King Princess At Governors Ball, Saturday, June 1st, 2019, Reviewed

King Princess at Irving Plaza six months ago? The definition of a nascent rock and roll star peaking so high, she  made her entire audience a giggly, flirty mess (here). However, the Mikaela Straus (her real name) who shouted “let’s go lesbian today” was invisible yesterday afternoon in her oddly dispirited set at Governors Ball. She was replaced by the young woman, sitting on a sofa at the back of the stage, gasping for air and saying “It is so hot I’m sweating my balls”. Maybe on stage, certainly not on Randall’s Island. I was with four teenage girls, one of whom was a King Princess fanatic and had us at the front of the stage two and a half hours before the set began, and her star crush simply wasn’t into it.

At the first I thought the problem was the song choices, but it wasn’t. It was essentially the exact same set, the same ten songs off an album we haven’t heard, and, this time we did know “Cheap Queen”. I don’t know what King Princess’  problem was, maybe it has been a long year… but with her audience in the palm of her hand she performed a professional, well executed set missing energy. And, really sadly,  missing the friendship and sexiness of her gay as fuck Irving Plaza show and replacing it with a standard issue hour.

We are all allowed an off show, and the new album’s new songs sound great on second listen: the band itself is well executed and well oiled, King Princess can sing and move. That’s not enough, she needs to right herself. It is way too early to be coasting.

Grade: B-