Concert review
I, like most of the world, first stumbled onto PinkPantheress on TikTok in 2021.
At the time, the British producer and singer/songwriter was an unseen entity, dropping short, addictive UK garage-inspired tracks from a faceless account with the username “PinkPantheress.” Songs like the drum and bass-heavy “Break It Off” felt simultaneously small enough to encounter while scrolling in bed, but hooky enough to want to hear at the club.
As her popularity grew, more was revealed: PinkPantheress turned out to be Victoria Beverly Walker, a then 19-year-old from Kent, England, who studied film in London by day and produced pop tracks on GarageBand by night. In the years since, PinkPantheress has ascended to heights beyond mere social media fame — she’s managed to scoop up a BRIT Producer of the Year award, had a Billboard No. 1 hit and soundtracked a performance by Olympic gold medal winner and figure skater Alysa Liu. Plus, she’s cultivated an aesthetic and reputation for being a bit silly.
Fresh off her appearance at Coachella last weekend in Indio, Calif., the now almost 25-year-old British pop figure made her Seattle debut on her “An Evening with PinkPantheress Tour” at the sold-out WAMU Theater. As I entered the venue, I wondered: With most of her songs clocking in under three minutes, how expansive would PinkPantheress’ performance feel in real life? Well, last night she answered.
PinkPantheress’ onstage production was huge — four giant screens on a two-level stage. She opened the concert with “Stateside,” The Dare-produced track off her most recent mixtape, “Fancy That,” and the song that soundtracked Liu’s skating performance. Like a Gen Z riff on Estelle’s 2008 hit “American Boy,” “Stateside” is a DnB-inflected exploration of a crush on an international cutie. Four dancers in trench coats shimmied and shaked around PinkPantheress while she grooved through the hit song, flipping her hair like a studied-yet-playful pop star.
Throughout the evening, she performed tracks from across her discography, aided by smooth transitions from DJ Joe Lesher-Liao and live percussion by Blake Cascoe. The crowd heartily sang along to “I Must Apologise” and the marijuana-buying UK garage anthem “Illegal,” as well as filled in for New York rapper Ice Spice on the dance-pop-meets-drill cut “Boy’s a Liar Pt.2.”
The screens added to the emotionality of PinkPantheress’ tracks. For the bass-heavy “Pain,” the background turned into a night scene with the moon overhead, leaning into the emo-ness of the song. And her “Fancy That” cut “Stars” featured an image of a giant metal star that whirled behind her as she strutted across the stage.
The night was full of silliness, too. At a certain point, while wearing angel wings on a lifted part of the stage and singing “Ophelia” from her 2023 album “Heaven Knows,” PinkPantheress flubbed her lines. “I don’t (expletive) know the words,” she laughed before finding her way again. Despite the extremely polished nature of the evening, PinkPantheress still showed her quirky edge.
Among her fans, the singer is known for her love of early 2000s fashion, which was apparent at her show, with PinkPantheress going through no less than four outfit changes that mixed and matched tartan tops with low-rise jeans. The crowd reflected PinkPantheress’ Y2K substitute teacher aesthetic, donning flats, plaid skirts and fun wigs.
Toward the end of the night, PinkPantheress took some time to chat with the audience and asked a very appropriate — and silly — question for the Seattle crowd.
“Does it rain every day?” she asked, with her fans roaring back, “Yes!”
“I’ll have to come back and test that theory,” she declared.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yakimaherald.com ’
