LordeWe’re calling it: Lorde’s Ultrasound World Tour may be the best show of 2026 - the rest of the year be damned. Last night, the 29-year-old Kiwi star electrified a Brisbane Entertainment Centre audience during the first show of her Australian tour.
Despite the setlist being revealed in the days leading up to the debut Australian show, nothing could prepare punters for the Ultrasound World Tour, which officially kicked off in September of 2025. Lorde was last in Brisbane for her Solar Power Tour in 2022, and seemed genuinely thrilled and reflective about being back in Australia for another tour.
“My expectations were very high, Brisbane, and you have exceeded them. You are just incredible. I feel so lucky to be here. I have nothing but the best memories playing in Brisbane,” Lorde told the 13,000-plus fans who showed up with high energy on a Monday night, many of whom were wearing Lorde garb from her many eras.
“The first two times [playing in Brisbane], to be honest, I don’t have a lot of memories… my stage fright was so bad that I was just, you know, blacked out and gripping onto the microphone,” the Green Light hitmaker admitted. “But the last three times we have been here, each of those times was so exceptional. I have memories of you being so expressive and so generous and kind.”
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Lorde was joined on stage by two backing performers, with the male and female performers choreographing a piece that felt more like art or theatre than dancing. The performers often mirrored Lorde’s actions but also spun their own interpretive narratives, hinting at a connection to the singer’s most recent album, Virgin, and its exploration of gender fluidity.
The accompanying band were sunk into the stage so that you could only see their top halves, with Lorde jumping down onto their level at times throughout the show to sit with them, hug them and show them playing with the handheld camcorder.
A voice and talent like Lorde was always going to require a platform worthy of it, and the audiovisual component of the show was like nothing we had seen before.
The angles were ever-changing, showing Lorde from the front, side, back and top - not to mention herself and her backing performers using handheld camcorders to perform, creating an intimate, almost-homemade quality to the show. It felt distinctly unique and Gen Z, with the unpolished camerawork showing Lorde up close and personal.
From the moment the sonically jarring sounds erupted to signify that the show had started and Hammer had started, a single blue laser light sliced the stage in two as we searched the stage, wondering which side she would enter from. Lorde slowly ascended from beneath the stage, as her frozen pose cut a silhouette against the smoky, minimally lit stage with screams from her all-ages audience.
It was a treat to have Royals played as the second song, setting the pace for the show with old and new fans coming together to belt out this classic hit, many times letting the audience take the wheel and sing on Lorde’s behalf as she smiled out.
The chaos of Broken Glass changed the vibe again: the emotive song, written about Lorde’s relationship with eating disorders and complicated feelings about the mirror, was perfectly captured by the outrageous flashing lights and abrupt screen cuts, and by Lorde jumping up and down in her white tee and jeans.
Not known to be a dancer like other pop and indie-pop artists, Lorde brought her signature style and effortless cool as she moved with her music. What elicited the most cheers, perhaps, was when she slowly unbuckled her belt, the moment captured on the big screen as she pulled it out of its pants loops and through to the side of the stage.
In about four songs’ time, the jeans were discarded, leaving Lorde in a pair of grey Calvin Klein underwear. As the show progressed, Lorde would put her jeans back on and take off her tee to reveal the iconic look of duct tape over her breasts, for Man of the Year, as she sported in the music video.
Buzzcut Season was a haunting performance with an industrial-sized fan on the left side of the stage positioned for Lorde to sing into, creating a front-on visual on the screens of her singing through the fan. Lorde captured behind the steel of the fan felt symbolic of the song's greater meaning about feeling overwhelmed by the world's chaos and not feeling like it’s really happening.
Current Affairs was a standout, with Lorde inviting her male stage performer to join her, as she pulled her shirt and he poured water on her bare stomach, which had glitter around her navel.
“I thought of this song in the shower, and so now when I sing it - I got to be wet,” she shared. The dancer then shot the entire song from up close on his knees, capturing Lorde’s stomach and upper body as they moved around each other, creating a 360-degree view. It was a more sensual side to Lorde than we have seen on previous tours, and an apt reflection of Virgin and of where she is as an artist.
Everyone was on their feet for Supercut, and there was so much happening on the stage that it was hard to know where to look and what would unfold next.
The song opened with Lorde lying on her back at the front of the stage, an invisible camera mere inches from her face projecting her image horizontally and up close on the screen. Behind her, a scene showed the female performer on a treadmill, apparently moving away from the male performer.
They switched positions, and then the song came to a close with Lorde on the treadmill, striding strong before breaking into a run. Visually, there was so much depth with the choice of camerawork and what the screens showed us, making it feel like this show was as much art as it was a concert.
Lorde ended on a high note with Green Light, an enduring classic from her 2017 Melodrama album and the last official song before the encore. With white confetti marking the near end of the show, Green Light turned things up a notch, and Lorde seemed to be joyful and more energetic in this penultimate moment of the show. Every time the chorus would play, the Entertainment Centre was bathed in a green light as she bounced around on stage.
“I have literally never had a bad show in Brisbane. You may already know this, but I like to write songs about the archetypal feelings of life… feelings we all experience at one point or another,” she explained. “These feelings can get heavy or deep, but my absolute favourite feeling to write about is the feeling of having a huge fucking crush on somebody.”
Lorde was grateful and reflective during the show, acknowledging more than once that she appreciates the continued support of her fans. “A few years have gone by, we see each other every three or four years, and I would never presume you still give a shit. But I am very grateful you do,” she said.
“I think about all the different versions of me that have sat here on stage in front of you, Brisbane, and I think about all the versions of you who have shown up to see me sit on stage. The fact that you have chosen my songs to power your memories and emotions… they’re safe here with us. I promise I will keep coming back to Brisbane for as long as you will have me.”
The Ultrasound World Tour is not one to miss, and the tour continues on Wednesday in Sydney.
Upcoming Ultrasound World Tour shows
Sydney, Qudos Bank Arena - 18-19th February
Melbourne, Rod Laver Arena - 21-22 February
Perth, RAC Arena - 25 February
