Lorde | 03.20.14

Then her confetti machine exploded, and little Lorde heads fell from the sky.

 

Peabody Opera House, St. Louis

The first thing one thinks about when they hear the words “Lorde concert” is her strange performance at The Grammy’s. At least, that was my first thought. I walked into this concert not knowing what to expect, but her Grammy performance made me slightly less excited than the average.

This was my first concert at Peabody Opera House, and I must say, it was quite beautiful! It also happened to be the first concert I’ve been to that started exactly on time, which is something I’ll never take for granted again. I knew this was not a place for Lorde to repeat her Grammy performance, so I opened my eyes to experience her live.

The show started off with Lo Fang, a multi-tooled Baltimore native with a two-man band behind him. The first song began with a slow guitar riff, and you could tell the crowd already knew them. His raspy voice sounded lovely bouncing off the Peabody’s walls as well. Once that song was over, he pulled out a violin – again, multi-tooled. I must say, seeing a violin with a live, almost rock band, does not seem like it belongs, but they made it sound wonderful. Classical rock is what I would attempt to categorize this band as. His voice, on the other hand, was a combination of James Blake, Sampha, and John Meyer type, with a unique twist. Words probably don’t even do this group justice, so I highly advise checking out more of their music whenever you get the time.

Lorde came on stage at exactly 10:00 p.m. with an all-black background that made me fear a Grammy’s relapse. She looked as normal as an all-black get-up can get. She also announced this was her first appearance in St. Louis, which made me happy to be in attendance. She began her set with the song “Glory and Gore” off her Pure Heroine album. During her performance, she proceeded in the jagged dance movements that I feared would accompany her. By the end of the show, I grew to enjoy it, though, and giggle at it, so I guess it wasn’t that bad.

She performed all the tracks on her Pure Heroine album and a few from The Love Club EP. My favorite song she performed was her cover of Son Lux ‘s “Easy.” It was the most exciting song; although, it only contained about seven other words. It became an explosion of energy and lights that drove my energy to an even higher level.

Another standout moment was her introduction to “Ribs,” at which point she shared her reasoning for creating that song, her music, and her fear of growing older. “Royal’s” was performed with the necessary crown images in the background, and during “Team” there was a slight super crunk break with just the drummer and keyboarder going crazy. She reappeared in a shimmering gold robe reminding me of an Elvis costume. Then her confetti machine exploded, and little Lorde heads fell from the sky.

Her final song was “A World Alone,” and unfortunately the crowd’s “Encore!” cheer did not reach farther than my little area, so that was the end of the show. I really did enjoy myself, from the energy of the people standing next to me, to the little Lorde heads that plastered our chairs at the end of the show. I give it 5 stars and an album purchase. | Alexy Irving

Setlist:

Glory and Gore

Biting Down

Tennis Court

White Teeth Teens

Buzzcut Season

Swingin’ Party

Still Sane

400 Lux

Bravado

Easy

Ribs

Royals

Team

A World Alone