Performance Review: My Night with Slayyyter
When I convinced a gaggle of my friends to come with me to see Slayyyter at her Columbus, OH show on the North American leg of her Club Valentine tour, I warned them to lower some expectations. As with most viral pop stars, some aspects of performing elude them, such as vocals, stamina, and movement. It is with great pleasure I can announce that those words were eaten that night.
What unfolded over her set was a bombastic, lavish, and exciting performance that never wavered or dipped in energy. One of my first texts, sent to a fellow fan and friend of mine, read: “She got voice lessons.” I was so thoroughly impressed with her vocal growth alone that the rest of the show felt like the proverbial cherry on top.
She flung herself across the stage of Newport Music Hall with such abandon that no one in the room could take their eyes off her. With an equally as ecstatic DJ, the pair turned the staple music venue into their own, intimate, ’80s-indebted club-scape, fraught with swirling, gauzy lights, mod furniture, and a screened backdrop showing classic cinema clips, live footage, and bright slideshows that further sold the ethos of her current era.
A cover of “Diamonds Are Forever” went right into crowd-pleaser “Miss Belladonna,” and spoken word interludes gave the performance a movie-like quality, and even Mia Goth’s Pearl got a shoutout during one such interlude, with Slayyyter screaming, “I’M A STAR!” I couldn’t look away for the entire concert, swaying and thrashing at times, or just staring, gobsmacked, at the production quality. My friend told me before the concert to also lower my expectations, and I am so thankful Slayyyter shut us both up. The costume changes, from boardroom bitchy blazers to Tom of Finland-inspired leather get-ups, gave dimension and gag-worthy flair to match her improved vocals and powerful stage presence, tying the entire experience up with a coke-dusted bow.
Though Slayyyter committed one of my live show sins, incessantly shouting “SING IT!” to a crowd that, for many of the songs, did not know the lyrics, I can say this show was one of the best concerts I’ve attended in years. Though Slayyyter might have lost her shoes and tore out a track or two on accident, all in all, my night with the burgeoning pop star was a wonderful moment for my year so far, and Slayyyter posting my story to her Instagram still makes me smile days later. If you are willing and able and have a love for sleazy, wonderful club music, go see Slayyyter, you won’t regret it.
