The Wembley Arena has a bug problem. Or at least, that’s what Norwegian singer Aurora told everybody on Saturday night.
“This is the dream, guys!” she chirped as she swept a few of them off the stage, to the cheers of the crowd.
It wasn’t even out of character for her. Aurora has made her name over the years with her distinctive blend of folk electro-pop – heavy beats with ethereal vocals layered over the top. Her music spans genres, but a lot of her biggest hits address issues like the environment, nature and love.
Going to an Aurora gig is very much like paying a visit to the strange witch that lives in the woods – in this case, the woods was the Wembley Arena, and the crowd came ready to party.
The singer, dressed all in white and wielding a red microphone like a bloody trophy, delivered. She started with one of her older hits, Churchyard, which boasted a staggering beat drop, before seamlessly segueing into All Is Soft Inside, which came complete with a cacophony of ear-shattering cymbals.
So far, so Aurora. Much of the set felt like a pagan rite: there was a gorgeous, stripped-back rendition of The River, where the backing choir provided echoing harmonies to Aurora’s own voice; that was followed immediately afterwards by A Soul With No King, whose chorus felt like a pagan war cry – while My Name was a lesson in strobing, pulsing techno-folk.
The pacing felt uneven, but for the most part, Aurora’s stage presence sold it. We had seats at the All Terrace, so we got a great view of the stage, plus access to the Hero’s Lounge nearby for easy access to drinks. No people in the way; just the sight of Aurora spinning and twirling her way through the set like some kind of charmingly demented techno-sprite.
Throughout it all, she kept up a patter with the crowd – “is everyone feeling okay, still?”, she asked at one point – addressing everything from her obsession with bugs to the nuances of the Norwegian language, and her views on love.
The crowd was there with her, even during the quieter moments – for one stripped back version of her song Queendom, the entire arena space was transformed into a sea of stars as people got out their phone lights.
The next moment, she was waving a rainbow flag on stage and chanting “trans lives matter!” to rapturous applause, during a joyous rendition of Exist for Love.
Things closed out with a flurry of Aurora’s biggest hits. The crowd duly threw their hands in the air for The Seed, followed during the encore by Cure for Me and Some Type of Skin, which boasted a truly earth-shattering bass outro that rattled the eardrums amid the song’s exhortations for people to get along a little better.
It was a message that the singer herself was keen to press home. “When the world seems to become darker and angrier… it can be so easy to misjudge the humanness of the world,” she said towards the end, before a melancholy, pared-back piano song that closed out the set for good. “Being a human is such an extreme sport, and you don’t get anything for winning.”
I’d disagree – after all, we get to see her.
Aurora is touring; aurora-music.com
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