Fresh off of her biggest, and arguably most polarizing year yet, pop queen Kim Petras brought her Feed the Beast tour to Roadrunner to Boston. Having been catapulted into the mainstream this past year with the incredibly popular yet widely criticized Sam Smith joint “Unholy”, and having established herself as the sex-positive songstress with last year’s instant classic “Slut Pop”, Kim is no stranger to scandalized music. Something she seems to be focusing on with this latest outing.
Finally releasing her debut full length album, Feed the Beast this past June, she quickly followed up with her sophomore release, Problematique just last month. With an onslaught of new songs in her roster, Petras has embarked on an ambitious tour with more costumes, choreo and chaos. All backed by a theme of finding your way through your own brand of hell. Show director William Baker explains how it was the “rich map of worlds [within Petras’ music] that inspired a journey through the layers of Hell and Purgatory, that ends in Paradise, all through Kim’s visual worlds.”
Featuring DJ Alex Chapman as the evenings opening act, he riled up the crowd just enough to attract a wild Kim Petras to the stage. The main event kicks off with Act I “Iron Maiden”, as the twisted religious undertones take center stage. Moving through songs “Personal Hell”, “Revelations” and “Unholy”, Kim sets the mood for her bombastic crowd of Boston area twinks, greys, and fruit flies. However it isn’t long until we are thrown, pelvis first, into Slut Pop, the second Act of the night. One of the best features of this EP, is the modest 15-minute run time, meaning fans can get the full experience nearly every night. Tracks “Treat Me Like a Slut”, “XXX” and “Throat Goat” flow seamlessly into each other. Undeniably fun, tongue-and-cheek club classics for the modern age, what Kim does best.
The show continued with more costume changes, more choreography and set pieces, including a particularly phallic microphone hanging from the ceiling. Fan favorites “Claws”, “Hillside Boys” and “Hit It From the Back” took us through Act III “The Garden”, which transitions into offerings from 2018’s spooky season inspired “Turn Off the Light” for Act IV. With Petras noting the October date to the crowd, sleek in a matrix-esque black coat as demonic dancers infiltrate the stage, it was clear it’s now boo bitch time. Whereas Slut Pop plays off of a bright bubblegum fantasy, Turn Off the Light retreats fully into the darkness. Standout tracks included “Wrong Turn”, “<demons>” and “Everybody Dies”, the latter of which always gives Petras ample room to show off her impressive vocals.
Wrapping up the night with Act V’s ascension into Paradise, Petras closed the show with a one-two punch of “Brrr” into “Icy” before an extended cut of “Castle in the Sky”. But fret not, the pop star wasn’t done just yet, coming back for a three part encore including title track “Problematique” and Kim classic “Heart to Break”.
The Feed the Beast tour continues across North America before moving into Europe next year. For more information visit Kim’s website here!
Check out Greg Wong’s photos from the show below.
