Lorde crashes Lorde-themed club night, astonishing fans

Lorde performs at the 42nd annual American Music Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2014, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)

Fans attending a Lorde-themed club night at a Sydney venue were left in disbelief on Sunday night when the singer herself turned up to the event.

Those attending the club night, organized by Sugarush at Mary’s Underground, were only expecting to “come dance (or cry) in the club as DJ @xeimma plays all the eras,” as had been advertised.

But, shortly beforehand, whispers began to circulate at the venue that Lorde herself might attend because her security had done a walkthrough, Emma Parke, the DJ at the event, told CNN.

Then, 20 minutes before Lorde arrived, Parke got a heads-up that she was coming, teed up all her biggest Lorde hits, and “just hope(d) for the best,” she said.

The crowd had no such warning, however, and only realized the New Zealand star was there when she began interacting with some of them.

Two of Parke’s friends were the first to speak to the singer as she “tapped them on the shoulder and was like ‘Oh I heard there’s a club night on tonight…,’” Parke recalled.

“And then people turned their heads and started to notice. You just saw people processing it for a second, and then all of a sudden, there was this complete shift and chaos. But good chaos.”

Frenzied videos posted on Instagram show the Grammy-award winning singer on the dancefloor with her fans, dancing in the middle of a circle they formed around her.

“So many people had their own little moment with her,” Parke said. “Her energy was just so kind and genuine … It just felt like we were all friends, and she seemed stoked to be there.”

Lorde, whose real name is Ella Yelich-O’Connor, stayed around 20 minutes, at one point joining Parke on the stage where she was DJing. Then, as she turned to leave, Parke played “Girl, so confusing,” a remix track on which Lorde collaborated with Charli XCX, and “she ended up coming back into the mosh, and stuck around a little longer.”

The club night had been scheduled to coincide with the release of Lorde’s latest single, “What Was That,” ahead of her new album, “Virgin,” dropping on June 27.

This was the second surprise appearance Lorde has made in the run-up to her album release. In April, she danced with fans in New York’s Washington Square Park after police shut down her attempt to stage an impromptu concert.