Lorde may be in a sophomore slump with 'Melodrama' but the tour suggest a prosperous career

Lorde was all of 16 when she took the world by storm with “Royals,” a career-defining breakthrough hit that spent nine weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 on its way to going 10-times-platinum and picking up Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards.

She’s 21 now, headlining U.S. arenas on the Melodrama World Tour, which shares a name with one of last year’s more acclaimed releases, a sophomore album titled “Melodrama.”

And there was no shortage of drama at Gila River Arena as the singer made her way through every track on that new album and the first six songs on her debut, “Pure Heroine.”

There was also a well-chosen cover of Frank Ocean’s “Solo” and Disclosure’s “Magnets,” which featured Lorde on vocals.

It’s a fairly massive venue, but that didn’t make her performance feel any less intimate.

Nice to see you again, Glendale

Her music thrives on making a connection with the audience. And Friday night, it did just that, in part because the emotions she wears on her sleeve are so relatable and in part because she does her best to nurture that connection.

In one of the concert's more powerful moments, she handed off the chorus of the Bowiesque piano ballad "Liability," the emotional highlight of her latest album, to the audience to sing about feeling alone together.

And she paired it beautifully with Ocean's "Solo" in a stripped-down three-song interlude of piano songs that started strong with "Writer in the Dark," which had fans holding cellphones in the air.

That’s not to say she skimped on the arena-sized theatrics. Interpretive dancers acted out the songs, often performing inside a rectangular box with transparent walls that spent a good part of the set suspended from the ceiling.

And this was not your typical arena choreography, arriving at an artful blend of modern dance, performance art and classical ballet.

Early this year, Lorde herself tweeted “Truly this show is high theatre," promising to "blow your mind," "expand your heart" and "change your life."

The show began with "Sober," Lorde performing in the dark, behind her dancers, for the first part of the song before finally stepping out into the light (unlike her touring musicians, who never emerged from the shadows).

"I'm excited to dance tonight, Glendale," she said after throwing herself into doing just that to the beat of "Homemade Dynamite," her second song.

"It's been a while since we were here" she said, recalling the show she performed at Comerica Theatre in 2014, between Coachella weekends.

"Who was at the show?," she asked, responding to the cheers with, "Hello, nice to see you again."

She proved a very chatty, personable presence, frequently mentioning Glendale. And although I have no doubt that she found lovely things to say to Sacremento, too, there's a realness to Lorde that can't be faked.

'Is it the weekend?'

Four songs in, after "Magnets," she said, "I've gotta say, there is a very nice vibe in this room right now. Not all the crowds are the same. You know you get some crowds with different energies, but this is really nice. What day is it today? Is it the weekend?"

Informed by fans that yes, it was, in fact, a Friday night, she shouted "Oh my God. This changes everything, Glendale. I never know what day of the week it is when I'm touring. It's impossible to know. But Fridays are special."

As she launched into "Buzzcut Season," the box made its first appearance, emerging from beneath the stage.

After "400 Lux" ("for the kids in the suburbs") and "Ribs" ("about growing up"), she stepped inside the box and changed her costume as though she wasn't being seen by several thousand fans, an intriguingly vulnerable moment (of which there were many).

Having switched into a flowing gown, she sang "The Louvre," a song about a love so great, "They'll hang us in the Louvre / Down the back but who cares? / Still the Louvre."

If that song featured Lorde at her most playful, the ballad that followed, "Hard Feelings," was drawn from the opposite end of the emotional spectrum.

As Lorde introduced it, it's "a song about that very specific phenomenon where you break up with somebody, you have the conversation, and it's very painful... and then you just sit there for a moment because you know when you get up and leave, you've got to commit to it, right?"

It was among the show's more emotional moments, followed by a very soulful "Yellow Flicker Beat."

'This is Angelica's hometown'

And then it was time for another check-in with Glendale.

"How are you doing out there, Glendale?" she asked. "I feel like it's been such a while since I was you. What have you been up to? Who have you got a crush on?"

It was the most endearing moment of a show with no shortage of those. Then, she announced that Angelica, one of her dancers, was from the Valley.

"I know Angelica's folks haven't seen her perform in a while," she said. "And they're here tonight. This is Angelica's hometown. So thank you for letting us have Angelica, wherever you are. We love her."

