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Revisiting Lorde’s Sun-Drenched ‘Solar Power’ Tour

A look back at Lorde’s ‘Solar Power’ tour, from its striking stage design to memorable moments across Australia and New Zealand

Lorde Solar Power tour

John Shearer/Getty Images for Lorde

It’s official: Lorde is bringing her ‘Ultrasound’ world tour back Down Under, hitting New Zealand and Australia in February 2026.

Fresh off her chart-topping album Virgin, the Aotearoa pop superstar will play her first shows in the region since her Solar Power tour in 2023.

That tour, first announced in 2021 but delayed by the pandemic, eventually reached Australia and New Zealand after visiting stages around the world.

Fans were rewarded for the wait. The Solar Power tour featured a generous 23-song setlist, striking custom stage and lighting design, multiple outfit changes, and surprise guests.

The stage itself was a spectacle — a giant rotating sundial and a sweeping staircase where Lorde would sit and perform, all fitting the album’s sunny theme.

Vogue praised the tour’s fashion, calling it “sunshiny, laid-back, and reminiscent of a beautiful day at the beach,” with bright colours and silhouettes that matched the vibe of Solar Power.

The setlist blended the new album with Melodrama deep cuts and rare Pure Heroine favourites. At many shows, special guest Marlon Williams joined Lorde on stage for the te reo Māori version of “Stoned at the Nail Salon”.

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At her hometown show in Auckland, Lorde got sentimental. Coup De Main reported her telling the crowd, “This is the show I think the most about on the world tour; this is the one. There’s something about playing in a field down the road from your house that is so special to me.”

She knew her audiences might have some pent-up summer frustrations after years of lockdowns.

“After many an outfit change, it’s safe to say that the crowd of 8,000 people gathered in the Outer Fields had let up all, if not an excess of, their summer frustrations. Among them was me, who, gasping for air, had just experienced what I would now believe to be one of many ‘core memory moments’,” praised one RNZ reviewer, adding, “I won’t be forgetting the Solar Power tour any time soon.”

“A divine yet purgative energy was swirling in the air that night, wittily orchestrated by Ella herself,” praised Flying Nun.

Meanwhile, Stuff called it “a psychedelic tour-de-force”: “Concert-goers left Western Springs still under her spell — the Devonport girl with a mind of gold.”

Across the ditch, the praise was equally high.

GlamAdelaide called it “a radiating celebration of summer.”

“Lorde’s ‘Solar Power World Tour’ is a slow burn towards a crescendo, but shows how the pop prodigy’s style has evolved yet retained the spirit of a generation,” wrote the Sydney Morning Herald in a three-and-a-half star review.

The West Australian summed it up simply in Perth: “Lorde’s vocals were absolute perfection — clear and crisp, cutting through the air and echoing out into the intimate space.”