Sage Kiernan-Sherrow  | News Editor

Already on the radar in the LGBTQ+ community, King Princess is an up-and-comer in pop music — and she summons the rock gods. At her Portland show, located in the Roseland theater, King Princess proved two things: one, that she eats CDs for breakfast, as her live vocals were indistinguishable from her recordings and, two, that she’s a rockstar. A versatile (cheap) queen known for her sultry vocals, King Princess pranced around the stage like she owned it — which, she did — all while playing guitar and piano intermittently and breaking the venue’s no-smoking policy. 

During her two-hour performance, she played the majority of her album, “Cheap Queen,” pausing in between to provide witty, playfully teasing commentary about her music and her fanbase. At one point, she discussed her attempts to remain authentic to her craft and resisting control from others, while before playing her hit song “1950,” she half-jokingly begged the audience to help get her another hit because she was “tired” of the former. 

Her genuineness of character combined with her roguish, bordering on sexual-deviant, attitude captivated her audience during the entire show, even after they had already been dancing to both her opener’s performances — an exciting drag showcase from Bujee Cherry and what can only be called an EDM experience from spunky Kilo Kish (due to the unfortunate case that the audio cancelled out her voice). And, although there were a few mishaps (with one fan claiming to need medical attention just to get King Princess to notice her), King Princess delivered a flawless show. 

True to her brand until the very end, King Princess wouldn’t come on stage until she had the audience screaming and only came back on stage for her final act when she had the audience begging for more. Sporting a jockstrap with the word “KING” embellished on it, she literally stood before her subjects and performed until people’s throats were hoarse and their ears were numb.

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photos by Sortia Sherrow