Live Review: Lorde, Oliver Tank

Oliver Tank plays to a sizable crowd, and our anticipation is palpable as his wide-synth, '80s-tinged tunes wash over us. Ta-Ku assisted single Different Speed and a gorgeous cover of Snoop Dogg and Pharrell's Beautiful bring Tank's set home before he politely bows his way off stage. A very well chosen support act. 

The rapidly growing audience is brimming with excitement as showtime edges near. There's an energy in the air, because everyone knows what they're about to see could be something special: a young artist on the cusp of defining a sound, a year, a moment in time. Lorde appears and you can't help but draw a breath. So much is written about this young chanteuse, that for a minute it's easy to trick yourself into believing you're about to see an established artist, basking in legend status. When you remember that she's barely out of the gate, it's even more exciting.

She opens with Bravado, the first cut off The Love Club EP. The sparse instrumentals allow her to really flex her vocals, proving to an already adoring crowd that she indeed has the live pipes to live up to the hype. Biting Down and Glory And Gore follow, and this is where Lorde really gets to define herself as an artist. There's something manic, frantic and almost hellish about the way she twists and twitches to the beat, with hand gestures and a straight-outta-The Craft outfit that make her appear almost witchy. Next is Tennis Court, which provides lighter fare and is the first real singalong tonight. The second cover of the evening, Kanye West's Hold My Liquor is delivered perfectly, or as perfectly as a song about a man so flawed can be. Her cover is guttural and raw, and completely without the pretension and sense of irony that goes hand in hand with most hip hop-covers-by-an-indie-artist. A few songs later, Royals provides the evening's overwhelming peak. As Lorde stalks the stage with her mane of curls falling in her face, the captivated audience scream the words to this number one Billboard smash back to her, an experience that must be absolutely mind-boggling for someone her age. 400 Lux and A World Alone bring us home, the former a slow-burning celebration, the latter, simultaneously bitter and uplifting.

As the venue's sound system starts back up, the majority of the crowd remain, praying for more. It's anyone's guess how long they stay, desperate to see 2013's favourite anti-pop princess one more time.