Looking around at the crowd that packed into The Triffid for King Princess’ first ever Brisbane show, I had to quickly triple check the 18+ age restriction on the show as everyone seemed barely legal to be in attendance. But the freshly-faced 18 year old crowd ecstatically sang along to Avril Lavigne’s 2000 cult favourite ‘Complicated’ before the aesthetically set neon lights dimmed for King Princess’ arrival. Walking on stage to ear deafening screams, her smile beamed as she greeted the excited crowd. “What’s up cuties?” she exclaimed, “I’m so excited, do you wanna hear some songs?” she teased. Walking up to her keyboard she intimately oozed through opener ‘Make My Bed’ before making her way to the front of the stage for the groovy ‘Upper West Side’. As she casually vaped her way in between songs, she playfully bantered with the crowd. Someone yelled out “I’m so gay” and she quickly replied “Good! It’s a requirement to be here” which had the crowd screaming in acceptance. With only 6 songs officially released, a lot of the set heavily relied on unreleased material from her forthcoming debut album. And the crowd couldn’t have been more on board with exclusively hearing these tracks. ‘Cold’ and ‘Sunburn’ delivered some jazzy rock vibes that had everyone just in awe of her commanding stage presence as she just grooved her way up and down the stage playing the guitar.
Halfway through the set a brief technical issue saw her keyboardists pedal stop working so instead of awkwardly stalling she took a moment to jump into the crowd and candidly get up close and personal. It was during this little impromptu portion that she addressed her new single ‘Pussy Is God’ which was released the day before. She regretfully announced she wouldn’t be singing it or crowd favourite ‘Holy’ that everyone kept yelling at her to do. But as the technical issue finally got resolved she took her place back on stage and confessed “I’m so drunk and nervous right now” before playing the emotionally raw and euphoric ‘Talia’. This was a pop moment that felt so therapeutic and beautiful, as everyone sang along to the emotionally raw hook “If I drink enough I swear that I will wake up next to you” in unison.
As she gushingly looked out to the supportive crowd, her smiled beamed bigger and bigger as she played another new song before admitting “I’m probably going to be playing this song until I die” whilst introducing the breakthrough hit ‘1950’. As she walked off stage she came back on for a gritty obscure cover before closing the show with ‘Ohio’. This new track hears her channeling easy Courtney Love with shredding guitars and a badass attitude.
She commanded the crowds attention throughout the whole show by giving them a very interactive and playful experience. However the set felt very short and for an artist who doesn’t have many songs, by not playing two of the songs you’ve released was a little strange. But minus this little flaw, she gave an incredible and powerful show full of acceptance, equality, vulnerability and empowerment.
Remaining Tour Dates;
Tuesday November 6 – Metro Theatre, Sydney
Thursday November 8 – Powerstation, Auckland