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LORDE SINGING ‘SOLO’ BY FRANK OCEAN (IMAGE: YOUTUBE)
LORDE SINGING ‘SOLO’ BY FRANK OCEAN (IMAGE: YOUTUBE)

Pop CultureApril 19, 2018

Lorde’s top five covers from her Melodrama tour (+ playlist!)

LORDE SINGING ‘SOLO’ BY FRANK OCEAN (IMAGE: YOUTUBE)
LORDE SINGING ‘SOLO’ BY FRANK OCEAN (IMAGE: YOUTUBE)

The last show of Lorde’s Melodrama world tour took place this week (aside from two dates in Russia in May and the odd festival). One of the remarkable features of this tour has been the sheer number of cover versions she’s performed. Gareth Shute trawled through them all and presents his top five.  

The YouTube videos of Lorde doing other people’s songs now number over one hundred and they stretch right back to her first appearance on RNZ when she was twelve years old doing ‘Mama Do’ by Pixie Lott (okay, I guess) and ‘Use Somebody’ by Kings of Leon (oh dear god, no!). In more recent times, she’s made it a regular part of her show to perform a stripped back cover, either acapella or accompanied only by a guitar or piano. Often her choice of artist to cover is inspired by the city she’s in. For example, she covered Drake in Toronto and Bon Iver in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

She’s now performed songs by a daunting list of artists, including Phil Collins, The Replacements, The 1975, St Vincent, Son Lux, Carly Rae Jepsen, The Naked and Famous, and Prince. It took a ridiculous amount of time to look through them all, but here are the best ones from the Melodrama tour, listed in a countdown from very good to excellent (judged on the performance rather than sound or video quality). Plus I’ve added a playlist of every song she’s ever covered (original versions) at the bottom – it makes for an interesting mix!

5: ‘Solo’ by Frank Ocean

One of Lorde’s favourite ways to perform a live cover is to sit near the front of the stage and play it with minimal accompaniment; a quiet moment shared between performer and audience. You can see she’s having fun in the moment and that the crowd is right there with her, singing the call-and-response section with such enthusiasm that Lorde stops the song to compliment them before breaking out in a laugh.

4: ‘I’m On Fire’ by Bruce Springsteen

It’s fitting that Lorde put her spin on this track, given the Boss did ‘Royals’ when he played Auckland in 2014. She has guitarist Ray Suen out the front with her, giving her the opportunity to direct the song intently at him and stalk around him during the instrumental parts. Just at the moment when it feels like it’s flagging, she gives him a subtle grin and switches into the pre-chorus for ‘400 Lux’, putting her own new spin on both tracks. Nice!

3: ‘Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard’ by Paul Simon (with Jack Antonoff)

Okay, I know what you’re thinking – this wouldn’t even make a top five of Paul Simon’s best songs. But context is everything and when Lorde sits down with her Melodrama co-producer Jack Antonoff to sing campfire-style at the front of the stage in the afternoon of an outdoor festival, suddenly this song seems perfect. This is probably the most you’ll ever see her grin and laugh while singing a song, especially when she forces Antonoff to sing a chorus. So don’t overthink it, just soak up the fun vibe.

2: ‘Hang with me’ by Robyn cover (with Tove Styrke)

In the same vein as the last one, this cover derives its joy from seeing Lorde creating a special moment for her audience by having a bit of fun with a friend. In fact, she’s previously done this song live with Antonoff as well, but this version with her support act, Tove Styrke, captures the fun of two buddies on the road together, hanging out.

