On a rainy Wednesday night, the Norwegian indie-pop singer AURORA opened up during her performance to address the tragedy in Texas and summon hope from a welcoming Minneapolis crowd. Joined by the indie/alternative opener Sub Urban, she performed 16 songs new and old, as a part of her international tour supporting her January album, The Gods We Can Touch, her third full-length.

Now 25, the singer went platinum as a teenager with her debut, All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend. She went on to create a song with Idina Menzel for Frozen II, and 10 million monthly Spotify listeners will tell you her latest album is hardly underperforming.

The Gods We Can Touch, as described on her website, is about “shame, desire and morality, all seen through the narrative prism of Greek mythology.” Each song is meant to be a conversation with a different god, and she brought a goddess-like stage aura Wednesday night.

Walking up to the Fillmore — the show was moved from Varsity Theater due to high demand — a passerby could see a crowded line at the entrance of the relatively new venue. But a quick glance wouldn’t capture the line of people spanning multiple levels of a parking garage behind the building.

The vast line displayed the diversity of the audience. From elementary schoolers to 65 and up, she seemed to pull people from all ages, genders, and walks of life, and a lot of millennials.

Somehow, this massive line of people fit into the Fillmore, and once alternative gen Z singer Sub Urban began, it was clear many people were there for his opening set as well.

Sub Urban, who made it big on Tik Tok, gave a dedicated and energetic performance. His eerie music paired with his smooth and distinct moves made it clear why he had such die-hard fans in the audience. The spookiness and drama of his music resembled Billie Eilish’s, if she were a little bit more goth, and a boy with curly hair and bizarre dancing tendencies. In his last number, it looked like he was experiencing an exorcism. He finished his set by asking the audience if they were ready for “The beautiful and sprightly AURORA.”

Everyone was.

With about 15 minutes of anticipation, AURORA arrived on stage. Her setup, seen extensively on her Instagram, is a giant orb with layers of waves in the foreground. The set created a landscape for a performance that felt distinctly natural and ethereal.

She began with “Heathens” from her new album. In a flowy white dress, bare feet and the orb glowing red behind her, she claimed some serious witch energy. The audience was immediately transfixed. She made delicate shapes with her hands and arms as she sang, having mastered a graceful and mesmerizing stage presence. Her music is marked by vibrant percussion, always building to a place of excitement. The orb changed colors to match the songs, giving each little performance a purposeful synesthetic experience.

Following her first two songs, she took a serious, sympathetic tone and addressed the audience about the Uvalde school shooting. “Oh, hello you beautiful, beautiful people,” she said. “These are strange times.” Her soft and melodic voice broached the subject with delicate poise. “You deserve so much better all of you,” she said, and implored her audience to feel their emotions together.

Following this talk, her singing became more energized and powerful. She sang “Warrior” from her debut album, and the audience joined her in the lyrics “Let love conquer the world.” She stomped across the stage with rhythmic and acute movements that sparked joy and energy amongst the crowd.

Her actions even verged on anger, like she was processing emotions and even politics on the stage at the height of some of her songs. Before “The Woman I Am,” she loudly shouted, “My body my choice!” and then literally jumped into a fit of dance.

Her voice was awe-striking. Every song had an incredible range and build. She hit high and whispery notes in “A Dangerous Thing,” while also reaching deep lows that gave her music depth and strength, like in “Infections of a Different Kind.”  She transcended lyrics into sounds and sang in French for “Everything Matters.”

When listening to AURORA’s music not live, it has a crispness, a pristine sonic clarity that is like the auditory equivalent of walking barefoot in a Scandinavian stream. In a live setting, this purity is replaced with passion. Even though that auditory sparkle is only mildly dulled, the power of her voice and the playing (and occasional singing) by her guitarist and drummer give her music new layers to explore.

Her performance abilities coupled with the lyrics of her songs made her appear like an angel on stage. One concert goer compared her to a siren. “I for sure would crash my boat for her,” she said. Her lyrics were distinctly natural, connecting to the earth, heaven, and emotion.

Before each song, she called to attention a new issue or belief of hers. At tiny intermissions, she created intimacy and trust with an audience already smitten by her kindness and sense of humor.

At “The River” she addressed the suicide rate among men. For “Queendom,” she celebrated her queer audience (which was abundant) by screaming, “We’re allowed to love whoever we want to love.” Before “The Seed,” she gently thanked Indigenous people for taking good care of the earth, especially the forests. “There’s no love on a dead planet,” she said.

She performed two songs for her encore, if you count “Happy Birthday.” A fan shouted it was her birthday and AURORA responded by saying it was also her drummer Frederick’s birthday. She led the sold out room in song, reinforcing her sense of community at the show.

She finished with “Giving Into the Love,” howling at the end and pounding on her chest with unwaning spirit. The crowd filtered out happily. A group of little kids and their parents chatted about how wonderful she was. And a pair of old friends took a photo together, the man noting that he had heard AURORA first on The Current. 

“It makes sense to care, it’s in our nature to care,” she said during the show, a nice reassurance to leave with, especially in these times.

Setlist

Heathens

Runaway

Everything Matters

Blood in the Wine

Warrior 

The Woman I Am 

A Dangerous Thing

It Happened Quiet

Infections of a Different Kind

The River

Cure for Me

A Temporary High

Queendom

The Seed 

Running with the Wolves

Giving in to the Love (encore)

AURORA

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