THANK YOU, LORDE: SUMMER SESSIONS UNSTOPPABLE ALL FEMALE LINE UP
LIVE REVIEW | LORDE w/ Zara Larsson, Audrey Hobert, Alessi Rose | SUMMER SESSIONS, EDINBURGH |25th August 2026 by Anne Kelly
It was the fifth night in a row of Edinburgh’s Summer Sessions, and the momentum of its predecessors still hung in the air around the Royal Highland Showgrounds.
From the moment I boarded my train in Stirling, you could already feel the buzz. On the platform, hordes of young fans gathered around us, each dressed to reflect the aesthetic of their favourite pop star on the bill. Over thirty miles out from the venue, that sense of community was already taking shape – an unspoken bond that somehow makes these massive events feel deeply personal. From there, it was simply a matter of following the trail of glitter, ruffles, and fluorescent shorts straight to the gates. When 4.30pm hit and they finally opened, thousands sprinted across the grass to secure the coveted “Golden Circle” wristband.
Alessi Rose
With four acts on the bill, the timetable was relentless. First up was Alessi Rose; an artist we’ve watched evolve over the years, proving better every single time. Opening with ‘Eat Me Alive’, Alessi leaned boldly into her budding star presence, and the crowd answered in kind, screaming every word back as if she were the night’s headliner. The moment wasn’t lost on the Derby-born singer: less than three years after playing Glasgow’s intimate Poetry Club to under a hundred fans, she was on stage supporting Lorde.
“I just want to thank Lorde right now”, she called out, dropping to her knees to take in the sheer scale of the crowd. Capping off her busy summer run alongside three powerhouse women, she ended on a high with ‘Oh My’, perfectly setting the stage for what was to come.
Audrey Hobert
Despite only debuting her first single last year, Audrey Hobert has taken over our FYP with her refreshing, self-deprecating charm. Nepo-baby label aside, Hobert is an undeniably sharp songwriter; having co-written some of Gracie Abrams’ biggest hits, she clearly knows her way around a pop hook.
Her set leaned straight into playful slapstick; arriving in an oversized trench coat, plastic specs, and a novelty ginger mustache before shedding the giant layer to reveal a normal trench underneath. Opening with ‘I Like to Touch People’, Hobert had the crowd screaming every lyric back. Between the unconventional beauty of‘ Phoebe’ and the viral chaos of ‘Sue Me’ (complete with the mini trampoline – IYKYK), she proved her talent runs deep. Foot in the door or not, she is the exact authentic refresh we need in the pop field.
As the crowd shifted before the next set, standing in a field opposite Edinburgh Airport alongside nearly 60,000 people under a sketchy, intermittent phone signal, a notification popped up on our Northern Exposure group chat: the Queen of Country Music, Dolly Parton, had passed away.
There was something profoundly poignant about processing the loss of a legend right as dusk settled over an all-female festival date. More than fifty years of music history may separate Dolly from the women on tonight’s bill, but the fierce, independent energy she pioneered, prioritising craft over traditional expectations and refusing to shrink in a male-dominated industry felt alive in every corner of the Showgrounds. Tonight was a living testament to the doors she kicked open.
Zara Larsson
That spirit arrived in full force as Zara Larsson strutted onto the stage. Delivering an hour of back-to-back bangers, the Swedish pop powerhouse felt every bit like a headliner in her own right. Beginning and ending the set with ‘Midnight Sun’ alongside her all-female band and dancer’s neon Y2K aesthetic, she proved to be the ultimate “girls’ girl”: unapologetic, empowering, and endlessly fun.
The night’s standout moment came during the traditional hunt for the ‘Lush Life’ girl. Zara spotted a front-row fan whose sign revealed she’d been in a car crash while the track was playing. Zara made sure to flip that memory into pure joy, gifting her a personalised t-shirt and launching into the viral dance routine. By the time the ‘Midnight Sun’ reprisal finale hit, and fans were lifted into horizontal “dolphin” planks under the Edinburgh sunset, one thing was obvious: this crowd didn’t just turn up early for the opener; they came for Zara.
It was a surreal feeling: the night easily could have ended after the support and felt complete. Thankfully, it didn’t, and headliner Lorde was ready to elevate things to another stratosphere. Emerging just before 9pm as the sun finally dipped below the Royal Highland Showgrounds, she was met by tens of thousands of music lovers packed shoulder to shoulder. The encroaching Scottish darkness became the perfect backdrop for her minimalist yet striking visual setup.
Lorde
Opening with ‘Royals’, Lorde commanded every inch of the crowd’s attention from the first note. As someone who had never seen her live, I’d wondered how she commanded massive headline slots like Summer Sessions and London’s All Points East just days earlier. By track two, any skepticism was gone.
Lorde is operating at the top-tier, making massive performances like this look effortless. With just two backing dancers and minimalist elevating platforms, she held the audience captive without relying on over the top theatrics. The music did all the heavy lifting, and watching thousands of friends dancing beneath a euphoric glow was utterly infectious.
Between songs, Lorde paused to speak directly to the crowd, sharing how honored she felt to share a stage with Zara, Audrey, and Alessi; a genuine sense of sisterhood that echoed the praise each opener had voiced earlier in the evening. But what came next elevated a standard festival set into something profoundly communal.
Lorde has a gift for articulating the unspoken euphoria of live music, putting words to the exact feeling that was running through the field. Addressing tens of thousands of strangers under the night sky, she turned the spotlight entirely back onto the audience:
“It’s really about you. The scars you have that you didn’t have last year. The people you love, the people you let go of. This becomes a moment; a moment you remember. I remember. That’s why I write music; I want to hold on to the moments. Do you know how powerful you are?” – Lorde
In that instant, the massive festival ground shrunk into an intimate confession. It didn’t just feel like another gig anymore, a collective release that reminded everyone standing shoulder-to-shoulder of why we gather in muddy fields to sing our hearts out in the first place.
Under the light of a near-full moon, the field was swept up in pure, intoxicating euphoria. Whatever awaited outside the gates was forgotten. The emotional peak came during ‘David’, a song about reclaiming personal power that left the entire field visibly moved by her vulnerability.
For anyone who wasn’t already feeling the moment, it surely flipped when a gigantic banner unrolled directly over the front circle with the words “I Don’t Belong To Anybody”. As the crowd was invited to write, scribble, and leave their mark in pen or lipstick, the gesture took on a deeper weight. A traveling artifact carrying messages from fans around the globe, it created an undeniable, goosebump-inducing sense of wider unity.
Then came ‘Green Light’, an electrifying contender for one of the best live moments I’ve ever felt. As the drop hit, emerald laser beams swept across the field and the entire crowd bounced in sync. To close the night, Lorde brought everyone down to earth with ‘Ribs’. Wrapping up with such a nostalgic, bittersweet anthem felt like the ultimate emotional payoff, sealing an extraordinary headline set on the perfect final note.
Summer Sessions has cemented its place as a powerhouse of the Scottish music scene. With massive line-ups stretching from Glasgow across June and July to Edinburgh taking the reins in August, this year proved the festival is operating at its absolute peak. The only problem now is how does 2027 even attempt to top this run?
Summer Sessions will return next year, with first announced Heather on The Hill Festival already announced as making its Royal Highland Showground comeback on Saturday 28th August 2027. Early Bird tickets are on sale now.
