Pop
Live Review: Rising star THERA cements status as next big thing with homecoming show
After wowing audiences across Europe, THERA played a victorious homecoming show in Prague.
For most young artists, opening a major arena tour can feel like being thrown in at the deep end. For THERA, however, the experience has quickly become a place where she is learning to thrive – and nowhere was that more evident than at her homecoming performance in O2 Arena Prague on March 2.
The 18-year-old singer-songwriter has been performing in front of tens of thousands of people each night across the continent as the main support act on Jason Derulo’s European leg of the The Last Dance World Tour. But the Prague show carried a different kind of weight: this time, she was singing for a home crowd – and for her family.
From the moment she stepped onto the stage, THERA appeared entirely at ease. Opening with Déjà vu, she quickly established the dark pop atmosphere that has become central to her sound: moody production, striking melodies and lyrics delivered with quiet intensity. It is a style that invites comparisons to artists like Billie Eilish, Lorde and Lana Del Rey, yet increasingly feels unmistakably her own.
Despite the scale of the arena – packed with around 20,000 fans – THERA managed to keep the performance personal.
Between songs she spoke to the audience in Czech, creating an immediate connection with the crowd, before returning to perform her English-language tracks with a calm confidence that belied her age.
Yet the night wasn’t without its emotional moments. At one point during the set, the singer caught sight of her grandparents in the audience – a moment that nearly overwhelmed her.
She told BANG Showbiz backstage after her performance: “I spotted my grandmother up in the crowd.
“I knew [my family] were here, but I didn’t know where they were all going to be sitting, I just happened to look up and see them, but then I had to look away because I thought I was going to cry.”
Musically, the set moved smoothly through several of her standout songs, including Fate, Rain and Do You See?, each highlighting the expressive quality of her voice. THERA’s vocals were particularly striking throughout the performance: controlled, atmospheric and emotionally charged without ever feeling overdone.
The most powerful moment of the night came with Guardian Angel. As the song built toward its emotional peak, thousands of fans across the arena lifted their phone lights, transforming the vast venue into a sea of soft white glow. It was a striking visual and an unexpectedly intimate moment, one that captured the connection quickly forming between the young artist and the crowd.
THERA also injected a burst of energy into the set with a cover of Break the Rules by Charli XCX, which had the audience singing along loudly from the opening line. The moment felt less like a support act filling time and more like a preview of the kind of crowd interaction THERA may well command with her own songs in the near future.
She closed with Rewind, bringing the set to a confident finish and leaving the audience with a clear sense that they had just watched an artist at the very beginning of a much bigger journey.
For now she may still be the support act on one of pop’s biggest tours. Judging by the response in Prague, though, it may not be long before she returns to arenas like this as the headliner.
For more information on THERA, click here
THERA O2 Arena, Prague, setlist:
Déjà vu
Fate
Rain
Do You See?
Guardian Angel
Break the Rules
Rewind
