Ørsted owns the stage when she’s on it, and even when she’s not. As a former professional orienteering runner, she darted around the space absolutely effortlessly. During “Slow Love,” she made her way onto the balcony stairs and sat on the bannister and finished most of the song there. In a nod to her desire to intimately connect with the people listening to her music, she made her way into the middle of the crowd for the first time during “Pilgrim” and just danced with everyone in the vicinity as she sang.
Ørsted is backed by phenomenal instrumental talent. Drums blended with electronic beats, and even accentuated them throughout the night with electronic drum pads sharing a space in the kit. Florescent guitar hooks shone through the venue, and they rounded out bangers like “Walk This Way” and “Waste of Time,” and slower offerings like “Never Wanna Know,” during which Ørsted pushed the limits of her register.
A cover of The Spice Girls’ “Say You’ll Be There” made its way into the encore, and unsurprisingly, Ørsted had listed the group as a formative influence.
“That was the first time I heard music talking directly to me. This is my biggest passion, this is my dream. I discovered that music was my way of expressing myself and we all need to express ourselves. And music, through my childhood and my teen years was my way of gaining confidence. That was my way of expressing my feelings that I was worth something.”
During the show, Ørsted put the themes of youth, restless pursuit, and a lack of satisfaction into an audial tapestry that fused skilled instrumentation, vigorous beats, and her own prodigious presence. I asked her about those very themes and if she had any advice for people who feel like they haven’t quite found their groove.
“Well they shouldn’t feel like it’s an abnormal thing. I mean, that’s just life. They should be happy that they’re not satisfied. I mean it. Because you know if you’re satisfied then there’s nothing to fight for and if there’s nothing to fight for then you get bored and you get sad. So it’s good that you search. If you don’t search then there’s nothing to live for. You always evolve, otherwise you get bored.”
