Laufey opened a two-night stand at Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles on Friday (Sept. 26) with a show that captured her unique place in pop — her music is rooted in jazz, but her concert has pop-superstar production values.
The A Matter of Time Tour, the Icelandic singer-songwriter’s third tour and her first that consists entirely of arena dates, began on Sept. 15 in Orlando. It will conclude in Kópavogur, Iceland, on March 15, 2026.
Laufey (it’s pronounced LAY-vay, for those still catching up to her) won a Grammy for best traditional pop vocal album in 2024 for her sophomore album, Bewitched, and she could be headed for another win in that category on Feb. 1 for her third album, A Matter of Time. The album entered the Billboard 200 at No. 4. It has topped Billboard’s Jazz Albums chart for the past four weeks. (Bewitched logged 102 weeks at No. 1 on that chart.)
For all she has achieved, you have the sense that, Laufey, just 26, is still climbing. She has some big looks upcoming. She may well land a performance slot on the Grammy telecast – it would be her first star turn on Music’s Biggest Night. (She performed “From the Start,” a song from Bewitched, on the 2024 Premiere Ceremony, which is streaming-only, and backed Billy Joel during his show-closing performance on that year’s telecast. Also, she is set to play the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival on Apr 19. She has said she would like to record a James Bond theme song, which seems inevitable, which could bring in a performance on the Oscar telecast. Are we getting ahead of ourselves? Perhaps, but it’s pretty clear to see the career trajectory she’s on.
Laufey didn’t get where she is by thinking small. In 2023, she told RUSSH that Taylor Swift is her favorite current artist. The reason she gave for that choice spoke to her ambitions: “She has done for pop and country what I hope to do for jazz. She has managed to unite people across the world which is one of my main goals as a musician.”
Laufey’s choice of opening act for her tour’s North American leg — English pop/rock artist Suki Waterhouse — also spoke to her pop ambitions.
In 2022, when Laufey first headlined in L.A., she played the legendary but comparatively tiny Troubadour. Her growth since then can be seen in her bookings: In November 2023, she played two nights at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel. On her return in August 2024, she played the Hollywood Bowl. This time, it was a sold-out, two-night stand at Crypto.
Here are the six best moments from Laufey’s opening night show at Crypto.com Arena.
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Cinematic Production Touches
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The show opened like a vintage film, with the words “Laufey Presents ‘A Matter of Time’” projected onto the screen. It began and ended with scrolling credits on side screens, listing all the musicians, backup dancers and other contributors to the performance.
“Cuckoo Ballet (Interlude),” a gorgeous instrumental track from A Matter of Time, was highly cinematic, and showed that Laufey might well have a future in film scoring.
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A Swinging Jazz Segment
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The concert was divided into acts, with the most satisfying being Act II, which was introduced with these words on the screen: “Ready for some jazz?” Laufey was backed by a jazz trio during this segment. “Welcome to my jazz club,” she told the audience. “I want to put a jazz club in the middle of a big space.”
The segment kicked off with “Seems Like Old Times,” first recorded by Guy Lombardo’s orchestra in 1945 and since covered by such jazz greats as Ella Fitzgerald and Rosemary Clooney. It was the only song she didn’t write or co-write in the set.
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Hozier Surprises as Special Guest
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Laufey performs a surprise song in every show, to make each show a unique experience, she said. Here, she reached back for “Magnolia,” from her 2021 EP, Typical of Me. She said she had recently discovered that the song works better as a duet and brought out a special guest, Hozier, to help her sing it. After they concluded the number, she fangirled: “I’m kind of freaking out because I’m such a big fan.”
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Musicianship on Full Display
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Over the course of the show, Laufey played piano, guitar and cello. Her voice, with a deeper timbre reminiscent of one of her favorite singers, Ella Fitzgerald, was also impressive.
She also showed a deep knowledge of music history. “Dreamer” had the close-harmony sound of a 1940s song, “Silver Lining” suggested the influence of 1950s-shaded doo-wop. A couple of songs, “Castle in Hollywood” and “Tough Luck” showed the influence of Taylor Swift on her songwriting. “Sabotage,” the final number in the set (before the encore) evoked the aggressive pop-rock of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire.”
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A Range of Human Emotion
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Laufey made note of the tonal “ups and downs” in her set, with its mix of happy and sad songs. “That’s what it feels like to be a woman,” she explained. “You go through every emotion in a 24-hour cycle.” Far be it from me to correct Laufey, but that’s what it feels like to be a human.
One of her most emotional songs is “Promise” (from Bewitched), which includes what she has called her favorite lyrics that she has written. “It hurts to be something, it’s worse to be nothing with you.” She performed the song by herself at the piano.
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Genuine Sense of Humility
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Laufey said that since she now lives in L.A., she often comes to Crypto.com Arena to see shows. “I’ve come to a lot of concerts here this year preparing for this and I thought, ‘There’s no way I’m playing here.’”
The singer remembered the first time she played L.A. at the Troubadour. She nervously peeked out through a window to view the audience and just hoped she would be able to do it again someday. “It was the biggest show I’d played to that point,” she said. “I was so scared it would slip away.”
She needn’t have worried.
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Set List
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ACT I
“Clockwork”
“Lover Girl”
“Dreamer”
“Falling Behind”
“Silver Lining”
“Bored”
“Too Little, Too Late”
“Bewitched”
ACT II
“Seems Like Old Times”
“Valentine”
“Fragile”
“While You Were Sleeping”
“Magnolia” (with Hozier)
“Let You Break My Heart Again”
ACT III
“Carousel”
“Forget-Me-Not”
“Cuckoo Ballet (Interlude)”
ACT IV
“Mr. Eclectic”
“Castle in Hollywood”
“Promise”
“Goddess”
“Tough Luck”
“Snow White”
“From the Start”
The Final Act
“Sabotage”
Encore
“Letter to My 13 Year Old Self”
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