The Ultrasound Tour in Chicago

Joey Gilbertson
Sep 26
5 min read

Hey everyone! Last week I was lucky enough to be able to go to Lorde's Ultrasound Tour and I wanted to share my experience with you all for this week's post!

>> Openers - Chanel Beads <<

Surprisingly, Lorde decided to have two different openers join her for this leg of the tour. One of the openers is a smaller solo artist who goes by Chanel Beads. I had never heard of Chanel Beads or listened to any of their music, but I was able to get an idea of what kind of music they make based on their live performance. In a live setting, their music seemed like it was trying to achieve a level of ambience or overall vibe as opposed to being a more straightforward listening experience. But after listening to the studio versions of the songs they played, I noticed I responded to the music a lot differently. I generally found it more enjoyable to listen to the studio versions, as the live vocals and band weren't balanced in the mix which made it hard to understand what was going on in the lyrics. That ultimately led to me feeling unimpressed by the live performance. Despite that, I am willing to give their music a chance and take a closer look at their debut album to see what they might have to offer.

>> Openers - The Japanese House <<

The other opener happened to be one of my favorite artists, The Japanese House! I had actually never seen her perform live before, so I was so grateful that fate played out in my favor, and I got to see her! It was everything I had hoped for honestly. She played a lot of the songs I was hoping to hear, such as "Sunshine Baby", "Touching Yourself", and "Follow My Girl" to name a few. I was a little disappointed she didn't play "Maybe You're The Reason", but I guess I should just be grateful I got to see her at all. Needless to say, it was everything I wanted to be. I wish her set could have been a teensy bit longer, but I think I'm just being greedy. If you haven't listened to The Japanese House before, I would really recommend you give her a listen! She's got something for everyone in her discography!

Main Show

>> Visuals <<

Honestly this show blew me away more than I was expecting. Sure, I'm a big Lorde fan and I probably would have eaten this concert up regardless, but I really like the way they executed this show and brough the vision to life. Before I get into the show, keep in mind that I avoided spoilers of everything before I saw it (which wasn't very hard to do given that Chicago was only the second stop of the tour). I saw some people making comments that the show was lacking in visuals and set design. I can kind of see where people are coming from with that. But in my opinion, I think that opting for a minimalist set design and leaning further into the visual effects and lighting was a good idea for this kind of concert. Lighting was actually a big part of the show. There were several points during the performance where Lorde would interact with some sort of lighting or effect. The way it was done made it feel like a more intimate experience, which benefits Lorde's music. Not to mention that making a huge arena feel like an intimate setting is something to commend in its own right. I also feel like the album rollout didn't prioritize any visuals. Other than the whole x-ray shtick, there aren't really any key-defining visual elements that came with

"Virgin". In that sense, it kind of makes sense why Lorde and her team would want to

create a show that prioritizes aesthetics rather than elaborate set pieces, as they already didn't have a lot to go off of. Another benefit of this production style is that it keeps your attention focused on Lorde herself, which I think made the experience a lot more memorable. Considering that Lorde is more of a songwriter than a performer, I think it was good to highlight her vocals and lyrics for this tour.

>> Set-List <<

I was honestly very happy with the songs that she played for this show. There was a good mix of new and old songs in there to keep both new and longtime fans invested. I also think that the order of the setlist was pretty competent as well. If I had one complaint, I would say that she burned through some of her biggest hits in the first half of the show, which meant that the second half less energetic as a result. When I'm at a concert, I kind of want it to feel like a rollercoaster. I would have rather seen her swap around a couple of songs in order to be more consistent in that way. Regardless, I still think the selection of songs were great. I don't feel like she spent too much time on either the new songs or the old ones. Each album felt like it was represented fairly. Poor "Solar Power" only got two songs during the set, but who's really surprised?

>> Overall Performance <<

In general, I was pretty happy with the show overall. It went past my expectations, and I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would (which was already a pretty high bar to clear). While I personally don't love the order of the setlist, I think it's competent enough and didn't ruin the experience or anything. The lighting and special effects were some of the coolest I've seen at any concert, and they really complemented her music. Even though her Chicago stop has already gone by, I would totally recommend you try and make it to this show if you happen to be in the area for another stop! At the end of the day, it is a Lorde concert, so I doubt you would be disappointed either way.

>> Wrapping Up <<

So those were my thoughts! I had a really great time at this concert, and I really hope I will get the chance to Lorde perform again. It was so cool getting to hear these songs that I've been listening to for years in a live setting. I've run out of things to say, so I guess I'll just leave it at that! Thanks as always for reading and have a good weekend!

Earworm ~-~-~o

Thanks for reading!

-Joey :)