More about: Kim Petras

“Bitches have a lot of shit to say about me”, Kim Petras says in her nasal Beverly Hills affectation. “But the one thing they can’t say is that I’m not memorable”. Petras’ set at Heaven last night (27 August) marks some momentous occasions for 27-year-old. Not only is it the first night of the European Broken tour, it’s also her birthday. As a gift, she debuts ‘Icy’ for the first time live, and the crowd goes wild. It might be one of the hottest days of the year in London, but that doesn’t stop swathes of her fans from screaming every word of the song and getting as sweaty as possible. The show is brimming with endless costume changes, pop bangers and hilarious quotes. To put it simply, the show is memorable. 

Pop is derided as shallow, but the beauty of Petras’ tour – and by extension, her entire brand – is to find the humour in it and embrace it. The introduction is spoken by a robot asking the audience to respond to Petras’ catchphrase, ‘WOO-ah!’. It dryly remarks something along the lines of “you. mother. fuckers. can. do. better. than. that”. It’s not just the introduction though. At the end of each song, Petras stares into the audience as a fan blows her hair back, as if It were a music video. What’s more, most pop stars would act humble about their materialism, but Petras plays directly into this. At one point, she asks, “Any daddies up in this bitch?... Anyone wanna buy me stuff?”. She knows how ridiculous pop is, and this self-awareness is what separates Kim Petras from any other popstar. 

But of course, one cannot act like a pop starlet without the music to back it up. The setlist seems to be loosely structured as such: Act I deals with heartbreak from her brand-new album, Clarity, Act II consists of her Halloween mixtape and Act III includes songs about the ecstasy of falling in love from her Era 1 days. The staging is stripped down and simple given the space restraints of Heaven, but it’s effective. Petras has a wall of lights behind her, and she is accompanied by her producer and tour DJ Aaron Joseph. But apart from that, the entire stage falls to the charisma and dance moves of Petras, as she jumps and sways to her hit songs. There are no backup dancers or gimmicks; the set is fuelled by the charm of the singer feeling her fantasy – and letting the audience feel theirs, too. 

Petras talks about the power of pop as a form of escapism, and her goal is to make people forget their problems through her music. Judging by the packed crowd that sing and dance the entire night through, Petras forms a haven for LGBT+ teens for an hour and a half: a safe space where people are free to be themselves, all to the soundtrack of Petras’ unashamedly sugary pop confections. 

More about: Kim Petras