It is hard to believe Laufey is actually real.

Part of it is certainly the conventional shock of seeing a famous person. But something about seeing the Chinese Icelandic singer-songwriter — the alpha and omega of the TikTok music scene — living and breathing onstage at The Theatre at Ace Hotel Los Angeles, just felt different than any other concert by an artist of old-school fame.

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Laufey, now 24, shuffled shyly onstage Sunday night to close off the North American leg of her “Bewitched” tour, promoting her highly received album of the same name. She spent the first few songs seemingly convincing the audience that she was in fact real, and that she would be delivering a performance reaching far beyond the screens through which her millions of fans have viewed her many songs, covers and quirky trend-conscious promo videos.

The most striking of such attempts was a drastic swivel stage-right by the spotlights, away from Laufey and onto the drummer and bassist as they built up a rumbling interlude, evoking the sort of imagined 1950s New York City jazz club vibe that Laufey has worked tirelessly to associate herself with over the years. This interlude revealed itself to be an introduction to “Dreamer,” a quite Broadway-esque track off “Bewitched” — and performed as such, too, with Laufey serving poses and prancing about in her wedding-white dress as if acting out a musical number.

At times, she resisted the sort of stationary performance as seen in her TikToks and instead diverted the audience’s attention this way and that, breaking out of that 9:16 frame at every possible opportunity. That has been one of the primary challenges for Laufey, as an artist born out of — and in every way defined by — social media: to grow out of that shell of viral audios and short clips and convince her audience that she can thrive beyond it as a full-fledged artist.

Sunday night’s performance affirms that, beyond any doubt, she has succeeded immensely in that regard.

Her breathtaking set, a 17-song marathon of the “Bewitched” tracklist and then some, was prefaced by an equally captivating performance from Adam Melchor. The 27-year-old from New Jersey, equipped with nothing but an acoustic guitar, a loose cotton V-neck and slacks, was arguably the perfect opener for Laufey.

In many ways, the two are mirror images. They both maintain an unabashed vulnerability with their listeners. They both have grown their audiences with heartfelt, intimate covers, with only a spare instrument for accompaniment. They both have stunning vocals that are impossible to turn away from once heard.

And these similarities make sense: Melchor was a day-one collab for Laufey. They even released a duet, “Love Flew Away,” in 2021 — long before the algorithm propelled Laufey to the chart-topping jazz stardom she enjoys today.

One would expect, based on said duet and other studio releases, that Melchor would be more soft-spoken and intimate. But Ace Hotel is an extravagant venue — with a towering ceiling and walls spread far apart, all with elaborate engravings — that demands grandiosity of the performer, and Melchor delivered. He filled the large theater with ease, belting with great angst at high tenor range, as if he ate it for breakfast. (He studied opera in college, so perhaps he did eat it for breakfast.)

So, too, did Laufey meet the demands of the venue’s acoustics when she took the stage. “Lovesick,” a mellower track on the studio album, transformed into an Olivia Rodrigo shout ballad. “California and Me,” rearranged for a string quartet from the orchestral original, pulled at the crowd’s heartstrings with a yearning and embracing melancholy. (Her decision to feature a string quartet so prominently, not just as embellishments on a pop sound as do many others of her age and popularity, was also a stunning reminder of her time at the Berklee College of Music, and those classical and jazz roots that now underpin her entire discography.)

Of course, she still shined in the softer moments. “Nocturne (Interlude),” “Promise” and “Bewitched,” among others, were minimal. The audience watched in silent awe as her signature crooning voice, paired with just a piano or guitar, echoed from the walls.

Speaking of which, the audience gave the impression of a real-life TikTok comments section. There were the usual “I love yous” and other guttural screams, but some of the screams were more fully formed phrases — “ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE,” one person boomed — and some were even complete sentences, though unintelligible to most. Equally curious was the relative scarcity of phones held up to record: There was the expected bare minimum, of course, but why record when the artist herself has offered up so much high-quality content of her own to be consumed at any time?

Laufey, for her part, seemed to relish the opportunity to see her fans in person — leaning over and singing directly to some in the front row, smiling at others, waving at those in the balcony — as if equally awestruck by the concertgoers as they were by her.

Laufey closed out the night with two encore songs, “While You Were Sleeping” — the last of a series of “surprise songs” she performed at the end of her shows in the North America tour — and “Letter To My 13 Year Old Self.”

“I was just reflecting on the incredible year that I’ve had,” she said as she introduced the latter, “and how a younger version of myself would be so proud. I didn’t think any of this was possible — not in a million years.”

But it was possible; and it is just the beginning of what is sure to be an illustrious career, far beyond the imagination of her 13-year-old self, even beyond her expectations now as she sang those words of encouragement to that younger version: “Write your story, fall in love a little too / The things you thought you’d never do.” In the meantime, “Lauvers” — as Laufey has taken to calling her fans — will lie in wait, screaming to her their confessions of love in comments sections until the next opportunity arrives to do it in person.