At what she described as her largest show on the tour, King Princess performed to a jubilant packed house at the Fox Theater in Oakland, CA last night. The cheers were nearly deafening as King Princess(aka Mikaela Straus) and her band took the stage as Straus took a moment to greet her fans before getting situated at the piano for the opener “Isabel’s Moment”. Straus had the crowd swaying and singing as she followed up with “Tough on Myself” and “Prophet”, both from her debut album, ‘Cheap Queen’. There was plenty of adoration for King Princess throughout the show as fans threw flowers, bouquets and even a bra as she performed. In between songs, she told the crowd that the “rule on the Cheap Queen tour” was that they could throw things at her but not to hit her face, which elicited laughter and more flowers thrown on-stage. Before performing her breakthrough single, “1950”, Straus half-jokingly told the crowd “let’s get another hit”, so she wouldn’t have to play it so much. King Princess’ music translates well in a live setting and many of her songs really shine when performed live, which was highlighted by “Talia” and “Upper West Side”. Ending the set with “Hit the Back”, the audience was dancing and singing even more-so than they had been all night. The encore consisted of “If You Think It’s Love” and “Ohio”, the latter of which Straus took off her guitar and proceeded to stomp on it repeatedly before tearing down some of the drum kit and leaving the stage. With that dramatic ending and leaving the stage, King Princess capped off a night that showed she has the goods to become even bigger while continuing to bring queer artists to the forefront.
