‘You Know Me to My Core’: Celebrating Lorde’s Emotional Auckland Homecoming

Lorde’s return to Auckland’s Spark Arena on Wednesday night (February 11th) was nothing short of a triumphant homecoming.

The singer’s ‘Ultrasound’ world tour has finally landed in New Zealand this week, after selling out arenas around the world, and for Lorde, returning to Aotearoa was the ultimate celebration of both her roots and how far she’s come.

“This is our very first show of 2026… and I have such a good feeling about tonight… we have a lot to catch up on,” she told concertgoers. “This is pretty special, Auckland… I’m always particularly excited and nervous for the Auckland show because — I mean, you know why… I can’t hide anything from you. You know me to my core.”

In a glowing five-star review of the show, Rolling Stone AU/NZ wrote: “This was a homecoming — not just for a superstar, but for the thousands who’ve grown up alongside her. Lorde has soundtracked our coming-of-age. …She proved she’s not done evolving.”

Toward the end, Lorde praised her hometown one more time: “Auckland, you have fucked me up tonight. Thank you for loving me for 12 years.”

Presented by Frontier Touring, the ‘Ultrasound’ tour arrives off the back of “Virgin,” Lorde’s fourth studio album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Aotearoa Music Charts, the ARIA Albums Chart, and the Official UK Albums Chart, and landed at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in the US. The album was preceded by the standout singles “What Was That,” “Man of the Year” and “Hammer.”

Since breaking through with “Pure Heroine” in 2013, Lorde has carved out a singular space in pop music, revered for her poetic lyricism, minimalist production, and emotionally raw performances. Across her career, she’s amassed more than 18 billion streams and sold 18 million albums globally.

Love Film & TV?

Get your daily dose of everything happening in music, film and TV in Australia and abroad.