The last time Lorde played Gov Ball, it was 2017 and she had just released her second album, Melodrama. The entire day had been pouring rain, something she remembered onstage this year as she performed in what she called “perfect” summer weather. Everything — the balmy temperature, the lighting, her incredible stage production, and her vocal power — seemed to be working in order, lining up and allowing her to deliver one of the most powerful festival performances in recent memories.
She started the show with an upbeat, tech-inspired version of “Royals,” the breakthrough from 2013 that kicked off her career. In a lot of ways, the Gov Ball set felt like a highlight reel of her entire trajectory and just how far she’s come since signing her first deal as a kid (something she seemed to allude to when she had fans hold up a banner that read “I don’t belong to anyone” with the years 2013-2026). She worked through hits from her full discography, closing with a gorgeous rendition of the classic “Ribs,” and was deeply vulnerable, sharing how today’s turbulent times have affected her. “Our world feels increasingly unjust, and it feels harder and harder to arrive at your own definitions of beauty and the truth and what is real,” she told the audience. “To combat all of this, all these fucked-up forces in our world, I would say show yourself… If we show ourselves in all the broken bits, all the jagged edges, all the filth, I really believe we will start fucking going somewhere.” It felt like the throughline in a set that was transcendent, inspiring, and radically beautiful. —Julyssa Lopez