1: ‘Love Lockdown’ by Kanye West

Lorde has done so many Kanye songs, it’s almost a subgenre to itself. She did a punchy version of ‘Hold My Liquor’ back in 2013 and used ‘Flashing Lights’ as an excuse to flood the stage with flickering spotlights (though the vocals never quite suited her). I much prefer this vid, despite the weak camera work. Here she achieves the goal of any great cover version: she takes an unlikely song and makes it her own, using only the uniqueness of her voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIOWxRs2jqU

Bonus track: ‘Life on Mars’ by David Bowie

This performance took place before Melodrama came out so I left it off the list above, but it does seem to exemplify what divides a passable cover from an amazing one. To wit – remember that time that Lorde sang ‘All Apologies’ with the surviving members of Nirvana and a bunch of famous female musicians (Kim Gordon, St Vincent, Joan Jett), plus for some godforsaken reason, a piano accordion player? That was really laying it on a bit thick, but thankfully things are more restrained here. David Bowie’s backing band do the song just how he last did it, while Lorde proves she was worthy of being in a mutual admiration society with Bowie by infusing it with the perfect amount of passion and pathos.


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Pop CultureApril 18, 2018

Haydn from MAFS joins The Real Pod to talk hidden cameras and behind-the-scenes chaos

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In his special guest appearance on The Real Pod, with special thanks to Nando’s, Haydn Daniels from Married at First Sight NZ covered everything from the secret tapes to what happened to his wedding ring.

In his debut appearance on The Real Pod, Haydn Daniels from Married at First Sight NZ discussed the hidden camera scandal and other realities from life during and after the show. Invited onto the podcast to clear the air with The Spinoff’s Duncan Greive who Daniels described as “a dickhead” and “weedy” the 40-minute conversation covered everything from the secret tapes to what happened to his wedding ring.

On the discovery of the hidden camera in his and Bel Clarke’s apartment – reported here by The Herald last week – Daniels described the experience as “pretty surreal.” “I got a call from Bel who said ‘I’ve found a camera in our couch’”. The handycam had been recording for at least an hour. Clarke grabbed the camera and got in an Uber, with producers “chasing her” down the street and demanding she gives it back.

The pair watched the footage together at her house, which captured (off-camera but audible) Clarke in an emotional conversation on the phone in the nearby bathroom. The producers were also visible on the tape, at one point mocking Clarke’s emotion. “The producers would come and go and you could see them sort of imitating her be upset… It was quite shocking.”

“There was nowhere in our contract that says you can film us covertly. This was not Geordie Shore, this was Married at First Sight – which is probably worse.” Several days after the discovery, the couple met with producers and gave them back the camera. The producer who planted the camera was moved off production by Warner Brothers. “We never heard anything again.”

When asked for a piece of reality memorabilia by the swag-thirsty hosts, Daniels offered up his MAFS wedding ring. He once tried sell it – along with a date – on TradeMe, but ended up winning the auction himself. The bidder below him was Waikato celebrity Lisa Lewis, who had previously sent Daniels dozens of messages and had contacted members of his family.

Daniels is currently being represented by the former solicitor general, Mike Heron QC, to have his marriage dissolved through the family courts. He still spends time with many ex-contestants and the broader Mediaworks universe, including tooth-whitening outings with Jay Jay Feeney (scandal queenie) and hanging out with DWTS contestant Naz Khanjani, who is “good quality”.

On the topic of food, Daniels mentioned that the contestants were treated to $60 a day in per diems and a “couple of My Food Bags” during filming. He also revealed a burgeoning passion for popular chicken restaurant Nando’s, who sponsor The Real Pod. “I love Nando’s,” he told the hosts. “I eat it every week… Depending on how hungry I am, sometimes I get a half chook and a bit of corn. Sometimes I’ll get two half chickens.”

To close the encounter, Daniels participated in a customary arm wrestle with foe Duncan Greive, and won despite using his injured shoulder. Greive felt “quite confronted” by the devastating loss. “It’s tough to have proof of your physical weakness literally slapped down on the table in front of you. But I also felt a little bit high, the way you do when there’s a storm raging outside and you’re reminded again of nature’s awesome fury and power.”

To listen use the player below, jump over to Spotify or download this episode (right click and save). Feel free to subscribe via iTunes, RSS or via your favourite podcast client, and be sure to get involved on social media using #realpod

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