Laufey – Rod Laver Arena
Laufey opened the Melbourne leg of her A Matter of Time world tour at Rod Laver Arena; the first of three sold out nights in the city. Presented across multiple acts with a live band, orchestra and dancers, the show moved between old Hollywood glamour, an on-stage jazz club, and full arena pop production spanning over two hours.
Opening the evening was Leonie Biney, who began her set with Learning Curve and I'm Making You Coffee, before moving through Love You So, If U Leave Me and Beach Song. During Full Circle she told the crowd she had always wanted to play the song 'in a setting like this', while new song I Like was a highlight of the set. Comedown followed, with Groupie closing out her set.
Laufey began Act I with Clockwork; introduced with an old-time film credit sequence as dancers, band and orchestra filled the stage in a genuine spectacle. Laufey greeted the arena, telling the audience 'I'm so excited to be back here and see all my lover girls' as hit Lover Girl followed.
Dreamer was performed as she ascended the big staircase and played from the swing on top, while she picked up a guitar to sing Falling Behind, which finished with a fun dance. A personal favourite, Silver Lining came next and was an early highlight. Laufey said to the crowd, while it's a love song, the real life silver lining was that she's here with all of us.
Bored was described as another love song, about a guy who probably cried after listening to it. Joining the crowd, Laufey emerged from her fans with an Australian flag wrapped around her, joking, 'I look like I'm in Hamilton'. Act I closed with Too Little, Too Late at the piano, with Laufey laughing as she caught her breath: 'Do I look like I enjoy running? I run from boys. And they run from me.'
After a band interlude, a message appeared on screen asking 'Ready for some jazz?' as the staging stripped back to a double bass, drums and keys for Act II. Front and centre stage, a cover of Burton Lane's Old Devil Moon set up the speakeasy feel with some superb piano work, followed by Haunted. Before Valentine, she welcomed the audience to 'what I like to call my little jazz club' and spoke about misjudging the Melbourne winter, having packed bikinis and instead needing to buy a puffer jacket. 'This really is one of my favourite towns,' she told the crowd, letting the audience know the jazz section is improvised and a little different every single night.
Before Fragile, Laufey read a poem dedicated to night one in Melbourne, before crowning the night's Best Dressed Guest. She described the shows and tour as a space for people to be the most exaggerated versions of themselves, and that she's never felt more herself than onstage. Act II then came to its close with a beautiful performance of Let You Break My Heart Again.
Act III opened with Carousel, performed once again from the swing, with dancers all across the stage, followed by Forget-Me-Not, which featured a beautiful string introduction and was another highlight of the night. Act III concluded with the Cuckoo Ballet (Interlude) with the dancers taking the lead while Laufey performed on the cello.
A hilarious video of various outfit change outtakes led into Act IV, which included a Snow White and a Bee Movie reference. Mr. Eclectic built to Laufey jumping back onto the cello as a clock melted on screen and the visuals unravelled into Madwoman. She then sat alone in the spotlight at the piano for Promise, which drew a big crowd singalong, and stayed there for Goddess. Those two songs back to back were among the strongest moments of the set, earning some of the biggest cheers of the night.
Tough Luck followed with the full band, orchestra and dancers, before Snow White, which was performed with a mirror on stage. Introducing it, she described the album as covering every emotion she experienced in a 24 hour cycle, with songs that felt like they fell out of a songwriter's diary. 'This one was scary to write and scary to release,' she admitted to the audience. From the Start closed the main acts with the loudest singalong of the evening, and introductions for everyone on stage, before Sabotage, complete with an orchestral jump scare, brought the final act to a wild finish.
For her encore, Laufey took an earlier crowd request (from audience members dressed up as coffee and leftover pie) and dug back into her first album for Slow Down, a song she said she had written for an older version of herself and had not performed in a long time, calling for an acoustic guitar to play it. She finished with Letter to My 13 Year Old Self, telling the audience she would tell her younger self to be brave and lean into what makes her weird, and that she had made it her life's goal to encourage people of any age to chase their dreams. 'I'm just from a floating rock in the Atlantic – now I'm on a different floating rock in a different ocean,' she said, thanking Melbourne for three sold out nights. 'I can't wait to see you all again.'
Photo Credit: Nicole Mago