“I feel like I can touch you”: All the takeaways from Lorde’s intimate and electric Stockholm show

Earlier in the year, Lorde released her critically acclaimed fourth album 'Virgin', and after months of touring she finally touched down in Stockholm with her 'Ultrasound' Tour. It’s been eight years since the singer had her last solo show in Stockholm, so she was long overdue for a visit. Like in 2017, she chose to perform at Annexet, a markedly smaller venue than the rest of the tour.

Below are our biggest takeaways from the sold-out show.

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When the singer first announced her tour earlier this year, she focused on the elements that she had removed from the show. “Since last time I’ve been stripping away unnecessary layers, finding us more room to move”, she wrote in a press release about the new aesthetic tailored to fit her raw, new sound and vulnerable lyrics. But there is nothing lackluster about Lorde’s 'Ultrasound' tour, which includes techy visuals, an explosive light show and an electronic upgrade of her old hits.

Lorde herself has called it her masterpiece, and we have to agree – she has never before been more true to herself and her artistry.

After not being able to sell out arenas during her last two tours, Lorde opted for smaller venues this year – which instead has proven to be a major underestimate, leading her to having to add multiple dates. But despite being the smallest venue of the tour, Annexet in Stockholm had to make do with only one night, a rare opportunity for the 3400 people that were able to snag tickets to see the popstar up close and personal.

The intimate show certainly matched the theme of the show, which was to focus on the interaction between her and the audience. Lorde even spoke about how much she liked performing for such a small room. “This is a very beautiful, intimate room. I love this. I feel like I can touch you right at the back”, she said. A unique experience not very likely to happen again for an artist of her magnitude.

During the night, Lorde reminisced about her earlier visits to Sweden. First mentioning her set at the Lollapalooza festival in 2022 in Stockholm. She later divulged that her first visit to Stockholm was as a teen. “I think I was 17 when I first played in Stockholm, and I had never seen snow before when I first came here, it blew me away”. Sadly, Stockholm couldn’t offer her a winter wonderland this time around.

The New Zealander has previously spoken about frequent travels to Sweden to visit relatives. During a press visit in June, she noted that she feels understood here, and also shared her love of Swedish caviar.

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While the crowd appreciated the songs off of the latest album “Virgin”, it was actually the song “Green Light” from “Melodrama” that made the crowd go the most wild. But maybe that shouldn’t be a surprise, as Sweden is the home of the same type of euphoric and melancholic pop sound. Lorde has previously praised Swedish singer Tove Lo who is known for the same genre, and the two also worked together in 2017 on the song “Homemade Dynamite”.

At the end of the show, Lorde walks through the crowd and makes her way to a second, much smaller stage. There she performs “Ribs” for the encore, and if the crowd is lucky, she also adds another song. Unfortunately, she stuck to only one song, but made the experience truly unforgettable in the small venue as the entire crowd could gather around the stage.

If you lost out on tickets for the tour, both Swedes and Danes will have another chance at seeing 'Ultrasound' live next year. On August 14th, Lorde will play a set at Syd for Solen in Copenhagen. The next day, she will perform at Way Out West in Gothenburg, Sweden.