At stripped-down Toronto show, Lorde lets nothing get between her and the audience

review

Lorde performs at the Glastonbury Festival on June 27, 2025. The singer's Ultrasound tour made a stop in Toronto at the Scotiabank Arena.

If you’re a female pop star in 2025 and you’re not surrounded by a dozen dancers or flying around the arena in a chariot wearing a sequined onesie, are you even trying?

Lorde was more than trying at the Toronto stop of her Ultrasound world tour on Wednesday – she was keeping it real. We have seen stripped-down performances before, but nothing quite like this.

There was more to it than the 28-year-old New Zealander simply shucking off her faded blue jeans, leaving her in just a white T-shirt and dark Calvin Klein boxers. Actually, there was nothing simple about it: The unsexy gesture was all about peeling back layers and presenting her true, na