Laufey brings the "A Matter of Time Tour" to Shanghai
Laufey is coming to Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai on Wednesday, June 17, 2026 at 19:30, in the final part of the Chinese leg of the "A Matter of Time Tour". For audiences who have followed her since the early recordings of jazz standards and intimate ballads, this is an opportunity to hear how her songs have moved from rooms, clubs and orchestral stages into a large arena. For those who are only discovering her through the songs "From The Start", "Promise", "Goddess", "Lover Girl" or "Tough Luck", the Shanghai concert offers a clear cross-section of her world: jazz vocals, pop choruses, string elegance, bossa nova warmth and lyrics that sound like a diary written after midnight.
Ticket sales for this event are ongoing.
Laufey is not a typical pop star of the arena format. Her recognizability lies precisely in the contrast: a voice that leans on the tradition of Ella Fitzgerald and the atmosphere of Chet Baker, but sentences that belong to today's generation of listeners. In the songs one can hear piano, guitar, strings and orchestral arrangements, but also a very contemporary directness: insecurity, idealizing love, anger after a breakup, self-irony and vulnerability without exaggerated drama. That is why the concert at Mercedes-Benz Arena is not just a pop performance with beautiful melodies, but a meeting of different audiences - jazz lovers, music students, pop fans, romantics and listeners who love quiet songs in a large space.
Why this stage of the career matters
"A Matter of Time" was released as Laufey's third studio album and marked the expansion of her sound toward a larger, more cinematic and more emotionally open image. After the album "Bewitched", which brought her a Grammy in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category, Laufey continued with the new album to build a bridge between older vocal styles and contemporary pop writing. The change in tone is especially important: on "A Matter of Time" there is more sharpness, more inner unrest and more contrast between elegant arrangements and lyrics that are not always gentle.
Songs such as "Tough Luck" and "Lover Girl" explain that shift well. "Tough Luck" shows a more temperamental side, with a story about love that went wrong, while "Lover Girl" retains the recognizable melodiousness and almost cinematic lightness. "Snow White" opens a more sensitive space, and "Silver Lining" brings the kind of gentle shine by which her songs quickly become recognizable. In a concert context, this means that the audience does not come only for a nostalgic jazz-pop atmosphere, but also for the dynamics between a whisper, a big chorus and orchestral tension.
Previous performances on the tour have shown that the program relies strongly on the album "A Matter of Time", but does not neglect the songs that brought Laufey to a wider audience. At earlier concerts in Europe, the songs "From the Start", "Promise", "Goddess", "Letter to My 13 Year Old Self", "Tough Luck", "Snow White" and "How I Get" appeared. This does not mean that the Shanghai set list is guaranteed in advance, but it gives a good sense of the kind of arc the audience can expect during the evening: from new songs to compositions sung loudly, as a shared chorus of a generation that discovered jazz through social media and then continued listening to it live.
What the audience can expect from the performance
The most attractive part of Laufey's concert is often the way intimacy is not lost in a large hall. Her songs have enough space for quiet moments - a piano phrase, a short vocal pause, a line the audience knows by heart - but also enough arrangement breadth to fill an arena. In that sense, Mercedes-Benz Arena is an interesting choice: the space holds up to 18,000 guests on the main stage, but the seating configuration and modern production can enable a sense of focus on the performer, especially in songs in which the voice carries almost all the tension.
Her concerts are not based on aggressive speed or constant increases in tempo. Instead, the evening is usually built in waves. One part of the audience comes for the romance of songs such as "From The Start" and "Promise". Another part seeks the more dramatic and mature moments from the new album. A third will pay attention to musical details: jazz harmonies, phrasing, the dialogue between voice and instruments, transitions between old-fashioned charm and a contemporary pop sensibility. Precisely because of this, the concert can also be attractive to audiences who otherwise do not often go to large pop performances.
Tickets for this event are in demand.
Songs and moods that define Laufey
Laufey's audience often arrives with a very personal relationship to the songs. "From The Start" became an entry point for many new listeners, with a light rhythm and a chorus that is quickly remembered. "Goddess" brings a more serious, more stripped-down emotional charge. "Promise" and "Letter to My 13 Year Old Self" show her tendency to write from the perspective of memory, shame, tenderness and self-acceptance. The material from the album "A Matter of Time" adds another color: less perfect, less "postcard-like", and more human.
This is an important reason why her rise is interesting. Laufey did not revive jazz as a museum object, but translated it into the language of listeners who live in a fast digital rhythm, yet still seek melody, harmony and story. At the concert, that fusion is heard most clearly: an old form does not sound old when the text is immediate, and a pop song gains a different weight when behind it stands a musician who knows how to use silence as convincingly as a big chorus.
Mercedes-Benz Arena as a concert venue
Mercedes-Benz Arena is located at 1200 Shibo Avenue in Pudong, in an area connected with the former Expo site. The hall is part of a larger complex that includes the main stage, a smaller concert space, shopping and hospitality facilities. For concert visitors, this is practical: around the arena one can plan an earlier arrival, dinner before the performance or a shorter stay after the program, without the need for complicated movement through the city.
For Laufey, such a space is especially interesting because her music seeks a balance between size and detail. In an arena with a capacity of up to 18,000 guests, choruses can gain a choral effect, especially in songs the audience knows from the first line. At the same time, modern hall infrastructure is important for the quieter parts of the program, where the difference between a good and a superficial experience often depends on vocal clarity and control of dynamics. The audience seated farther from the stage will probably experience the concert as a broader image, while the lower sections will more strongly feel the small gestures, communication and musical transitions.
Seats are disappearing fast.
