Lorde is no virgin to playing arena-sized shows — but it had been a long, long time since she did.

After closing out her Melodrama World Tour in 2018, the New Zealander chose not to perform in big spaces for her following trek in 2021, which supported her Solar Power album. Instead, she traveled exclusively through theater-sized venues — save for her festival dates — but four years later, with the release of 2025’s Virgin, she knew it was time to confront her fears of planning arena shows. The songs demanded it.

“I am in legitimate shock about your excitement for this tour,” Lorde wrote in an email to fans following the announcement of her 2025 Ultrasound Tour in May. “Deciding to book a bigger tour was something I agonised over (Melo arena tour…if you know……) but in the spirit of having the gd stones I decided that this music wants to be played in big rooms and that a lot of us should be there. To have that met with this is so beautiful. Thank you for your faith in me.”

Fast forward to Wednesday (Sept. 17), the Ultrasound World Tour opened in the 15,000-cap Moody Center in Austin, absolutely filled up with the pop star’s diehard fans. This time around, Lorde’s audience showed up for her — and in return, she treated them to a thoughtful setlist spanning all four of her albums, from beloved hits off of 2013’s Pure Heroine such as “Royals,” “Team” and “Ribs” to Virgin fan favorites like “Shapeshifter” and “David.” On stage, the star was jubilant, soaking up the love in the room while performing songs in a T-shirt and her Calvin Kleins, at one point running on a treadmill while belting out “Supercut.”

Lorde now has several more big shows ahead of her, with the Grammy winner scheduled to play dates across North America and Europe — with support from Blood Orange, the Japanese House, Nilufer Yanya, Chanel Beads, Empress Of, Jim-E Stack and Oklou — through the end of the year. In February of next year, she’ll take the tour across New Zealand and Australia before closing out Feb. 25 in Perth.

Check out the setlist she’s taking on the road for her Ultrasound World Tour, as played at the Moody Center kickoff, below.



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