Just as the winds were really picking up in the Indio valley Saturday night, inescapable radio queen Lorde took the stage for her wind-blown Coachella debut. The 17 year old is getting the gears moving on a tour through the US this spring as well as stops in Canada, Paris and Australia before heading home to New Zealand.
Walking up to the mic in her billowing white pants, crop top tank and 60s mod heels, she definitely looked the part of the young, art pop genius her music suggests. Before the lights come up, her hands clench at her sides for an instant, a glimmer of nerves perhaps. Just a short 5 years ago, Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor won her school talent show, a year later she signed with Universal as Lorde, a name she chose due to her fascination with the social constructs of royalty and now is on a world tour. Her lack of experience however is irrelevant as soon as the lights switch on. From her first movement, any lingering thoughts of a child star are thrown out the window and set on fire. Lorde is in every sense of the word, a performer, and a damn good one at that.
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Lorde’s balance between ethereal interpretive movement and electro rock dance party was both captivating and engaging, the crowd dancing along with the lightening bolt of music moving through her. She definitely gave the audience what they came for with “Tennis Court” and “Royals”, but Lorde showed a depth to her performance that assures she’ll be sticking around. If we already get stoked to hear song about high school politics, imagine what she’ll have us rocking out to next.
Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
