Lorde Brings her 'Ultrasound' World Tour to The Anthem, Washington D.C.
- Emma Zoe Polyak
- Oct 6
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 7
There’s a certain artist for everyone who feels like they make music just for you. As they grow and evolve, their releases become timestamps in your own life. For me, that artist is Lorde, and there’s no better way to navigate my ever-evolving twenties than alongside her newest album, Virgin, which chronicles an age of change and transcendence.
When Lorde released Pure Heroine in 2013, she gave a generation of teenagers permission to be both disillusioned and hopeful, with songs like “Royals,” “Team,” and “Ribs.” Twelve years later, and her live shows carry that same duality – part catharsis, part party.
Quite fittingly, her set opened with “Hammer,” the first track on Virgin. A song that Lorde described as “an ode to city life and horniness,” “Hammer” builds on itself. In a live setting, it builds upon the anticipation and electricity buzzing through the venue as the crowd eagerly await Lorde’s appearance.
Unsurprisingly, Lorde sold out both of her shows at The Anthem. Though the room was packed, there was an undeniable intimacy to the night. Maybe it was because The Anthem isn’t as massive as the stadiums she’s played on this tour, but more likely, it was the result of a carefully crafted performance.
This was my first time seeing Lorde live, and the stage design perfectly reflected how I’d imagined the album. The setup was bare, with the centerpiece being Lorde’s near-constant motion. It was an intensely physical show: she ran on a treadmill during one song, climbed onto the speakers during another, and danced with the performers onstage, her movements erratic and unpredictable, as if the music itself was tossing her around.
Behind her, large screens projected a collage of videos, some of fans at the barricade, but most of Lorde herself. The production felt interactive, with handheld cameras following her around and another seemingly mounted on the speakers, letting her address the crowd even with her back turned. At one point, she took a sip from her iconic water bottle – “the one you all came to see,” she joked – and the crowd roared.
During “Team,” the lighting shifted to illuminate the Palestinian flag. Lorde has recently joined over a thousand artists in the No Music for Genocide campaign, which calls on artists to geo-block their catalogs from streaming in Israel as protest.
The set was a thoughtful mix of her discography, although this writer laments that only two songs from Solar Power made the cut. Written deep in the pandemic and inspired by her home of Aotearoa (New Zealand), that album reveals a maturing, and perhaps more hopeful, side of her songwriting that I would loved to have heard more of.
Before “Writer in the Dark,” she took a few minutes to talk to the crowd, sharing that this period in her life has been full of great change and self-discovery – something that many in the crowd audibly agreed with. “For me, it’s been as much about gaining things as it has been about throwing things away,” she shared, adding that her life has grown richer the more layers she’s peeled away. It was a genuine moment, made even warmer when she referenced her last show at The Anthem in 2022, suggesting these performances hold a special place in her memory too.
There was perhaps no moment more connective than during “David,” the closing track from Virgin. To call it cathartic is an understatement. Massive cheers erupted as Lorde, dressed in a glowing jacket, made her way through the crowd. I knew this part of the show was coming, but nothing could have prepared me for the moment she climbed onto the B-stage near the soundboard and began “Ribs.” Though she stood elevated, it felt as though she was still among us, everyone moving together, shedding layers, embracing change, and each other.
Lorde's Ultrasound World Tour continues well into 2026; find future dates here.
