Ultrasound World Tour

Lorde returned to TD Garden on September 26, 2025, with her much-anticipated Ultrasound Tour. Joined by The Japanese House and Blood Orange, she delivered a career-spanning set that wove together highlights from all four of her albums, centered on her latest release, Virgin. I had the privilege of experiencing the night alongside a friend—having last seen her in 2022 on the Solar Power tour at an intimate 3,500-capacity venue. This time, on a far grander and dramatically reimagined stage, Lorde captivated the arena with a performance that was as visually arresting as it was emotionally charged. I attended this show with a friend of mine who only knew a few songs off the New Zealand based singer’s 2013 debut album and repeatedly turned to me throughout the night to express awe at the show in front of her. I couldn’t help but agree. 

I found Lorde in the sixth grade. Correction: my father somehow found Lorde and told me to listen to her when I was in the sixth grade. Similarly to the other concerts I’ve attended recently (Halsey this past summer and My Chemical Romance a few weeks back), my recent show roster has been aimed at reigniting the nostalgia for the music I loved a decade ago. My middle school music taste really cemented in my brain and my heart. This show had a perfect balance of songs I loved throughout the years, of middle school anguish, high school reinvention and first heartbreaks, bouncing back and reclaiming yourself, came rushing through. Paired with flashing lights, set changes, a live backing band, and a surprise performance of “A World Alone” I truly had a great time. 

I came into this show familiar with a few Japanese House songs, namely “Touching Yourself” and “:)”. The Garden was slowly filling up as attendees returned to their seats with merch and various refreshments. The Japanese House played through seven songs, the majority of which from their 2023 release In the End It Always Does. Basking in a pale blue glow of stage lights, the band delivered in a relaxed manner. 

Blood Orange took the stage next, delivering a nice mix of their entire catalog, yet emphasizing their recent material. The R&B-electronic-indie-pop blend of the band’s work is mellow but powerful. I had seen this band open up for Harry Styles once before at Madison Square Garden, but in all honesty, I never fully explored them. It was nice, however, to sit and relax while listening to a fun set. 

Ella delivers a unique performance. At parts of the show, she’s running on a treadmill singing her track Supercut, viscerally swirling her body on stage as she rolls through “Current Affairs”, thrashing around to “What Was That”. She was followed around by a camera crew that projected the feed on a massive screen behind her–the angles sometimes intimate and raw. Alone on stage, she delivers “Clearblue” in what feels like a single breath. “If She Could See Me Now”, “Favourite Daughter”, and “David” were fan favorites, sung with passion and commitment to the art. She played the entirety of her newest installment Virgin in full, shuffling the tracklist in a way that wholeheartedly made sense. 

There is something so unifying at concerts for me. The feeling of being in a room with X amount of people singing along, dancing, and enjoying the space to songs we all collectively enjoy has always brought me so much dopamine. This isn’t a new thought; I’m fairly certain everyone has had the idea of a concert as a spiritual space. This is something I experience on a vastly different level at arena shows; hearing almost 20,000 people sing along to Ribs was extraordinary. My Chemical Romance at Fenway Park also had this effect on me, where I sat back during a moment of Disenchanted and just exhaled. It felt as though every moment of my life led to these moments of exhilaration, camaraderie, joy, and pure magic. Lorde is magic.