Lorde returned to Lollapalooza’s headline slot in Chicago with a performance framed as a long-awaited triumph after her 2017 appearance was cut short by severe weather. Opening with “Royals” rather than saving it for the finale, she combined theatrical physicality with intimate audience engagement, including checks on fans affected by the heat, to make a festival-scale show feel personal.

The set drew from all four of her albums, particularly 2025’s Virgin, and included “Supercut”, “Green Light” and “Ribs”. Charli XCX made an unannounced appearance for “Girl, so Confusing”, ahead of her own Friday headline performance, while Lorde ended the night from a stage within the crowd, linking the moment to her earlier Lollapalooza appearances.