By DJ Ratz
An icy blue laser hits center stage as smoke machines cloud the air. Lorde, in all her holiness, appears as “Hammer”, the first track off her latest album, Virgin, blasts through the speakers. The reverbed vocal sample sounds like an ultrasound machine, which is fitting for her extensive Ultrasound World Tour. Halfway through her current tour, I saw Lorde perform in Portland at the Moda Center.
I missed the first opener, Empress Of, but got my seats in time to see The Japanese House rock out. Their set was short, but they played hits like “Touching Yourself” and “Sunshine Baby”.
I enjoyed Lorde’s latest release Virgin, but am more invested in her older work, like Pure Heroine and Melodrama. This concert, however, brought me into the world of Virgin and proved to me that she has made another solid body of work. I was immersed in the visuals of code and wires, treadmills and strobe lights. Pared down and vulnerable, Virgin as a concept seemed much more urgent than I had realized, with themes of motherhood and the consistent worries of growing up.
I’m a sucker for a ballad but prefer more upbeat songs at live events, and was not disappointed when the sound system and set list choices kept the crowd in high energy for the duration of the show. Even slower songs like “Clearblue” and “Liability” had set components like voice modulation and a rising miniature stage to pull the audience in.
Nostalgic as ever, Lorde and her live performance have a sense that it’s always time to dance. With a diverse crowd of young tweens with their parents, kids like me in college who grew up with Royals on the radio, and groups of adults tapping into a younger self, the crowd responded to every word she spoke.
I didn’t know it then, but the tickets I was able to score were right in front of the second stage, where she performed the encore of “A World Alone” and “Ribs”. Seeing her reach her hand to split the laser beams above her head as the immortalized lyrics of “Ribs” chanted throughout the crowd solidified this concert as one of the best shows I’ve attended.
