\n\tNine years after Lorde<\/a> last played the Governor\u2019s Ball in New York City, the New Zealand native returned Friday (June 5) to close out night one of the 2026 festival. And with the time she had on the main stage, she chose to deliver a powerful set that both expanded her Virgin <\/em>universe and, more importantly, reminded her fans just how much they\u2019re worth in her eyes. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tExplore\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n\tEver the unorthodox pop star, Lorde kicked off the program by seemingly debuting a snippet of an unreleased song. While manning a scratchy synth board to the side of the stage, she sang, \u201cDon\u2019t look for me now that I\u2019m gone\/ Don\u2019t look for me, I\u2019m gone.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWith that self-possessed energy locked in, she went on to play some of the boldest tracks in her discography back to back, starting with Billboard Hot 100<\/a> No. 1 hit \u201cRoyals\u201d and Virgin <\/em>lead single \u201cWhat Was That.\u201d Her latest headlining performance comes just a few weeks shy of the one-year anniversary of Virgin<\/em>, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200<\/a> last summer \u2014 but while she\u2019s spent the past several months on the Ultrasound World Tour in support of the project, this marked the first time she\u2019s played a revamped festival version of the show.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThis is the most nervous I\u2019ve been for a show in a while,\u201d she confessed to the crowd midway through. \u201cPartly because we\u2019ve never done this show before, and partly because I\u2019m obsessed with you, and I can\u2019t even pretend that isn\u2019t the case.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tThe overall unvarnished, techy, raw-materials aesthetic of the show was still very much Virgin<\/em>-coded, but all four of her albums got their moments throughout the night. Solar Power <\/em>was the least represented, with Lorde playing only \u201cOceanic Feeling\u201d from the project after running her hands through a drinking-water fountain. Live footage of her singing from creative angles captured by hidden and handheld cameras all over her stage projected on the big screens behind her during Pure Heroine <\/em>classics such as \u201cBuzzcut Season\u201d and \u201cTeam\u201d and Melodrama <\/em>fan-favorites \u201cPerfect Places,\u201d \u201cThe Louvre\u201d and \u201cLiability.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cDon\u2019t you feel like so much has changed in the last nine years?\u201d Lorde told the crowd before diving into the latter, reflecting on how she last played Gov Ball when she was promoting Melodrama<\/em>. \u201cTo me, the world is unrecognizable compared to where we were in 2017 \u2026 There\u2019s a loss of dignity that I feel. Our world feels increasingly unjust. And it feels harder and harder to arrive at your own definitions of beauty and truth and what is real. But I really feel this is real, all of us in this field.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAt that point, she urged fans to \u201cshow yourself\u201d to the world, or in other words, let their real personalities \u201chang out.\u201d \u201cIf we show ourselves \u2014 all the broken bits, all the jagged edges, all the filth \u2014 I really believe we will start f\u2013king going somewhere,\u201d she added earnestly.<\/p>\n \n\tPossibly the best two-song run of the set was \u201cMan of the Year\u201d followed by \u201cGirl, So Confusing,\u201d the 2024 Charli xcx remix that reunited the two pop savants after personal tensions divided them. (No, Charli did not make a cameo in NYC, with Lorde flying solo on their duet.) While the first track delves into Lorde\u2019s embrace of masculinity, the second \u2014 which Lorde did not perform on the main Ultrasound trek \u2014 is all about her complicated relationship with femininity, making the pairing a perfect juxtaposition. <\/p>\n \n\tBut by the end, Lorde made sure to turn the focus back on her audience. Her penultimate number was \u201cDavid,\u201d which she dedicated to \u201canyone who knows what it\u2019s like to be under a boot.\u201d As she sang, an enormous banner unfurled over the crowd for fans to hold onto together, literally unified under the mantra: \u201cI don\u2019t belong to anyone,\u201d which big-screen footage from birds-eye cameras in the sky revealed to be printed on the fabric.<\/p>\n \n\tTo close out the show, Lorde traveled to a B-stage deep in the crowd to belt out \u201cRibs,\u201d far enough away from the stage for her to be able to turn around and watch her own fireworks go off in the background. \u201cLook after each other,\u201d she urged the audience in her final message of the night. \u201cLet\u2019s go Knicks.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe musician will presumably continue playing the revamped show on her upcoming festival stops this summer, including All Things Go in Toronto on Sunday (June 7) and Mad Cool Festival in Spain, NOS Alive in Portugal and Festival de N\u00eemes in France in July. The first night of Gov Ball also featured sets from Baby Keem, KATSEYE and Pierce the Veil, with Stray Kids and A$AP Rocky set to headline Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n \n\tSee Lorde\u2019s setlist at the 2026 Governor\u2019s Ball below. <\/p>\n\n
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