The anticipation in the room is tangible. Phones go up the moment the first signs of the show appear. A tape starts rolling, welcoming us to the era of ESTRUS. Smoke covers the stage as the band walks on and takes their places. All the signs are here: Tove Lo is about to enter Berlin’s Columbiahalle. Or not? ‘a lot of feelings, no solutions’ blasts through the venue, followed by the even louder party-starter and Clean favorite ‘roomie’. We can hear the singer, but there’s still no sign of her. Two songs deep into the show, the anticipation for her arrival is at its peak.
The wait is finally over when she walks on for ‘I’m the cake’. The room is so packed with excitement that we almost miss the fact that the Swedish hitmaker is casually serenading us about rimming. If anything, it shows that tonight we’re letting go of shame, letting go of whatever is going on in our lives, and singing and jumping along as Tove welcomes us into her world. With themes this unserious, she lets us drop our guard from the get-go, only to take on more serious subjects later in the show.
Tove makes a promise: every song from ESTRUS is on tonight’s setlist. They’re blended seamlessly with older songs from her discography, showing exactly why her career has lasted this long. The reimagined version of ‘My Gun’, an album cut from 2014’s Queen of the Clouds, easily becomes one of our highlights of the evening. The prominent handclaps and rhythmic accents of the original turn into deep, stomping drums and electric guitar riffs, giving it a rock-tinged edge.
Tove likes to take her time building momentum. Her Stromae collaboration ‘des fleurs x stromae’ gets a proper introduction, slowing things down with an interlude before unfolding into something euphoric yet dreamy. On the album, the song never quite fit in with the rest. Clearly she was thinking bigger than we were, because it feels completely at home in tonight’s setlist. The larger-than-life vocals floating through the room bring the energy the studio version was missing.
The coolest girl in the room is Tove Lo herself. Songs like ‘disco tits’ and ‘Cool Girl’ prove it, and so does the show’s visual side. Remember the ritual altar on the ESTRUS album cover? It’s been brought to the stage in a modern version. It works as a light box, and its mirrored sides and the cameras in front of it let her reach the audience even with her back turned. She sings ‘if I could I would’ seated with her back to us, singing into the camera recording to the big screen, and it’s one of the most beautiful images of the night. And we haven’t even touched on the incredible lighting. Whoever designed it deserves a raise.
Between flashing her boobs during ‘Talking Body’ and dry-humping the stage on ‘idiot’, she doesn’t shy away from vulnerability. In one of the few times she speaks to the crowd, she explains that she wasn’t always the confident person we’re seeing tonight. Before she was brave enough to perform in revealing outfits, she had to heal from the eating disorder she had as a teenager. ‘Grapefruit’ takes on that subject, and we’re all ears as she sings, “Counting all the calories / Now get ’em up / Body positivity / Help me out” laying down on the lightning altar.
The absolute highlight of the night is ‘die for my art with a lonely heart’. To our surprise, it gets the biggest response of the evening. Don’t get us wrong, it fully deserves it. We’re just surprised that a song that isn’t even a single yet has a whole room singing every word at the top of their lungs. The energy in the room is unmatched. If Tove needed proof that it deserves the official single treatment, this is it.
In an interview with Zane Lowe to promote ESTRUS, the singer explained that her parents have always worried about the career she chose. They might never fully understand her job, but they’ve accepted that this is the life she wants. When her dad visited her on tour and saw her in a corset with a dick on it, flashing her boobs, screaming, crying and doing whatever she wants on stage, he told her, “I think you’re the bravest person I know.” After watching Tove Lo express herself in the most freeing, confident way imaginable, all while singing her ass off, we couldn’t agree with her dad more.