“You look hot from up here,” Lorde quipped as she surveyed the sea of people who packed her headlining set on Thursday at Lollapalooza in Chicago. The observation was seemingly about both the temperature (she asked security to check on folks in the audience who appeared to be struggling from the heat a few times) and the vibe, as the New Zealand musician peeled back layers, both metaphorically and literally, during her visceral set.
It’s been more than a decade since Lorde last fully graced a stage at Lollapalooza in Chicago. Back in 2014, the then-17-year-old was riding high on her megahit “Royals,” a rising star who looked every bit the comfortably chill teen backstage before her performance. And while she casually talked about being tapped curate The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 soundtrack and had set a record on the alternative chart with her breakthrough song, she already appeared headliner-ready, with her charisma and command of the stage.
She was set for the top of the bill in 2017, but torrential rains brought the fest to an early end and, after only a couple of songs, her show was cut short as the fest was evacuated.
On Thursday, she made her righteous return to that top spot, and it was a victory lap that was worth the wait. Her casual confidence was on display from the jump: She didn’t save her biggest hit for last, nor did she need to. Instead, she opened with “Royals,” which earlier this year joined the billion views club in YouTube views. Her set spanned all four of her records, with an emphasis on the cathartic reinvention found on her fourth LP, 2025’s Virgin.
Her performance was as much physical as it was emotional: For “Shapeshifter” she was on all fours, her lips kissed the mic throughout “Current Affairs,” “Oceanic Feeling” was met with Lorde dousing her face at a water fountain and stripping down to her bikini top, red lasers pierced through a black jacket she donned for “Man of the Year.” Festivals aren’t typically known as intimate settings, but the “witch from New Zealand,” as she at one point referred to herself, managed to conjure a feeling of closeness amidst tens of thousands of people singing and dancing along to her raw, vulnerable material.
Among the other highlights in a show filled with them were “Supercut,” “Green Light,” and “Girl, so Confusing” featuring an unannounced appearance from Charli XCX, who is headlining the festival on Friday.
Lorde moved into the crowd to a stage in the middle of the audience for the finale. “Let’s complete the circle from 2017 to 2014 to right now,” she said before completing her triumphant victory lap with the oldest song in her set, “Ribs.”
