âAre we getting fucked up tonight?â enquires Kim Petras, rhetorically, as the crowd go bananas on the second night of her two-date Manchester stint, before launching into âGot My Numberâ. With revolving platforms and costume changes, the German singer-songwriter is essentially cramming an arena-pop spectacle into a relatively intimate, 950-capacity venue.
Despite commanding a massive, fervent online fanbase and streaming numbers, none of her singles have dented the Top 40 and thereâs a feeling that she should be as mainstream-big as her touchstones: Â âBlackoutâ-era Britney Spears, Lady Gaga before she retired the artifice, and early Katy Perry. While pop is increasingly prone to making grandiose or political statements or artists like Charli XCX and the PC Music fold claim to be disrupting the form altogether, Petras specialises in a kind of pop-purism: kitsch, colourful and larger-than-life.
On her opening number tonight, âClarityâ (the title track from her 2019 album), she sings âI wanna feel like Madonnaâ â and the DNA of â80s Madge is present tonight, particularly on the bouncy âI Donât Want It Allâ, which comes on like an updated version of âMaterial Girlâ. The original video underlined its camp ode-to-avarice status by featuring a cameo from Paris Hilton (whom sheâs also collaborating on an upcoming track with). As she provides a relentless barrage of sugary hooks, tosses bags out into the throng and knowingly name-checks designer names, the effect is akin to eating a whole bag of Haribo while someone recites their Amazon Prime wishlist.
Backed by a DJ, she effortlessly commands the stage, donning a swimsuit and shades to perform the likes of the Cyndi Lauper-ish âHillside Boysâ and her Charli XCX collab âUnlock Itâ, and rotates on a plinth in thigh length boots and PVC leotard during her Halloween-themed âTurn Off The Lightâ tracks â including the pounding goth-techno of âThere Will Be Bloodâ and âWrong Turnâ. With its dramatic OTT synthetised organ opening, the winningly goofy disco of âClose Your Eyesâ sounds like the Phantom of the Opera is about to rise through the floorboards and start sniffing poppers. âEverybody Diesâ, meanwhile, is a power ballad more blustery than storms Ciara and Dennis combined.
This is pop that could be throwaway, but the force of Petrasâ charisma and her personal background gives it an edge. She’s now 27, and as a teenager she was one of the youngest people to undergo gender-confirmation surgery: like a lot of her LGBTQ+ fanbase out in force, she knows the palliative power of pop as escapism. She pays tribute by praising Manchester Pride: âIâm still not over that shit. You guys made it magical to meâ.
As she drops new track, the defiant break-up sad banger âReminds Meâ, and whirs through precision-tooled favourites like the Robyn-recalling âHeart to Breakâ and the iridescent early noughties Kylie disco of âSweet Spotâ, lassoing her ponytail around, she sounds like an alternate reality chart-dominating pop star â whoâs waiting for the real world to cotton on to the fact.
Kim Petras played:
‘Clarity’
‘Meet the Parents’
‘Got My Number’
‘Blow It All’
‘I Don’t Want It at All’
‘Hillside Boys’
‘Unlock It / Click’
‘There Will Be Blood’
‘Wrong Turn’
‘Death By Sex’
‘Close Your Eyes’
‘Everybody Dies’
‘Reminds Me’
‘Icy’
‘Do Me’
‘Can’t Do Better’
‘Heart to Break’
‘Sweet Spot’
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