There’s a rainbow of humanity packed into Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion tonight. Young girls stand alongside their mums, drag queens mingle with devoted pop fans, and every corner of the venue seems to represent a different part of Zara Larsson’s enormous following. Different ages, different identities, one thing in common: they absolutely love Zara.
And there’s something rather brilliant about that. In an era when pop fandom can feel fiercely tribal, Larsson attracts a crowd that cuts across generations and communities. Tonight, the Hordern is a celebration of pop music’s ability to bring people together, with the Swedish superstar at its centre.
Larsson is no overnight sensation. Her journey began in 2008 when, aged just ten, she wins Sweden’s Talang television competition. Nearly two decades later, she’s an international pop heavyweight with billions of streams, a string of global hits and a career increasingly shaped on her own terms.
Her breakthrough arrived with 2017’s So Good, an album that delivered Lush Life, Never Forget You, Ain’t My Fault and I Would Like. Add her chart-topping collaboration with Clean Bandit on Symphony, and it’s a catalogue that has become part of the soundtrack to an entire generation.
But Larsson isn’t content to live off past hits. After taking ownership of her music catalogue in 2022 and establishing her own label, Sommer House, she released Venus in 2024 before following it with Midnight Sun in 2025. It’s a move that gives her greater control over her music and her future.
And Midnight Sun is the sound of an artist embracing that freedom. Confident, playful and occasionally vulnerable, the album moves between desire, uncertainty and outright swagger without losing its pop instincts. Its title track earned Larsson her first Grammy nomination and introduces her to an even wider audience.
Larsson is an artist whose audience has grown up alongside her, and tonight Sydney turns out in all its glorious diversity to celebrate just how far she’s come.
The tour moves to Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth next, before returning to Sydney. Tickets HERE.
Images Deb Pelser