Then, she turned her attention back to the vibe in the room.

"I feel like I know you super well," she said. "I don't know why that is, but it feels like you know me.... And it's just mind-blowing to me that in Glendale there's a room of people who want to hang out with me on a Friday night. It's insane to me. It sounds like you would just get used to it, but I have not got used to it. It is wonderful and I am so grateful that you see me and you know who I am and you show up. Thank you."

That led to the intimate set of piano songs that peaked with "Liability."

Then, it was back into the drama with a synth-heavy "Sober II (Melodrama)." That gave way to the pulsating disco beat of "Supercut," which featured a grittier vocal performance than most of the songs as it built to a climax.

'Oh Glendale, thank you so much!!'

Her breakthrough single needs no introduction, so she kept it brief. "You gonna sing this one with me, Glendale?," she asked.

"Royals" naturally touched off the concert's most spirited audience singalong yet. And she kept the momentum going with the rousing, gospel-flavored choruses of "Perfect Places," which ended in a suitably dramatic "What the f--k are perfect places anyway?"

Well, there's Glendale, for instance.

"Oh Glendale, thank you so much!!" she shouted. "Thank you for spending your Friday night with me. It means everything."

Then she brought the set to a euphoric climax with the throbbing house beat of her latest album's biggest single, "Green Light," ending in a shower of star-shaped confetti.

The three-song encore started with Lorde alone on stage doing "Loveless" and "Precious Metals," an unreleased track, before signing off with the anthemic chorus of "Team," the audience singing along with "And you know we're on each other's team."

Tove Styrke

The concert began with an opening set by Swedish electropop singer Tove Styrke, an energetic presence whose set included such obvious highlights as the reggae-flavored "Borderline," "Mistakes," a sexy "On the Low" and "Say My Name."

Her well-received performance may have peaked for many in the crowd, though, with "a cover of one of my favorite songs in the entire world," as she set up a synth-driven reboot of Lorde's "Liability."

Run the Jewels: Your drunken cousins

Even with the Lorde song, Styrke would have to strike most people as a far more compatible fit than the next act, Run the Jewels. They are the hardest-hitting hip-hop duo in the business, after all.

Killer Mike and El-P strolled on stage as the DJ played "We Are the Champions," and proceeded to prove why the champions title applies on such powerful highlights as "Legend Has It," "Blockbuster Night Part I," "Nobody Speak" and "Close Your Eyes (And Count to F--k)."

At one point, El-P joked that Lorde fans might do well to view them as "the drunken cousins that weren't actually invited to the wedding but were s--tfaced and they came to hang the f--k out and by the end of the wedding you're gonna be best friends with your drunken cousins."

And that's pretty much exactly how they came across, rocking the mic with conviction and swagger but also clearly enjoying themselves while slinging rapid-fire rhymes with real intensity.

They reminisced about an early Crescent Ballroom gig, where Killer Mike said, "You guys let us know we were a real group."

After bringing the set to a furious climax with "Close Your Eyes (And Count to F--k)," they signed off on a heartfelt note with "Thursday in the Danger Room" (which El-P dedicated to "everyone who had some in their life who didn't make it to 2018") and "Down."

Killer Mike set up that last one with a story about the time his mother tried to kill herself in front of him and his sisters.

"Sometimes life can hit you square in your ass and you feel like it's over," he said. "And when you're young, high school and college, it feels more intense. So if I really were your cousin today, as your big cousin, what I would tell you is 'F--k that s--t, don't die. Suicide is not worth it. We love you. We love you. We love you. You're gonna have a down day sometimes, but I promise you, tomorrow is better."

Lorde setlist

Sober

Homemade Dynamite

Tennis Court

Magnets

Buzzcut Season

400 Lux

Ribs

The Louvre

Hard Feelings

Yellow Flicker Beat

Writer in the Dark

Solo

Liability

Sober II (Melodrama)

Supercut

Royals

Perfect Places

Green Light

ENCORE

Loveless

Precious Metals

Team

Run the Jewels setlist

We Are the Champions

Run the Jewels

Legend Has It

Call Ticketron

Blockbuster Night Part I

Oh My Darling Don’t Cry

Stay Gold

Don’t Get Captured

Nobody Speak

Close Your Eyes (And Count to F--k)

A Report to the Shareholders

Thursday in the Danger Room

Down

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