King Princess Brings Drag and Break-Up Anthems to the “Cheap Queen” Tour
Written by Rianne Akindele on October 19, 2019
King Princess embarked on her highly anticipated “Cheap Queen” tour earlier this October appeasing Texas fans by making her first ever concert stop in Houston. This being my third time seeing King Princess, having previously been in attendance at SXSW and Coachella, I came in knowing what to expect – that being a show put on by musicians who love to make music, love being young, and a crowd filled with fans who willing to sing out all their emotions. Rightfully named, the concert opened with a drag performance by local Houston queen, Angelina DM Trailz. Ms. Trailz was greeted with an excited welcome and she strutted, posed, and swang her ponytail across the stage to a Britney Spears filled soundtrack. I personally loved the fact that drag queens are part of the tour as an homage to such an important sector of queer culture.
After Ms. Trailz exited the stage and best friend/choreographer, Henry Metcalf, hyped up the crowed also clad in drag, King Princess and her band, consisting of Melody Ector on keys, Logan Leland on bass, Antoine Fadavi on drums, and Jonah on guitar, entered the stage clad in bleach white jumpsuits branded on their with the Cheap Queen moniker made out of silver sequins. To start the night off, KP took to the piano to ease the crowd in with a lovely serenade featuring her signature raspy vocals and followed up with the track “Cheap Queen”. Continuing on with a fan favorite of “Pussy Is God” the crowd’s energy steadied into a short chat as King Princess discussed her love for Texas, this tour stop being her first time to visit Houston, and how surprised she has been by the friendliness of the old, white men she had encountered.
Photo by Rianne Akindele
To start the second half of the concert, KP let us know that she would be performing everything already released on the Cheap Queen EP and backed up our beliefs that it is indeed a breakup album. While breakups can be sad, there were no tears in the crowd as ballads like “Ain’t Together” and not yet released “You Destroyed My Heart” are heavily influenced by rock and dance music. That coupled with KP’s twirls across the stage has you smiling through it all. In the midst of the emotional songs, KP checked on the audience with a simple, “How you gays doing?” to address her prominently queer fanbase to which was met with a wall of screams letting the singer know everyone was having a great time. Not wanting to only play her new music, King Princess also performed her classics like “Talia” and my personal favorites “1950” and “Upper West Side” as an ode to her beginnings. Another one of my favorite things about attending a King princess concert is now talented and into the music the band is. There is never a moment when they themselves aren’t rocking out just as hard as KP and the fans.
If you ever have the chance to see King Princess on tour definitely do so as she always puts on a great show. If you can’t make it to a show, be sure to stream King Princess’ music on Spotify, Apple Music, or Soundcloud because it’s almost as good as seeing her live!
