Tuesday, 22 October 2013

i’m kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air...so there

The voice, the hair, the age! Oh Lorde. The super-sixteen Kiwi made her first of two Corner appearances last night- 21 October.

The instant sell out of the shows and the fact that the tickets were sold slightly before she exploded was a reflection of the crowd. Everyone was  digging it, but seemed more curious to see what she was about. The crowd obviously had their finger on the pulse (or the mouse) to snap up the tickets but I doubt the majority were die hard fans.  There wasn't a lot of dancing to which Lorde seemed pretty uneasy about. “Come on Melbourne, stop being so well mannered. Dance!” It’s cool Girl, we’re enjoying it! Didn't you write the lyrics “I’m kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air...so there”? Anyway, I think she punished us by not coming out for an encore – Love Club and Team notably absent from her hour set.  

The backing tracks and her own backing vocals on loop left an element out of a great live show, Lorde needed more than a drummer and a guy operating a Mac behind her. It left her to work with the crowd yet she seemed very insular and we found it hard to rebound off that.  Something that will no doubt develop over time. She’s got bigger stages to fill after all! Oliver Tank’s support role seemed to have the same gap – get that man a band behind him for his live show!

Take nothing away from her talent, she is impressive and the real deal. My mind kept wandering off trying to work out what the hell I was doing when I was sixteen. Pretty sure my biggest achievements involved winning netball tournaments...I’ll tell you about that rolling high life another time. What a surreal and exciting life she is working her way into right now- a few weeks back she jetted off to perform Royals on Jimmy Kimmel, the same night Kanye performed.

I wish I photographed all the phones in the air when Royals came on, everyone was keen to get that on hashtag immediately. It would have been like an infinity mirror. Like I've said before, if a gig played out without getting footage on your iPhone, did it actually happen? Deep.