5 best moments from first show

It’s been over a decade since “Pure Heroine” rewired the way teenage angst could sound on the radio, but on Wednesday night at the Moody Center, Lorde proved she hasn’t lost her grip on the collective sad-girl psyche. The New Zealand star kicked off the first show of her Ultrasound Tour in Austin with a setlist stacked across her three albums, but it wasn’t just the songs that hit. It was the intensity, intimacy, and sheer weirdness of her stagecraft.

For a pop artist whose fans age with her, this tour feels less like a victory lap and more like a live diary cracked open. Whether running on a treadmill while belting “Supercut,” singing in Calvin Klein boxers, or encouraging thousands of strangers to scream “The Louvre” at once, Lorde transformed the arena into a confessional space. 

Here are the five best things we saw.

Opener The Japanese House set the tone with crystalline vocals against a backdrop of a projected blue sky: dreamlike but grounded in brutal honesty.  Amber Bain dedicated “Boyhood” to the trans fans in the arena as rainbow lights drenched the pit, a rare and striking gesture for an opener. Songs like “:)” became little dispatches from queer long-distance relationships, resonating in a city where plenty of kids drive in from smaller towns (shoutout to my seat neighbors from Belton) to feel less alone. It was the kind of opener that made people Google the wrong band name (“Japanese Breakfast”) and leave as new converts anyway.

Lorde literally unbuttoned her jeans during “Current Affairs” to reveal a pair of gray Calvin Klein boxers, finishing the song in nothing but a red shirt and underwear. Later, she stripped down even further, performing “Man of the Year” topless with duct tape across her chest. At one point, she told the crowd, “Austin wants the real,” and she seemed determined to match that demand with vulnerability. Watching her oscillate between fetal position on a lifted platform and androgynous “GRWM” energy was like witnessing someone test new versions of themselves in real time.

Lorde doesn’t just sing her discography. She reimagines it live. A giant fan roared to life during “Buzzcut Season,” a circle of lights trapped her like an apparition in “Shapeshifter,” and she ran on a treadmill while belting “Supercut” like it was a marathon of a relationship gone wrong. Later, she lit a flare castaway-style during “The Louvre” and opened her mouth to “catch” a green beam of light during “Green Light.” Even when the production was simple, like the blue wash of “Oceanic Feeling,” it felt mythic – ritualistic, even.

The pit was a youthquake: college kids and high schoolers swaying in unison, while the rest of the arena felt a little grayer, aging alongside their heroine. But when the big choruses hit, everyone screamed like they were 17 again, “I’ve never felt more alone, it feels so scary getting old.” On “Team,” strangers held hands; on “What Was That,” the floor throbbed like a house party. During “Ribs,” she beckoned the crowd, bodies moving as if one organism. That shared nostalgia is Lorde’s real superpower: reminding you of a self you didn’t know you missed.

About halfway through the set, Lorde said her life’s mission is to “keep revealing herself” to the audience. And in Austin, she lived up to it. She told the crowd she’d swum in Barton Springs, claimed the city “wants the real,” and leaned into imperfection. The vulnerability made even viral moments like “Man of the Year” and “David” (performed while walking into the pit, bathed in a vest of lights) land harder. She’s no longer the detached teen who gave us “Royals.” She’s 27, bruised, playful, self-aware — and willing to let us watch her figure it out on stage.

These are the songs Lorde sang in chronological order for her Austin show on Sept. 17. 

1. “Hammer”
2. “Royals”
3. “Broken Glass”
4.  “Buzzcut Season”
5.  “Favourite Daughter”
6.  “Perfect Places”
7.  “Shapeshifter”
8.  “Current Affairs”
9.  “Supercut”
10.  “Hard Feelings/Loveless”
11.  “GRWM”
12.  “The Louvre”
13.  “Oceanic Feeling”
14.  “Big Star”
15.  “Liability”
16.  “Clearblue”
17.  “Man of the Year”
18.  “If She Could See Me Now”
19.  “Team”
20.  “What Was That”
21.  “Green Light”
22.  “David”
23.  “Ribs”