Returning to Australia with her What Happened To The Earth? Part 4 tour, Norwegian alt-pop singer/songwriter AURORA has captured the heart of diehard fans and newcomers alike.
This writer, belonging in the latter category, has come to appreciate the creative for her powerful songs such as ‘The Seed’ and ‘Running with the Wolves’, both of which spur the desire to move with the beat and simultaneously soak in her deeper message.
AURORA’s stage presence offers not only the gift of her vocals, but also her free-spirited dances that are in tune with the emotions of her songs. On Tuesday night (11 February), a digital blue wraith version of AURORA captured the audience’s attention, before the artist herself emerged from the darkness to open the spellbinding performance that followed.
Experiencing her songs live is more like an emotional journey than a pure appreciation of artistry. The set list moved from moods of anger towards injustice and destruction, to the tenderness of love and longing, with plenty of opportunities to roar, sway and dance along the way.
AURORA’s humour and authenticity shone through every time she spoke into the mic, using the stage as an opportunity to build genuine connection and make strangers feel a part of a collective through shared struggles. As the artist said, “It’s an extreme sport to be human in this world.”
Together with Adam Smith’s visual direction and perfectly in-sync lighting choices, the sensory experience of the AURORA’s performance delivered a satisfaction worthy of the hype.
Just like the seed
I don’t know where to go
Through dirt and shadow, I grow
I’m reaching light through the struggle
– ‘The Seed’
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It’s not hard to see how some have come to worship this artist, and if your idol is an empathetic nature-loving forest nymph, that may not be such a bad thing considering the other directions a celebrity’s values can take.
AURORA will be heading to Brisbane (13-14 February) next as the final Australian stop of her world tour; tickets.
