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A woman\u2019s bare chest, childhood memories and visiting family are just some of the many reasons why touring in Massachusetts is like a homecoming for indie music star King Princess.<\/p>\n
The Brooklyn-based singer, whose birth name is Mikaela Straus, has played Boston on \u201cevery tour I\u2019ve ever done in my life\u201d because the city has always given her a much-needed energy boost.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoston feels like a B12 shot in the middle of a tour,\u201d the musician told MassLive. \u201cIt is one of the most rowdy, amazing crowds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Straus even recalled a past show at the House of Blues in Boston where a woman in her 20s flashed her and the entire room. The singer recalled her team telling her, \u201c\u2018There is a set of Bazangas on the balcony. There is a girl who wants to flash her tits and you keep turning around every time she does it. So she\u2019s like stopping and starting.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Straus wanted to \u201cmake a moment\u201d out of this and decided to address the crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018Well, I hear there\u2019s somebody who\u2019s been trying to flash, and I want to give you the space to do that,\u2019\u201d the musician recalled. \u201cAnd so she did, and the spotlight hit her, and it was this beautiful moment. Everyone cheered, and it was really stunning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Straus rose to stardom when she independently released her debut single \u201c1950\u201d<\/a> in 2018. The success of the queer-anthem<\/a> led her to signing with Zelig Recordings, under which Straus released her debut studio album \u201cCheap Queen\u201d on Oct. 25, 2019, and sophomore album, \u201cHold On Baby,\u201d on July 29, 2022. She most recently signed to indie label Section 1, under which she released her third studio album \u201cGirl Violence\u201d on Sept. 12.<\/p>\n While Straus was born and raised in Brooklyn, she has strong familial ties to Massachusetts.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a Masshole, for sure,\u201d Straus said. \u201cAnd my family\u2019s major Celtics fans, so I\u2019d like to think I\u2019m a part-time Massachusetts girl.\u201d<\/p>\n Straus spent much of her childhood in Ashfield and in Northampton. Her late grandmother spent some of her final years in Ashfield and her father, Oliver, grew up all over Western Massachusetts.<\/p>\n Ashfield\u2019s proximity to Northampton also resulted in Straus buying \u201cso much weed\u201d in the city and smoking it for the first time ever in Massachusetts. Straus\u2019 cousins on her mom\u2019s side also still live in Boston and her \u201cfabulous\u201d uncle, who built her amp, is in Cambridge.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time I play a show there, I obviously go over to the amp club<\/a> and hang out,\u201d Straus said.<\/p>\n As shown through the flashing incident, Straus strives to create a strong level of comfortability at all her shows, especially for her LGBTQ+ fans. As an openly queer artist, the 26-year-old recognizes the importance of fostering a safe space for that community.<\/p>\n \u201cI just think about what I would have wanted as a kid. Like if I had a King Princess concert to go to, I would be stoked and feel very liberated by that,\u201d she said while mentioning how friendships are often formed at her shows.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a Discord and somebody will throw up on Discord, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m going to this show. Is anybody else going? Because I really want to meet some buddies.\u2019 And all of a sudden you\u2019ve got these people being like, \u2018yeah, of course, girl, come with us,\u2019\u201d Straus said. \u201cThat\u2019s why live music is so important right now because it\u2019s community building in a really [expletive] up country.\u201d<\/p>\n Straus will get a chance to create more Massachusetts memories when she comes to Boston<\/a> as part of the \u201cGirl Violence\u201d tour<\/a>, which kicks off<\/a> Saturday, Oct. 25 in Nashville, Tennessee. Consisting of 29 stops, the tour includes a show<\/a> at House of Blues on Sunday, Nov. 2.<\/p>\n Read the original article on MassLive<\/a>. Add MassLive<\/a> as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n