On 2 October 2014 , Lorde performed " Yellow Flicker Beat " for the first time at Hearst Greek Theatre in Berkeley , California . Later that month , she gave a live rendition of the track at the ACL Music Festival . The overall performance was praised . Lorde performed the song at the 2014 American Music Awards on 23 November 2014 . She began the performance by singing inside of an " orange-lit box " . Halfway through the song , the box lifted , exposing Lorde in a white crop top and black pants outfit to the audience and was accompanied with a group of white-clad dancers . She ended by smearing her lipstick on-stage . The performance was highly praised , particularly Lorde 's stage presence and was considered one of the night 's best by several publications . '' Billboard '' described the performance as " an honest , impeccable portrayal of Lorde ’s most idiosyncratic qualities . " , referring to it as " scary good " . The publication later ranked it the second best performance of the night , behind Taylor Swift 's " Blank Space " ( 2014 ) stating that Lorde proved to be the " coolest weird dancer in the pop world . " Miles Raymer of '' Entertainment Weekly '' gave the performance an A , expressing that despite being the show 's " most awkward moment , " Lorde delivered a " dose of bracing weirdness . " '' Rolling Stone '' compared her " thrashing and headbanging " to Nine Inch Nails ' " March of the Pigs " ( 1994 ) video . The publication also praised the singer 's " exquisitely intimate and intense " moments inside the box she performed in
2014 American Music Awards
American Music Awards of 2014
Yellow Flicker Beat