Tove Lo – Auckland Town Hall: July 27, 2023 (Concert Review)

Tove Lo kicks the Elemental Nights series into high gear with her Dirt Femme tour. The Swedish pop star turned Auckland’s Town Hall into a pulsing dance club.

The 35-year-old entertainer has a special affinity with Auckland as her husband is Charlie Twaddle, an Auckland native who now works mostly out of LA.

But married life hasn’t seemed to rein Tove Lo in.

“I’ve got a new look for this occasion”, she informs us. That look is a revealing one-piece outfit…there were three of them in total, all with the same basic design, allowing her to dance, strut and shake her booty when the mood struck, which was often.

May-A

First up is Australian indie-rocker MAY-A (aka Maya Cumming). Hailing from Sydney, MAY-A was accompanied by a three-piece band… your basic drums, bass and guitar…with the four musicians providing a fine starting point for the evening, rocking out nicely. Keep an eye (and ear) out for a new EP titled Analysis Paralysis.

 Tove Lo

A break, and then as the clock was about to strike 9, a deep, electronic beat pounds from the PA, followed by a symphonic fanfare and the Tove Lo show has begun.

Tove’s got three musicians with her…drums, keys, guitar…who stay in the background and allow the star to shine.

And shine she does.

First up is Pineapple Slice, a sex little ditty from Dirt Femme, that finds Tove singing, “use your tongue, it turns me on”.

This is not one for the kiddies.

After Cool Girl, Tove speaks, telling us what an honour it is to bring this show to us, promising ‘we’re gonna get sexy’ and advising us to ‘let it out’.

“We’re gonna dance, we’re gonna cry…let’s do it!

And do it she does.

2 Die 4 follows with Hot Butter’s 1972 Popcorn interpolation for a new generation. Eventually Tove disappears from the stage as the band vamps…yes, its costume change number one.

The energy level dips but then recovers as Tove, with a new outfit, not dissimilar to the previous one…rips into Talking Body, urging the tightly bunched crowd to get low, get on the floor…”I want us to feel like one body.

And down we go.

Really Don’t Like U and Disco Tits give Tove cause to shake and prance, then she takes it down with Moments, from her first album.

“If you have something to cry about, this might be the moment”.

And this is what makes Tove Lo the entertainer special. Musically, there’s nothing really new going on, but her lyrics and her personality connect with this young audience in a way that feels like everyone is safe, with good friends.

There was a moment, just before Suburbia, when a couple in the front were in destress and Tove cooled things off to allow them to be taken care of.

When it was clear that everyone was ok, the party resumed.

We got a new song, Elevator Eyes. Tove got flirty with Borderline and the set ended with wailing sirens to usher in True Disaster.

But the best was yet to come.

The encore started with a huge singalong….it was a cover of Robyn’s Dancing On My Own, and everyone knew all the words.

Now dressed in a black sparkly one-piece, Tove and co raised the roof with I Like U, Habit (Stay High) and No One Dies From Love, where all and sundry were on their feet, arms in the air.

All-in-all it was a triumphant night at the Town Hall for Tove Lo and about 2000 of her best friends.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Chris Zwaagdyk:

Tove Lo:

MAY-A:

Tove Lo setlist:

1. Pineapple Slice
2. Attention Whore
3. Cool Girl
4. 2 Die 4
5. Talking Body
6. Really Don’t Like U
7. Disco Tits
8. Moments
9. True Romance
10. Grapefruit
11. Glad He’s Gone
12. Suburbia
13. Elevator Eyes
14. Borderline
15. How Long
16. True Disaster
17. Dancing On My Own
18. I Like U
19. Habits (Stay High)
20. No One Dies From Love

Click here for more Elemental Nights shows