By Annie Aguiar and Ed Shanahan
New York: Earlier this month, pop singer Lorde, hinting at the coming release of her first album in four years, posted a video on TikTok showing her walking around in what appeared to be Washington Square Park, as a snippet of a new song, What Was That, played.
On Tuesday, in an email-and-text blast to fans, she urged them to “Meet me in the park. Tonight 7pm.” She did not specify which park. She did not have to.
Lorde told fans to come and meet her in a New York park – but things quickly escalated. Credit: Ben Sklar
By 6pm, hundreds of young people had descended on Washington Square in Greenwich Village, creating a festive atmosphere, with Lorde songs blasting, some people smoking marijuana and several climbing trees for a better view of a concert that did not happen.
As the designated time approached, word began to spread that the Police Department had cancelled the concert. Many of those in the crowd stayed put, hoping that what they were hearing was just a bad rumour.
Siddhi Vora and Brady Arellano had come to the park together and were among those who waited. Vora, 26, said they would be upset if they were to leave and then Lorde turned up. Arellano, 27, took a seasonal perspective.
“We were just saying that this feels like the start of the summer,” he said. “So if she didn’t come out, it would feel like summer isn’t starting yet.”
Summer, it seemed, would have to wait.
Just before 7pm, Lorde posted an Instagram story confirming that the planned show would not proceed.
“Omg @thepark the cops are shutting us down,” she wrote. “I am truly Amazed by how many of you showed up!!! But they’re telling me you gotta disperse … I’m so sorry.”
A spokesperson for the Parks and Recreation Department confirmed that the city had blocked the show from proceeding because it lacked permits.
“[The department], in collaboration with the NYPD and the Mayor’s Office of Citywide Special Events, worked with the organisers to safely cancel the unpermitted event,” said the spokesperson, Meghan Lalor.
A police spokesperson said: “A sound and a parks permit is required to have a concert in a New York City park. This individual did not possess either.”
Representatives for Lorde did not respond to a request for comment.
In some ways, the spontaneous, unsanctioned event echoed one staged by social media star Kai Cenat at Union Square Park in August 2023, with an important difference: In that instance, thousands of his fans erupted in a chaotic melee after the police moved in to break it up.
Cenat was initially charged with inciting a riot. The charges were dropped after he agreed to post a public apology and pay for the damage that his mostly young, male fans had caused.
In Lorde’s case, many of those she had summoned to the park continued to hang around even after she told them to disperse, either in hopes that she might yet emerge or because, on a nice spring night, they had no place better to be.
“I’m waiting it out,” said Alexa Hamilton, 26, who had come to the park from work in SoHo. “Might as well. I’m not rushing to anything right now, so I am kind of hanging out until the crowd clears a little, and it’s easier to get out.”
As music continued to play, the anticipated performance by Lorde turned into a Lorde dance party. About 8pm, when it became clear that, as peaceful as they were, many people were not going to disperse on their own, about a half-dozen police officers waded into the crowd. They were greeted with a chorus of boos.
Minutes later, the speaker playing the music was cut off in the middle of Royals, which earned Lorde, 28, Grammys for song of the year and best pop solo performance in 2013.
“God forbid a girl have fun,” someone in the crowd said.
Then suddenly, in defiance of the police, the music was pumping again, and officers began to move toward the speaker. At that point, someone grabbed it and, after being instructed by the police, began to walk out of the park with many people following behind.
The crowd was soon flooding the street outside the park, with people cheering and the music continuing to play.
Those who had remained in the park or had made their way back were rewarded. Sometime after 8.30pm, according to video posted on social media, Lorde arrived in the park, climbed onto a small platform and danced with abandon as a speaker played What Was That.
The crowd, phones aloft, cheered, whooped, danced and sang along.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.