King Princess w/ Banoffee and Miss Texas 1988
Showbox, Seattle, WA
04.26.19
The final night of King Princess’ spring tour happened to coincide with “Lesbian Visibility Day” and visibility was exactly what a room full of young queer teens got, along with a massive helping of KP’s swaggering vulnerability.
Opening the show was Banoffee, a Melbourne-via-LA singer and producer whose dark, cerebral tracks landed somewhere between dancehall and bedroom pop. While many in the crowd mouthed the words along with the artist, clearly familiar with their work, it was a relatively quiet and respectful opening to the show.
This was followed by a 10-minute interlude from Seattle performance artist Miss Texas 1988. From cutout paper hearts to giant smartphone dance props and boys in their undies, the drag-centric moment had the crowd pumped up enough to hand the performer actual dollar bills as they exited the stage.
Finally, as it was time for King Princess, the crowd had completely filled The Showbox, rainbow flags in hand. Accompanied by a four-piece band, KP started the set pretty quietly, but it didn’t take long before hitting their stride “Upper West Side,” making the crowd go wild. With a debut EP and a few singles to their name, KP is still in the fledgling stages of having enough material to headline a gig of this size, but the setlist was just right.
The crowd sang along with KP’s major hit, “1950,” the thematically-appropriate “Pussy is God,” and set-closer “Talia.” And Banoffee joined KP on stage for the co-written “Forget About It” which made for some nice harmonies and friendly banter. In between tokes, KP took in the last moments of tour while recognizing a few members of the crowd that stood out—surely making their nights.
Overall KP might just be starting out, but signed to Mark Ronson’s label and with a pending full-length in the works this year, this is far from the last we’ll be hearing from them.
Review and photos by Stephanie Dore
King Princess
Banoffee
Miss Texas 1988
