Back Where It Began: Lorde’s Five-Star Auckland Homecoming

Back on home soil, Lorde transformed Auckland’s Spark Arena into a celebration of roots, growth and 12 years of shared history on Wednesday night (Febraury 11th). 

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.

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