Music Reviews

Lorde Live @ Brighton Centre

Coming off the back of touring some of the top festivals in the world, Lorde brought her Melodrama World Tour to a sold out crowd at the Brighton Centre.

Before taking to the stage for her headline appearance, the crowd were treated to a slick opening set from recent MTV Best New Artist award winner Khalid. Performing his breakout hits Young, Dumb & Broke and Location, Khalid was energetic and demanded the full attention of the crowd. By the time Lorde came on to perform, the Brighton Centre was already buzzing with an atmosphere you would expect after an hour into a headlining set.

“Transported the crowd back to the song’s initial release”

Arriving onto the stage in a black witch-inspired ensemble, Lorde opened with her collaboration with English DJs, Disclosure, titled ‘Magnets’. With the crowd already energised, she threw her all into the song and transported the crowd back to the song’s initial release almost two years to the day.

Illuminated by the MELODRAMA sign that ascended above the stage, Lorde performed hits from her critically acclaimed debut album Pure Heroine, with ‘Tennis Court’, ‘Buzzcut Season’ and ‘Ribs’ all making an appearance. Although released 4 years ago, the songs retained their initial impact and satisfied the fans that have been supporting her since her first performances at only 16 years old.

After performing Melodrama standouts ‘Sober’ and ‘The Louvre’, Lorde faded off stage for an outfit change. Whilst away, the stage plunged into darkness and an old television illuminated the crowd with videos of Lorde filmed on a vintage camera. An audio of Lorde reciting poetry and song lyrics played over the images, creating an effective contrast to an otherwise base-heavy and high energy set list.

“Lyrically her music is sharp and witty”

In-between performing her hits, Lorde took the time to converse with the crowd and exclaimed how she was ‘so thrilled to be in the seaside town of Brighton’ and how she is always shocked when she visits a new place and realises how far her music has travelled around the world. It’s easy to forget that Lorde, who David Bowie once referred to as the future of music, is only 20 years old. Lyrically her music is sharp and witty, whilst her live performances feel like a throwback to the eclectic performances of other female artists before her with critics often comparing her to that of a young Kate Bush.

“The crowd felt more like the dance floor”

After an emotionally driven performance of ‘Liability’ Lorde delivered a surprise haunting rendition of Phil Collins’ iconic ‘In the air tonight’. Stood in a white lace dress paired with some staple Adidas Stan Smiths, she sent jaws dropping with the acoustic cover and proved anyone wrong who may have had doubts about her vocal prowess. Once finished with her softer songs, Lorde kicked into a finale of some of her more commercially successful songs ‘Royals’ and ‘Perfect Places’. By now, the crowd felt more like the dance floor of the parties that she said influenced the themes explored in Melodrama. With confetti cannons and strobe lighting, Lorde finished her set with a rousing performance of pre-drink anthem ‘Greenlight’ and ordered the crowd “to go wild and dance like crazy”.

The show was a euphoric insight into the diary of a young woman whose musical ability far exceeds the short years she has been performing. As the crowd made its way out of the Brighton Centre it was clear that this would most likely be the last time to see Lorde in a smaller setting before she inevitably fills arenas around the globe in years to come.

Lewis Goodger

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Image courtesy of The Brighton Centre Official Website.
Live images courtesy of Lewis Goodger

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