Mikaela Straus, aka King Princess, has been selling out concert after concert on her Cheap Queen tour supporting her debut album of the same name. If you’re not under the age of 21 and don’t have ovaries, you might not know of King Princess — yet — but you will, or should, soon. This 21-year old Sagittarius’ rise to popularity has been fairly quick but she showed all the signs of a seasoned professional on stage in St. Louis Thursday night at The Pageant (she’ll have even more time on stage this summer when she tours with Harry Styles in Europe).
All photos from the night: http://bit.ly/KingPrincess20cz
Straus jumped onto the stage through a large gilded oval structure fashioned to be a hand mirror that was held by hands splattered with red nail polish situated in front of a large framed landscape image. Backed by a full band, Straus commanded the stage and audience during her high-energy 75-minute performance.
After singing and playing piano during the opening song “Isabell’s Moment,” she went straight into “Tough on Myself.” The song’s lyrics, “I get too tough on myself / Sitting alone making fun of myself / Is it so wrong to just want someone else” are words anyone can relate to.
Straus kept the energy moving, twirling and bouncing across the stage, so her deeply reflective songs with her soulful, soft, atmospheric sound twinged with pop didn’t become too dark or moody.
She told the enamored crowd that the St. Louis show was the “second to last show of the tour. I’m going to need everyone to party with me,” prompting the young audience to shout with joy and dance shoulder to shoulder even more.
She also shared that, “tonight at 11 the deluxe edition [of Cheap Queen] comes out. I know you think it’s good because you bought a damn ticket.” She then joked that the fog machine smelled like waffles (it’s true, something sweet-smelling did waft out with the fog).
Highlights of the night included “Cheap Queen, “Pussy is God,” “Do You Wanna See Me Crying?,” “1950,” with encores “Forget About It” and “Ohio.”
With one album and several EPs already under her belt, Kilo Kish (Lakisha Kimberly Robinson) opened the night with a 30-minute set of synth-driven modernized dance/disco/pop sounds. As a performer who doesn’t want to be categorized, the 29-year-old half sang/half-rapped her way through her set dazzling the already packed crowd.
In between the Kilo Kish and King Princess, a “local drag queen*” performed a short, fun, fast lip-synched set that garnered much appreciation from the crowd.
*When we find out who the “local drag queen” performer was we’ll update with her name.
All photos from the night: http://bit.ly/KingPrincess20cz
Coming up next at The Pageant: https://www.thepageant.com/calendars/
