Originally from New Zealand, Lorde initially became well-known worldwide in 2013 at the age of sixteen with her breakthrough single "Royals." Critics and the audience gave her debut studio album, Pure Heroine positive comments, which helped her to succeed in the mainstream music market. After attaining such prominence and popularity, Lorde took quite some time off. At last, she produced her second studio album, Melodrama in 2017. The album was moving, full of songs and melodies addressing in the most evocative way themes like loneliness, grief, and self-discovery. It garnered her another Grammy nomination for Album of the Year as well.
After more than five years without a tour, Lorde has now officially announced a global tour in support of her third studio album, Solar Power, which was published in 2021. Her first appearance in North America since the Melodrama World Tour in 2018, the tour starts on February 26, 2022 She will be visiting her hometown, New York, Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Auckland among other important sites.
Following the North American tour, Lorde will tour Europe in the summer of 2022 for festivals and arena shows. This encompasses main-stage performances at some of Europe’s most popular summer festivals such as Primavera Sound in Spain, All Points East in the UK, Lollapalooza in Sweden, Paris, as well as Chicago where she headlined before Glastonbury Festival in which she performed for the first time on the Other stage before she released her first album.
She concludes the European part of the tour in August 2022 with performances in Vienna, Prague, Cologne, and Amsterdam, then goes back to her home country New Zealand for the concerts planned in late 2022. Further dates in Australia are yet to be released and fans can hope for more shows to be added to the list to complement the Oceania tour.
Lorde spoke about the tour in an official statement on her website: ‘It’s hard to explain how excited I am to get back on stage and play this music for you,’ she wrote, ‘It will be such a joy to bring the energy of the new record to life. ’ This tour has been anticipated by fans as since Solar Power’s release Lorde has not had the most extended live performances in the past few years.
Solar Power was another musical shift in Lorde’s discography because she abandoned the electronic pop style of Pure Heroine and Melodrama for an acoustic record inspired by the sun. It was okay with critics though it was not well-acclaimed it had moderate success as it launched at Number Two in the US and it launched at Number One in Australia and New Zealand, which is Lorde’s native country. Although it was not as popular as Royals or Green Light, the catchy title track allowed Lorde to become the first New Zealand artist to chart a Hot 100 hit as the main performer since 2010.
The tour is said to be called ‘The Solar Power Tour’ and it is believed that it will feature some of her old songs alongside what is believed to be a majority of the songs in her upcoming album. Regarding sustainability, Lorde has committed to reducing waste at concerts on this tour by working with local environmental organizations in each city. She stated in her testimony, “It is going to be such a pleasure to bring this music alive on stages across the world, alongside a brilliant cast of players and performers. Local collaborators and some amazing people have given us their time and expertise on best-practice sustainability projects. ” This is indeed a very eco-friendly move and is quite appropriate given her recent theme, nature, and environmentalism.
Lorde’s 2022 concert dates follow another fellow New Zealand pop contemporary Benee who recently announced a world tour but on a much smaller and intimate level planning to play venues like Rough Trade in Brooklyn and The Troubadour in Los Angeles. Despite having the same stage name as the New Zealand singer-songwriter, Benee is yet to match the global fame of Lorde but has enjoyed a viral hit in the catchy tune “Supalonely” released in 2020. With two of the country's largest young pop acts touring in 2022 New Zealand music is set to take over the globe.
This is why many fans of Lorde consider her the voice of Generation Z due to her risk-taking sound and lyrical honesty. Now in her mid-20s, her growth as an artist and performer in this tour will likely provide a glimpse of her generation’s transition into early adulthood, with all the apprehensions that Lorde masterfully weaves into her songs. This no doubt raises anticipation levels for her much-awaited live comeback.
Because there is a lot of expectation now for her to tour the world for the first time in 4 years + counting, they are expected to go quite fast on all the dates when they go on sale within the next couple of months. To ensure that you do not miss the special pre-sales and early ticket access, continue to visit Lorde’s website and subscribe to her mailing list.
