Live Review: Robyn at the Kia Forum

Electric, dancey, and dopamine-filled energy took over the Kia Forum for the first night of Robyn’s two-show run in Los Angeles. The Swedish pop star brought fans together to dance and sing along on the Sexistential Tour, supporting her album of the same name released earlier this year in March. The album is chock-full of everything that makes Robyn distinctly Robyn: sultry and sometimes melancholy lyrics layered over pop production perfection and danceable beats. It came as little surprise that night one at the Forum was sold out. Everyone was ready to dance and have a good time.

The night did not start with Robyn, however, as two very special guests warmed up the crowd before the main event. Swedish singer and performer Zhala took the stage first at around 7:30 to bring some early energy into the arena. With tracks that share some of the dance-pop experimentation found throughout Robyn’s music, it is no surprise that Zhala is also signed to Robyn’s Konichiwa Records. A highlight of her set came with the infectious “Slippin Around” from her 2015 self-titled album, pairing her strong vocals with an eccentric and high-energy performance. It was an overall good time and an appropriate introduction to the night ahead.

Following Zhala was a rare treat indeed. Belgian-based DJ and pop star horsegiirL, also known as Stella Stallion, brought the energy up to a ten with a set centered around her 2026 album nature is healing. She walked onto the stage at around 8:20 to something closer to a sound bath than a traditional DJ introduction. Healing frequencies and a light drum pattern washed over the Forum, a fitting entrance for an album partially dedicated to the healing power of nature.

That tranquility quickly disappeared as her set kicked off with “351%,” a track dedicated to girl math, being hot, and all of the wonderfully absurd ideas that occupy horsegiirL’s world. From there, she moved deeper into the frantic techno and pop production that has made her such a unique presence in dance music. “eat sleep slay repeat” was another highlight, giving the audience a little dance to follow along with each of the song’s movements while the beat pounded through the arena.

“rivers run free” provided another high point in the set, balancing that playful energy with something unexpectedly introspective. Dedicated to life and the water cycle, the song reflects on how tears become rivers and rivers ultimately give life. It was something to dance to while also being strangely reflective, a crossroads that nature is healing finds itself at throughout the album. One moment is ridiculous and funny, while the next can be surprisingly sincere, but both somehow still leave plenty of room to dance.

Before her set ended, horsegiirL teased an unreleased track titled “Cunt-ry Girl Rock,” a collaboration with Dylan Brady of 100 gecs. After one final burst of energy, the pounding beats faded and the healing frequencies returned. Ending with another sound bath brought the performance full circle, closing with the same sense of tranquility that had introduced her set.

With the energy already high following horsegiirL’s performance, anticipation for Robyn only continued to grow. The floor of the arena filled up more and more as fans waited for her arrival. In the meantime, the stage crew draped the stage in a massive white curtain, an initially simple addition that would become an important part of the stage design throughout the show.

At around 9:30, the lights dimmed and a roar immediately spread throughout the arena. In the middle of the flowing white curtain, a spotlight revealed Robyn’s silhouette as the opening notes of “Blow My Mind” filled the room. Behind her, lights rotated with the beat of the song, creating a dizzying and electrifying effect through an otherwise simple visual trick. Before the curtain had even opened, Robyn had already managed to transform the stage.

The curtain eventually opened as she transitioned into “Fembot,” where Robyn leaned into the song with classic robot-style dance moves. Behind her, a bar of red light scurried from one side of the stage to the other, cutting through the white flashes that had dominated the opening. The sharp contrast between the red and white lighting gave the stage a more mechanical feeling that paired naturally with the track as Robyn danced across it.

“Talk to Me” and “Hang With Me” continued the opening stretch, but “Ever Again” was the moment when the audience collectively seemed to decide that sitting was no longer an option. Fans throughout the Forum rose from their seats and started dancing, immediately changing the energy inside the arena. Any remaining distinction between an arena seat and a spot on the dance floor quickly began to disappear.

That energy carried directly into “Dopamine,” which also introduced the first pyrotechnics of the night. Firework-like bursts popped above Robyn as she performed, adding another layer to a production that had relied largely on lighting, movement, and the massive curtain until that point. From the crowd getting onto its feet during “Ever Again” to the sudden explosions overhead during “Dopamine,” the show continued finding new ways to build upon itself.

