I remember very clearly coming across Sigrid in my Apple Music recommended artists in April 2017. Something was very compelling about her, so after listening to her EP of the same name, I bought my ticket first thing Friday morning on the 15th of September for her show in the Academy the following March. This was followed for months by questions of ‘Sigrid who?’, ‘who the hell is that?’. Little did they know, she was about to blow up with her track ‘Strangers’ and become a force to be reckoned with. Following the sold-out Academy, she sold out the Olympia in record time and packed out the Electric Arena at Electric Picnic. So, when the time came around for her first ever headline arena show in Dublin’s 3Arena on the 22nd November of this year, it felt only right. The sold-out arena had so much anticipation as it waited for Norway’s finest to perform. There were people of all ages there, from 5-year old children to couples in their 60s. The universal appeal of Sigrid can’t be understated and is clear to see.

As the lights turned down, the intro begins and on she comes like a bursting ball of energy, opening with her carefree summer single ‘Mine Right Now’. The crowd is loving it. She’s also loving it and she’s as smiley as ever. Sigrid has always been viewed as a nice person and many industry promoters and artist liaisons at festivals have said on record that she’s the nicest artist they’ve ever worked with. It’s not hard to see why. She radiates very little ‘celebrity’ energy. Sigrid is among the few popstars of today that you can imagine at home emptying the dishwasher and arguing with her brother about what tv show they watch. She can get up and smash the stage with her powerful vocals and trademark flowing dance moves but underneath it all, she’s just a normal human.

This ‘girl next door’ energy is always being thrust at the audience in between songs as she looks out at 13,000 people with a look of pure confusion on her face wondering why this many people have paid money to come see her show. This is the humility that won them over in the first place, myself included. She’s become known for her explosive choruses and the set is full of them as she starts the audience clapping their hands on the bridge of her 2018 single ‘Schedules’. She then drives them wild as she introduces ‘Sight Of You’ by saying she wrote it about Electric Picnic.

Sigrid has always had a soft spot for Ireland. Sometimes I feel like the only person in this country who wasn’t at Electric Picnic to see her in 2018, although I did try for tickets! She makes this love very clear in how she addresses the crowd and constantly reminds the audience that Ireland is her favourite place to play outside of her homeland. Of course, the crowd laps it up and feeds that love right back to her. Behind her are her 4-piece band; Sondre, Peter, Kristina and Casper. The video screen always has a good backdrop of bright colours, flashing lyrics and patterns. The entire production is very much like stepping into a world of synaesthesia, with colour bouncing around to climactic pop tracks.

Towards the end, Sigrid sat at the piano alone and the 3Arena lit up with lights as she belts out her piano ballad ‘Dynamite’. This was the song in the set to break her, and she bursts into tears. She once again reminds the Irish that she appreciates the support and says she’s ‘honoured’ to play her first headline arena show in Ireland. She reminds the audience once again about how Ireland has a special place in her heart, and how it feels like home. She segways into talking about her hometown of Ålesund, Norway, and points out her proud as punch parents taking pride of place sitting in the first few rows of the balcony, with Norwegian flags. This brings her to her recent single ‘Home To You’, written about her hometown. I’m not usually one to find the highlight of a concert in the stripped-down part of the set, I usually prefer the high-energy bangers and to jump around. But something was special and compelling about this, it felt like a special moment to Sigrid.

The tears quickly ended as she hyped up the crowd to sing her standout song ‘Strangers’. She then ends the set with her effervescently happy ‘Don’t Feel Like Crying’. She abandons the mantra of the song briefly to shed a small tear, but the crowd forgives this as the last chorus ripples through the arena in a tempest of orange confetti.

One last moment to celebrate comes after her departure from the stage. As the lights come on and Don’t Start Believing starts to play as the audience starts to make their way home. We are all delighted when Sigrid and her band run back on stage for one last dance. She leaves the mic on the stand and lip syncs along, even borrowing a guitar for a quick “solo”. This kind of childlike joy left a lasting impression and is why people will continue to show up for Sigrid as long as she keeps coming here. I left the 3Arena with pride remembering her in the Academy and left longingly waiting for the next time she graces our shores.