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<\/picture><\/div>Lorde opened her ‘Ultrasound’ tour at the Moody Center in Austin on Sept. 17, 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/span>Ana Gutierrez \/ Austin American-Statesman<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n It\u2019s been over a decade since \u201cPure Heroine\u201d rewired the way teenage angst could sound on the radio, but on Wednesday night at the Moody Center,\u00a0Lorde proved she hasn\u2019t 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\u2019t just the songs that hit. It was the intensity, intimacy, and sheer weirdness of her stagecraft.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 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 \u201cSupercut,\u201d singing in Calvin Klein boxers, or encouraging thousands of strangers to scream \u201cThe Louvre\u201d at once, Lorde transformed the arena into a confessional space.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Here are the five best things we saw.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Japanese House performs at the Moody Center in Austin as one of Lorde’s openers on Sept. 15, 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/span>Ana Gutierrez \/ Austin American-Statesman<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Opener The Japanese House set the tone with crystalline vocals against a backdrop of a projected blue sky: dreamlike but grounded in brutal honesty.\u00a0 Amber\u00a0Bain dedicated \u201cBoyhood\u201d to the trans fans in the arena as rainbow lights drenched the pit, a rare and striking gesture for an opener. Songs like \u201c:)\u201d 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\u00a0Belton) to feel less alone. It was the kind of opener that made people Google the wrong band name (\u201cJapanese Breakfast\u201d) and leave as new converts anyway.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Lorde performs at the Moody Center in Austin on the opening night of her “Ultrasound” tour on Sept. 17, 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/span>Ana Gutierrez \/ Austin American-Statesman<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Lorde literally unbuttoned her jeans during \u201cCurrent Affairs\u201d 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 \u201cMan of the Year\u201d topless with duct tape across her chest. At one point, she told the crowd, \u201cAustin wants the real,\u201d and she seemed determined to match that demand with vulnerability. Watching her oscillate between fetal position on a lifted platform and androgynous \u201cGRWM\u201d energy was like witnessing someone test new versions of themselves in real time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Lorde doesn\u2019t just sing her discography. She reimagines it live. A giant fan roared to life during \u201cBuzzcut Season,\u201d a circle of lights trapped her like an apparition in \u201cShapeshifter,\u201d and she ran on a treadmill while belting \u201cSupercut\u201d like it was a marathon of a relationship gone wrong. Later, she lit a flare castaway-style during \u201cThe Louvre\u201d and opened her mouth to \u201ccatch\u201d a green beam of light during \u201cGreen Light.\u201d Even when the production was simple, like the blue wash of \u201cOceanic Feeling,\u201d it felt mythic \u2013 ritualistic, even.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Fans hold hands as Lorde performs at the Moody Center in Austin on Sept. 17, 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/span>Ana Gutierrez \/ Austin American-Statesman<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n 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, \u201cI\u2019ve never felt more alone, it feels so scary getting old.\u201d On \u201cTeam,\u201d strangers held hands; on \u201cWhat Was That,\u201d the floor throbbed like a house party. During \u201cRibs,\u201d she beckoned the crowd, bodies moving as if one organism. That shared nostalgia is Lorde\u2019s real superpower: reminding you of a self you didn\u2019t know you missed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n About halfway through the set, Lorde said her life\u2019s mission is to \u201ckeep revealing herself\u201d to the audience. And in Austin, she lived up to it. She told the crowd she\u2019d swum in Barton Springs, claimed the city \u201cwants the real,\u201d and leaned into imperfection. The vulnerability made even viral moments like \u201cMan of the Year\u201d and \u201cDavid\u201d (performed while walking into the pit, bathed in a vest of lights) land harder. She\u2019s no longer the detached teen who gave us \u201cRoyals.\u201d She\u2019s 27, bruised, playful, self-aware \u2014 and willing to let us watch her figure it out on stage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n1. The Japanese House’s queer communion<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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2. Lorde, raw and unbuttoned<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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3. Stagecraft that burned (and ran) bright<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
4. The crowd, from pit to nostalgic choir<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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5. Lorde\u2019s Austin mission statement: No more hiding<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n