Concert review: King Princess | 11.10.25, The Pageant (with photo gallery)

Photo of King Princess by Laura Jerele

King Princess is one you need to know if you already don’t. And if you weren’t at The Pageant for this, you surely missed out on an amazing show. King Princess (Mikaela Straus) is young and vibrant and her music is truly catchy and good. She has this absolutely unbothered confidence and a huge stage presence in her laid-back vibe that is not contrived or cocky. She’s a performer, but not theatrical, and she’s definitely multitalented. At 26, she’s already a singer, songwriter, actress, and producer with three albums under her belt. She plays like someone who’s been doing this for decades while feeling really vibrant and new. 

King Princess kicked things off with “Cherry” and “Jaime,” both new tracks that slink and snarl in all the right places. Her song “Get Your Heart Broken” really got me—it swelled, and shimmered with sweetness—while “Covers” started soft and melted into a shoegaze indie rocking haze. The night even had one of those perfectly weird concert moments when she stopped, admitted she had “too many songs,” and rolled giant dice covered in songs to randomly pick the next one. It landed on “PAIN,” naturally. 

She is the real deal as an artist, and a shockingly great guitarist! I loved seeing her play a Tele complete with a Bigsby, such a killer choice and it sounded amazing live. The crowd was really fantastic—despite it being a bitter cold Monday night, her fans certainly showed up! Screaming and dancing (and screaming a ton when she was dancing, that’s for sure) made for a killer show. I’ve been wanting to catch King Princess for quite some time and this certainly did not disappoint! 

Opening the night was Spill Tab with the fabulous Claire Chicha on vocals, who turned her first-ever St. Louis show into a genre-bending joyride. Her 40-minute set bounced from dreamy bedroom pop to full-throttle alt energy. “Crème Brûlée” hit like a real-life sugar rush, and was certainly the song that stood out for me. With a killer voice, very good songs, and laid-back style, she proved she’s certainly one to keep an eye on. | Laura Jerele