“Honey” allowed that energy to simmer without bringing it to a complete stop before Robyn moved into a cover of Jamie xx’s “Life.” “Don’t Fucking Tell Me What to Do” followed, with its repetitive structure becoming increasingly hypnotic as it filled the Forum. By this point, the arena had firmly become a dance floor, with Robyn moving through different shades of electronic and pop music without sacrificing the momentum she had spent the first half of the set building.

One of the more interesting transitions of the night arrived before “Sexistential.” Rather than immediately launching into the familiar studio version, the instrumental from Arca’s remix played first, briefly pulling the song into the producer’s more experimental electronic world. The remix eventually gave way to the studio version, bringing Robyn back to the title track of both the album and tour. It was a small transition within the larger show, but one that reflected how easily Robyn’s pop sensibilities could exist alongside something stranger and more abrasive.

After “Really Real,” the night began moving toward a more emotional stretch. Before “Love Kills,” Robyn asked the crowd, “Have you ever been in love? Has anyone ever hurt you?” The questions perfectly introduced a song built around the painful reality that opening yourself up to love can also mean opening yourself up to heartbreak. Against dance production, that sentiment captured one of the defining contradictions that has long existed in Robyn’s music. The subject matter can be devastating while the music underneath it still demands movement.

Following “Love Kills,” the massive curtain returned, briefly enclosing the stage and signaling another change in the show. “Be Mine!” and “Show Me Love” were performed in more acoustic and understated arrangements, providing some breathing room after the constant electronic pulse that had carried much of the night. Stripping the songs back also shifted the focus toward Robyn’s voice and songwriting, showing that the emotional core of the music remained even when much of the production was taken away.

The pace began to pick back up with “Light Up,” which also brought another surprise as Robyn welcomed a special guest onto the stage. “Sucker for Love” and “Indestructible” continued pushing the set toward its final stretch, bringing the dance-pop energy back into the foreground after the quieter moments that preceded them. By then, the show had moved through multiple moods without ever feeling disconnected, bouncing between intimacy and the kind of massive pop moments built for an arena.

“With Every Heartbeat” brought the main set to its conclusion, with the curtain once again becoming an integral part of the performance. As the fabric moved around Robyn, it almost appeared to be dancing alongside her, transforming one of the simplest elements of the production into something that felt alive. The song’s gradual emotional build paired beautifully with the movement surrounding her before Robyn eventually disappeared from the stage, leaving the crowd waiting for what everyone knew could not possibly be the end.

A little after 11 p.m., Robyn returned to the stage for the encore, opening with “Missing U” before moving into “Call Your Girlfriend.” Both songs were met with massive reactions as the Forum once again turned into a sea of people dancing and singing together. After spending the night moving through different eras of her career, however, there was still one song hanging over the room, and everyone seemed to know what was coming.

When “Dancing on My Own” finally began, the reaction was immediate. During the first chorus, the music dropped out completely and thousands of voices took its place, screaming the lyrics back at Robyn without any instrumental underneath them. Rather than immediately continuing, Robyn crouched down onstage and took in the sound of the sold-out arena singing her song back to her. Visibly emotional, she began to cry as the crowd continued around her, taking a moment to collect herself before she could start singing again.

It was a surreal way to experience a song fundamentally rooted in loneliness. “Dancing on My Own” is about being on the outside, watching someone else from a distance and attempting to dance through the hurt. Inside the Forum, there was nothing solitary about it. Thousands of people shouted the same words together while Robyn herself became overwhelmed by the response, turning a song about isolation into perhaps the most communal moment of the entire night.

That contradiction captured what Robyn had been doing from the moment her silhouette first appeared behind the white curtain. Her music has always found a place where sadness and euphoria can exist simultaneously, where love, heartbreak, sex, loneliness, and desire can be processed beneath flashing lights and pounding dance beats. Watching her crouched onstage in tears as thousands of people carried the chorus for her made that connection especially clear. “Dancing on My Own” may be built around isolation, but on this night, it became a reminder of just how many people have found themselves within Robyn’s music.

Setlist

1. Blow My Mind
2. Fembot
3. Talk to Me
4. Hang with Me (paola cover)
5. Ever Again
6. Dopamine
7. Honey
8. Life (jamie xx cover)
9. Don’t fucking tell me what to do
10. Sexistential
11. Really real
12. Love kills
13. Be mine!
14. Show me love
15. Light up
16. Sucker for love
17. Indestrucible
18. With every heartbeat

Encore

19. Missing u
20. Call your girlfriend
21. Dancing on my own