Aurora: O2 Apollo, Manchester – Live Review

Aurora
O2 Apollo, Manchester
4th October 2024

Norwegian Pop Genius Aurora is touring her new album, What Happened To The Heart, around Europe and beyond with a precision Stage Show and a bunch of emotional and occasionally banging new songs. MK Bennett swoons quietly.

Underneath the balcony, there is a sea of limbs.

O2 Apollo, with its dauntingly high ceilings and beautiful old-school design, has always been difficult to fill with sound, something stops the waves from reaching the corners, but not tonight because along with several technical victories, the sound is sinuous, mercurial as it climbs and slivers into every quiet space. The ghosts of electricity howl in the bones of this building tonight, an atmosphere of expectant desire, breath held in the cold as we countdown to stage time. There is a thrum, like standing in a field of pylons at night. When this magic shifts itself into real-time, expect fireworks.

This perfect staging lends itself to a theatre production, with her whole working team at the top of their respective game. It still has the stretched-out possibilities of the unknown in terms of live performance, of spontaneous chaos, that comes from the human element, but the mechanised here is clinical brilliance, planned and rehearsed.

Over the prerecorded intro (“Hello?”) and its clever projection, they launch in slow motion into Churchyard. Initially soft and ethereal, a chance to hear those seemingly impossible high notes live, but it soon kicks in, more rocking than previously though sounding good for it, the slightly Booshesque backdrop gives a glacial appearance to the treated stage, where it appears everyone is walking on water, and with good reason if the reaction to their initial appearance is a yardstick.

Almost no pause before All Is Soft Inside, a Bjorkish take on Goth Pop that rolls along militarily, the drummer in particular having a great time while, again, the vocals double up for emphasis at key dynamic points with her perfect backing singers, sound heaven sent, divine to the point of an increased heart rate. Aurora shares with Bjork what Gay Times described as “a childlike sense of wonder with a wisdom beyond her years”, as well as an obvious lack of interest in the opinions of others, which is always a plus point.

A Soul With No King is a beautiful and melodic thing, almost Arabesque and enthralling before the piano-led and devastating Murder Song (5,4,3,2,1) with its bathed in red light and Lumiere Brother’s backdrop is sung to absolute silence, a rarity at the Apollo, though it happens more than once because the delivery of absolute beauty deserves absolute respect. A half-song in the hands of a lesser singer, she sounds like a siren, not as an allegory for killing but for pain. The crowd, a good portion of which were young LGBTQ or affiliated, felt this one particularly, though we all recognised the connection being made.

Heathens has Aurora in almost total darkness as we see three figures around the continued red sun/moon of the backdrop, suggesting she is a mere vehicle to present the song, and we should concentrate on the movement, too. This humility adds to the feel of a show, separate from a gig. A happening, as the hippies used to say. Then the drums, strobe lights and backing come back in and as she whirls and genuflects around the stage with abandon, we know it’s her, always her.

When The Dark Dresses Lightly has a backdrop of Aurora in a fight with herself, while the music reminds us that this is all ultra-modern Pop music, there are a lot of elements taken from elsewhere, European, classical and European Classical, particularly the vocals, which, in the way of Thom Yorke, are less about the specific words and more about a feeling, an atmosphere, and the old nugget about the voice as instrument is true and good, for once. There are times tonight when it’s far more Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan than it is Robyn, though her edging toward either is beautiful too.

Exist For Love and Dreams are frail and wonderful folk songs, broken-winged birds on frozen ground, a child crying alone at night, the sound of anguish with the hope of comfort. Still, we are here, in the palm of her hand, being led into the forest. Echo Of My Shadow brings the theatre back, the unblinking lights, the choirlike intensity and the band in complete simpatico, you feel like a witness, not a member of an audience. The River,  with its eco message and paper birds’ backdrop, is deeply affecting, as is the band circling her to sing the harmonies, doused in clear blue light.

The beat returns for Soulless Creatures, an inquisitive eye, a keyhole and a desire to see, lights act as beams as the shards of sound hit minor keys and wash away, and the classic Runaway drops in. The Seed, which must have been quite a spectacle at The Royal Albert Hall with the organ part, has a new projection of bare trees and crowd participation in the wordless hooks,

There are several highly regarded twentieth-century Norwegian philosophers who, like Aurora, are particularly interested in environmental issues, so it’s not a new thing with the Nordic and modern climate practice. Rather than write Academic theses though, she writes metaphorical songs with enough latitude to be taken as literal and literary, The River, or Starvation, which is next, as the stage is lit in blood red once again, the upbeat rhythm belying the message. At somewhere between 5-8 albums, and who knows what the criteria for an album now is, there is a lot of material to choose from, though it’s unsurprisingly slightly weighted toward the new,  and as it all bears the hallmark of her unique vocal, you are going to love it anyway.

Aurora is a very funny person, her onstage chatter, part nervous tension, part need to explain oneself, is so natural that even as the minutes roll by, everyone listens, knowing there is a punchline coming. Somebody complains, but they get told to fuck off, quite reasonably. It’s not stagecraft, just actual personality, but you would buy a ticket for the book tour in a heartbeat.

Next up is Queer anthem Queendom, when she blows kisses and dances with abandon, another huge hook, the stage is now more Rothko than Disco, but by the time her jacket comes off and she is swirling it around her head, its pure unbridled joy and love. This time, the dedication is “for the gays” to go along with several other dedications made tonight, some personal, some political, and this one both. Giving In To The Love has been threatening to arrive, the Disco Dancing and logical, carefree and happy end to a perfectly realised main set. Like a duck moving through the water, there’s a lot of hard work to make this look effortless, and all you can do is marvel at its wonder.

The most inevitable encore ever starts with Cure For Me, a Euro Pop number with a very catchy synth melody and three Egyptian mummies dancing in sync. While Some Type Of Skin is another excellent upbeat song with some interesting Norse mythology on the screens and a perfect vocal to sing along with, which the audience noted plus a guitar solo, also much appreciated by both Aurora and the crowd. A quick but funny Lord Of The Rings story before a snippet of a requested Animal Soul, followed by Invisible Wounds. Stood alone at the keyboard until the heartbreakingly beautiful ending, under one spotlight, and it seemed so heartfelt that you nearly looked away. We end as we started, Aurora on a huge screen, her empathy as she looks at the camera, at us, almost shocking in its nakedness. It is breathtaking.

How much presence is possible, refracted and reflected in a room full of love?

A standing ovation for the singer and the song, but for everything and everyone else, too. It felt like she had come home, everything was a collaborative effort that didn’t feel like an affectation but like unmissable moments caught in time.

Please note: Use of these images in any form without permission is illegal. If you wish to contact the photographer please email: mel@mudkissphotography.co.uk

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All words by MK Bennett, you can find his author’s archive here plus his Twitter and Instagram

All photos by Melanie Smith – Louder Than War | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Portfolio