» Tove Lo live in Sydney – photos and review Something You Said

Tove Lo live in Sydney – photos and review

October 6, 2022

Tove Lo hit up Sydney’s Metro Theatre ahead of her new album release, and was joined by support act, Memphis LK. We were there:

First up, we heard from the distinctive Memphis LK! With an essence of UK style garage, drum n bass underbeats through to pop, it was a truly welcomed sound for the many Brits in the crowd at the Metro Sydney – drawing parallels with female self-produced mixers, DJ’s and vocalists across Bristol and London – who grew up on Soundcloud. Producing straight from her bedroom and gaining a serious online cult following, the gorgeous vocal sounds of the 20-year-old fluttered over like butter on the bouncing bass, cleverly mastered to build energy and excitement before dropping into dynamic drum and bass breaks. Every inch the DJ, with a smile plastered across her face bouncing away behind the decks, Memphis LK’s stage presence makes you absolutely want to move your body, and is sure to draw new fans down to her home city of Melbourne and indeed across Australia after her intro to new pal Tove Lo.

Next up we wait for Tove Lo – with the venue fire warning sound verbally running for ten minutes before the Swedish synth-pop star hits the stage, it gave a clear picture of the super fans she draws in globally – with many turning the alarm sounds into songs and dancing in glitter-clad groups to their new creative lyrics. With Tove Lo herself posting to her IG backstage ‘please wait for me Sydney’ – there was no need, the delay only incited the crowd to scream further at her prancing entrance across the stage straight into ‘No One Dies From Love’, followed by ‘True Romance’ and ‘How Long’ – created for the season two soundtrack of Euphoria – and all on her anticipated upcoming album Dirt Femme, out this month on 14th October.

Lo has explained she wants Dirt Femme to be “an experience,” a genre if you will, continuing to exorcise radical honesty, through her lens of darker pop, touching on everything from her previous struggles with disordered eating, to reconciling her queer identity with her new traditional marriage. The album features an impressive line-up of guests including SG Lewis, Channel Tres and First Aid Kit. Many critics hail this set of work her most cohesive and strongest to date.

Back in 2022 Lo tied the knot with creative director Charlie Twaddle – she says this incited the creation of Dirt Femme, and how she chooses to show up for her performances – embracing all of herself. Lo believes “that the masculine and feminine lives on a spectrum in all humans. There’s so many more interesting nuances than most people wanna accept.”

This outlook and attitude draws her a warm and eclectic crowd of loyalty, and this Sydney performance was one of nostalgia for her early and latest fans, fluidly moving through the new album with a sprinkle of old. The 34 year old shouts “Lets bring back pop bitch y2k” before belting out 2 Die 4 with her infamous booty shakes for welcomed accompaniment.

Starting out as a songwriter originally scoring writing credits for the British band Girls Aloud and later Ellie Goulding – Lo herself was picked up by Island Records, after rolling out four studio albums charting the Billboard 200, and designing music videos that would see her with two Grammy Nominations to date – it’s exciting to see what will be next for the self proclaimed “filthy rebel of pop!” She’s certainly a favourite down under!

Check out our gallery here, click to enlarge: