On October 21, 2022, King Princess took the stage and rocked the roof off the sold out Commodore Ballroom.
"GET FUCKING CRAZY!"
The crowd was loud, singing along to every song, while dancing the night away. The crowd itself, mostly, I’d say 90% female, screamed with a fervour usually reserved for boy bands. The decibel level hit red when King Princess took the stage, at 9:20. The noise didn’t stop there, they engaged with King Princess as she frequently stopped to engage with them. King Princess herself traversed the stage with a charisma and confidence beyond her 23 years. It’s easy to understand why her fans hung on her every word. There’s a relatability, it’s almost like watching your best-friend up there, and you could feel that.
"Hey aNTOINE! cAN I HAVE THAT MOTHER-FUCKING PUSSY!"
Tonight, the Brooklyn native was taking requests. The first up was “Trust Nobody” of her 2020 album, Cheap Queen. A few more were peppered in throughout the show. In the encore she took a live request, having the crowd choose between, “Hold on Baby Interlude” and “Do You Wanna See Me Crying?” by the smallest of cheering margins, the former won out.
Though the biggest cheer on the night for a song might’ve been for “Talia.” A song that King Princess had never played live. She asked the crowd to put their phones down, and be in the moment, and that they didn’t need to record her old shit. From what I could tell, everyone complied. The floor thumped for the entirety of the song, as everyone jumped up and down.
Most of the night King Princess moved around the stage, not letting her non-reverse Firebird tether her to one spot on the stage. She also rocked an SG and a Barclay acoustic (for the gear-heads among us). She’d grab the mic and move around or engage with the other members of her band. Her piano, which took a prominent place on stage was only used twice, once being the aforementioned “Hold on Baby Interlude.”
"I write songs about being a bottom. I didn't know this until you pointed it out to me on twitter."
"You guys are so validating. Thank you so fucking much."
Before the show, I honestly wasn’t that familiar with King Princess, but after tonight she’s got herself a new fan. It was an amazing show, and I can easily see a not so distant future when myself and those in attendance will brag about seeing tonights headliner in such an intimate venue. Both the performance and the reaction to her shows a future where she’ll be selling out much larger venues, for years to come.
Were you at the show? What did you think?