- Hall: Mercedes-Benz Arena, Shanghai
- Location: 1200 Shibo Avenue, Pudong, next to China Art Museum and Expo Axis
- Main stage capacity: up to 18,000 guests
- Complex: main arena, Live House, retail zone, hospitality facilities and additional services for visitors
- Nearest metro: China Art Museum Station on Line 8, Exit 4
How to get to the hall
The simplest choice for most visitors will be the metro. The hall is connected with several lines and exits, which is useful because large concerts create crowds before the beginning and after the end. Line 8 leads to China Art Museum Station, from where Exit 4 is listed as the nearest option. Alternatively, Yaohua Road Station on Lines 7 and 8 can be used, or Shibo Avenue Station on Line 13. Those arriving by car can use the arena's parking lots or nearby parking areas, but for an evening concert in a large arena it is worth counting on slower entry into and exit from the zone.
For travelers coming to Shanghai from other parts of China or from abroad, Pudong is practical because the concert can be combined with a tour of the Expo area, a walk along the river or a visit to museums and business districts. Shanghai is a city where distances may look shorter on a map than they are in real traffic, so it is wisest to arrive earlier, check the sector and entrance on the ticket, and then leave enough time for security checks and finding the seat.
One should not count on all practical details being the same for every concert in the arena. Rules on bringing in items, the time when entrances open and any organizational notes may change according to production and local rules. Therefore, before departing, it is useful to check the instructions of the hall and the organizer for the specific day, especially if you are carrying a larger bag, camera or additional equipment.
Who this concert is especially attractive for
This concert has several layers of audience. The first are fans who have followed Laufey since the album "Everything I Know About Love" and who will recognize how her melodies have developed from intimate, almost chamber-like songs into an arena program. The second are listeners who discovered her through "Bewitched" and the Grammy, when it became clear that her combination of jazz, classical music and pop was not a brief internet trend. The third are those who come because of the new album, because "A Matter of Time" brings a more mature emotional range and songs that can be experienced differently live than through headphones.
The concert is especially interesting for couples, groups of friends and younger audiences who like music with a strong visual and emotional identity, but it is not limited only to them. Older listeners can recognize in her sound a touch of standards, bossa nova and orchestral pop. Musicians and music students will have something to listen for in the harmonies, phrasing and arrangements. The wider audience will receive an evening that does not require knowledge of the entire discography, but rewards those who know the lyrics and the small transitions between songs.
It is worth securing tickets in time.
Shanghai as a stop on the tour
The Shanghai date comes after performances in Chengdu, Guangzhou and Beijing, making Mercedes-Benz Arena one of the key Chinese stops on the tour. This gives the evening additional weight for the regional audience: it is not a passing club concert, but an arena format in a city that regularly attracts international tours. For Laufey, whose identity naturally moves between different musical and cultural spaces, the performance in Shanghai fits well into the wider Asian part of the tour.
The host city has a special concert logic. Shanghai combines business rhythm, nightlife, artistic districts and an audience accustomed to international productions. Visitors who travel can fit the concert into several days in the city: Pudong and the Huangpu waterfront provide a modern panorama, while other parts of the city offer a different, slower rhythm. This is useful for audiences who are not coming only for one performance, but are planning a short trip around it.
How to prepare for the evening
For this kind of concert, the best preparation is not only to learn the choruses. It is worth listening to "A Matter of Time" as a whole, because the tour carries precisely that title and the new album gives context for the current stage of the career. Then one can return to "Bewitched" and the earlier songs that built her audience. Whoever wants to catch the full range should pay attention to the contrast between the lighter, more airy songs and those that are slower, darker and more vocally stripped down.
Practically, arrive early enough to avoid the last wave of crowds on the metro and around the entrances. Check the station and exit before departure, keep the ticket so that it is easily accessible and count on a large number of people returning toward the same lines at the same time after the concert. If you are coming with company, agree on a meeting place outside the densest area around the exits, because signal and movement may be slower when the arena empties.
The best experience of Laufey's concert will probably be had by those who accept its rhythm: not as a constant chase for a climax, but as an evening in which small musical details gather into a large picture. At one moment the audience may sing a chorus that has gone viral, at another listen to a line almost in silence. Precisely that transition - from personal to communal - is the reason why her music works well in an arena.
Before entering the arena
Mercedes-Benz Arena is part of a complex that can accommodate a large number of visitors, but that does not mean one should arrive at the last moment. For a concert at 19:30, it is reasonable to plan an earlier arrival, especially if you are entering for the first time, collecting a ticket, looking for the correct sector or coming from a more distant part of the city. The metro is the cleanest option for avoiding traffic jams, while a car can be practical for those coming from directions that are not well connected by lines, with caution because of congestion in parking lots.
The audience that wants the full atmosphere should remain open to the newer songs as well, not only to the biggest internet favorites. In the current stage of her career, Laufey is increasingly less only the author of charming jazz-pop miniatures, and increasingly more a performer who is building her own concert language. The Shanghai performance can therefore be a beautiful cross-section of her past and present: the songs that made her famous, new material that changes the tone and a large hall that turns it all into shared listening.
Sources:
- Laufeymusic.com - used for the schedule of the "A Matter of Time Tour" and confirmation of the performance at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai.
- Mercedes-Benz Arena - used for data on capacity, address, complex, metro and parking.
- GRAMMY.com - used to confirm Grammy awards for the albums "Bewitched" and "A Matter of Time".
- Pitchfork - used for the context of the album "A Matter of Time", release date, label framework and production context.
- setlist.fm - used for insight into songs that appeared at earlier performances of the tour, without claiming that the Shanghai set list is confirmed in advance.