Lorde was the queen bee of Brooklyn last night at the Warsaw. It was her third sold out show in NYC, and the line into the Polish National Community Center was around the block. The word is out on Lorde, with buzz for her catchy song “Royals” everywhere from mall stores to Hot 97, driving a diverse and hungry crowd all the way to Greenpoint.
As soon as Lorde came to the stage, it was clear she is a rockstar. Her hair was larger than her small body, which was wrapped in a dramatic cape-dress and adorned with a closets worth bangles and rings. Her music may be witch-housey, but she was dressed like a literal witch in a house. As she danced and dramatically flipped her giant hair, it was clear that this look was working, and she was working it hard.
Lorde doesn’t have a lot of known material – just one album which relies heavily on songs released on the Royals EP. She played a few dreamy pop songs with long extended breakdowns to give her time with the crowd, and with some hair-flipping encouragement she brought everyone along.
But people really got into some of the more know pop songs. When she finally played “Tennis Courts”, the mostly female crowd sang along every word:
The other surprise crowd pleaser was “400 Lux”, which is a new song on her Pure Heroine album. The cute love song hit a chord with the young crowd, and the upbeat synths got everyone dancing.
She ended with her hit “Royals” at which point the light show and her dramatic (trademark?) hair flipping really came together.
Despite chanting and begging from the packed house, Lorde didn’t play an encore. Instead, the lights flipped on and everyone sadly shuffled out, still high from Lorde’s ethereal performance.
It’s easy to forget how young Lorde is on her album (17!!) and in concert she totally owns the stage. People were literally yelling out “We fucking love you” between songs. Anyone who was there has to acknowledge her rockstar resonance.
I will say that her band needs a little tightening up on some of the beat-driven songs. Backing tracks and reverb where used heavily, but that’s not surprise for a pop singer. Overall, her live show was fantastic, and as she grows vocally and sonically, it can only get better.
Be sure to get her album Pure Heroine.
