Tove Lo Returns to the U.S. With an Explosive ESTRUS Tour Opener in Nashville
There are tour openers, and then there are nights that feel like you are watching the beginning of an entirely new chapter. Tove Lo delivered the latter when she kicked off her ESTRUS World Tour at The Pinnacle in Nashville, returning to a U.S. stage for the first time in three years and essentially turning opening night into one massive listening party for an album that had not even been released yet.
A New Nashville Venue for a New Era
All Photos By: Aaron R. Shriver PhotographyThe Pinnacle has quickly become one of Nashville’s premier mid-sized concert venues. The state-of-the-art room officially opened in February 2025 as part of the massive 19-acre Nashville Yards development downtown. Operated by AEG Presents, the venue holds up to 4,500 fans and features a primarily general-admission setup with a large main floor, horseshoe-shaped balcony with rail-side standing areas, and first-come, first-served upper-level bleachers.
That layout worked especially well for Tove Lo. The room was intimate enough to feed off the energy coming from the stage while still feeling large enough to handle the full production of a major world tour.
Mallrat Gets Nashville Moving
Australian singer, songwriter and rapper Mallrat was given the job of warming up the Nashville crowd, and she proved to be a perfect fit.
The Brisbane native began writing music while still in high school after first experimenting with making music at just 11 years old. Her dreamy blend of pop, electronic music, and hip-hop created an easy transition into the night ahead.
Click The Image Above For The Full Mallrat Photo GalleryMallrat opened with “My Darling, My Angel” before moving through “Pavement” and “The Light Streams in and Hits My Face / Hocus Pocus.” One of the more recognizable moments came with her cover of Lana Del Rey’s “Radio,” while “Something for Somebody,” “Wish on an Eyelash,” “Ray of Light,” and the closing combination of “Hideaway / Love Songs” rounded out a set that did exactly what an opening performance should do: leave the room ready for more.
Tove Lo Returns
Then the lights disappeared. Smoke began filling the stage, anticipation took over the room, and Tove Lo emerged high above the stage on a riser as the ESTRUS era officially began.
Born Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson outside Stockholm, Sweden, Tove Lo built her career around an unapologetically candid approach to sex, relationships, heartbreak and the messier sides of being human. Her stage name comes from the Swedish word lo, meaning lynx, inspired by an animal she loved at a local zoo.
Melodies N’ Memories first discovered just how dynamic Tove Lo could be live during her 2017 Lollapalooza performance in Chicago, and nearly a decade later, that fearless stage presence has only become more refined.
Beyond her own career, Tove Lo has quietly helped shape modern pop as a songwriter, including co-writing Ellie Goulding’s massive hit “Love Me Like You Do,” while also writing with artists including Lorde and Dua Lipa.
Nashville, however, was all about what comes next.
Her sixth studio album, Estrus, arrived just two days after this performance, meaning the fans inside The Pinnacle were hearing much of the record before the rest of the world. Opening night featured an incredible number of live debuts, beginning immediately with “a lot of feelings, no solutions,” “roomie,” and “I’m the cake.”
Three songs into a brand-new world tour, and Nashville had already witnessed three live debuts. From there, Tove Lo reached backward with “Cool Girl,” “My Gun” and “Are U gonna tell her?” before unveiling another new one with “des fleurs,” her collaboration with Stromae.
That became the rhythm of the evening: something familiar followed by another glimpse into Estrus. “Moments” led into the live debuts of “if i could i would” and “die for my art with a lonely heart.” “Grapefruit” followed before another pair of debuts, “Idiot” and “DNH.”
The stage itself became part of the performance. Tove Lo repeatedly returned to the elevated riser, giving the production multiple levels and allowing her to command the entire room rather than remaining planted at center stage.
And then came classic Tove Lo.
During “Talking Body,” she told the crowd, “I’m going to do this till I die,” before flashing the audience, drawing one of the loudest reactions of the night. It was spontaneous, provocative, and completely on brand for an artist who has never been interested in sanitizing herself for anyone.
“disco tits,” “bitches,” “Lady Wood,” and “2 Die 4” kept the energy high before she revisited “Strangers,” her collaboration with Seven Lions, Myon & Shane 54. Another Estrus live debut, “source of life,” gave way to the emotional “No One Dies From Love,” followed by the premieres of “are we on a break” and “F.A.M.T.”
Click The Image Above For The Full Tove Lo Photo GalleryThen came the song that changed everything.
“Habits (Stay High)” remains one of the defining pop songs of Tove Lo’s career, and hearing thousands of fans sing it together more than a decade after its release showed just how much staying power it still carries. “The bad one” closed the main set with one final live debut before Tove Lo returned for a two-song encore of “HEAT” and “I’m your girl right?”
Opening night of the ESTRUS World Tour felt less like the first date of another touring cycle and more like being invited inside Tove Lo’s next chapter before everyone else. After three years away from U.S. stages, she didn't ease her way back in. She arrived with an unreleased album, a completely new show, a mountain of live debuts, and the same fearless attitude that has defined her career. The ESTRUS World Tour will now crisscross the globe, and if Nashville was any indication of what is ahead, this is one Tove Lo fans will not want to miss
