Editor’s Note: This article is a review and includes subjective thoughts, opinions and critiques.
Lorde wanted her Ultrasound World Tour to be risky, even potentially controversial. In an intimate moment between songs, she told fans the tour was in honor of “living on the edge.” Her performance at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley on Sunday was exactly that. Carefully curated to enhance this vision, each of her songs were cohesive, moving and deeply introspective.
Lorde’s artistry and portrayal of primal emotions coalesced at her Greek Theatre concert. (Photo: CHRIS PROCACCINO/The Stanford Daily)
The singer embarked on the Ultrasound World Tour in September in support of her latest studio album, “Virgin.” The album was released on June 27 to mostly positive reviews from fans and music critics, who commended Lorde’s songwriting. Prior to the album’s release, she shared it was her attempt to “make a document” of her femininity: “raw, primal, innocent, elegant, openhearted, spiritual, masc.”
These themes were palpable at every moment of the concert. Costume changes were minimal but provocative and well-executed. Lorde performed in a duct-tape binder during “Man of the Year,” a song that explores the masculine side of her gender identity. And for “Current Affairs,” the singer kicked off her jeans and stripped to her Calvin Klein underwear, sparking deafening cheers from the audience. As she removed clothing, she revealed her body was partially painted in chrome, her knees and shoulders silver-kissed, her fingernails messily coated in polish.
This 22nd night of her tour was special — of course for the audience, but for Lorde as well. She remarked that the concert was a full circle moment for her. Prior to a piano-laden performance of “Liability,” she reminisced on her inaugural concert tour. “I have a very vivid memory of performing here for the first time,” she said. “When we were booking this tour, I had literally one request. I said, ‘Could we play the Greek?’”
On Sunday, she returned to the same venue, despite it being significantly smaller than the other ones she booked for this tour. And now, she has a wildly successful career to look back on, with four top-five albums in the U.S. since her debut. Lorde told the audience, “The older I get, I think it’s really important to come full circle with certain moments of life, to revisit something that happened 10 or 12 years ago and feel what is the same and what is different.”
In the spirit of reflecting on her career, the night was filled with some of her greatest hits. A minimalistic performance of “Royals” was reminiscent of her days as a burgeoning teenage artist, and the crowd went wild for an energetic rendition of “Green Light.” Cryptic lines of code on the screen accompanied the singer’s emotional vocals on “What Was That,” the lead single from “Virgin.” And she took to a treadmill to perform a heartfelt rendition of “Supercut,” reminiscing on a lost love.
Lorde’s emotionally charged performance made use of props such as a working treadmill on stage. (Photo: CHRIS PROCACCINO/The Stanford Daily)
The deeper cuts from “Virgin” were just as impactful. She performed every track on the record, including an a capella performance of “Clearblue” augmented by a vocoder and electrifying renditions of “Broken Glass” and “Favorite Daughter.”
But she wasn’t immune to concert kerfuffles — occasional musical pauses and crowd control issues plagued the evening. Perhaps the biggest missed opportunity was her selections from “Solar Power,” the singer’s third album which she released in 2021 to a polarized response. She played two undeniable gut punches: “Oceanic Feeling” and “Big Star.” Although her picks were moving, they felt like a lull sandwiched between more electric performances from her dance-pop efforts on “Melodrama” and “Virgin.” She acknowledged on stage that these were risky choices, but they still managed to feel disjointed.
By the end of the concert, the performance picked up once again. Lorde donned a luminescent jacket and walked slowly among the stands, literally emitting a ball of light as she sang “David.” To close the show, she asked everybody to hold hands as she belted “Ribs” from the center of the audience. The song hit just as hard as it did 12 years ago.
The night was simultaneously a stunning recognition of personal success and a moment of rebirth. For an artist who has been incredibly successful in the industry for 13 years, the performance felt like a daring breath of fresh air for her and everyone in the audience.