A woman’s bare chest, childhood memories and visiting family are just some of the many reasons why touring in Massachusetts is like a homecoming for indie music star King Princess.
The Brooklyn-based singer, whose birth name is Mikaela Straus, has played Boston on “every tour I’ve ever done in my life” because the city has always given her a much-needed energy boost.
“Boston feels like a B12 shot in the middle of a tour,” the musician told MassLive. “It is one of the most rowdy, amazing crowds.”
Straus even recalled a past show at the House of Blues in Boston where a woman in her 20s flashed her and the entire room. The singer recalled her team telling her, “‘There is a set of Bazangas on the balcony. There is a girl who wants to flash her tits and you keep turning around every time she does it. So she’s like stopping and starting.’”
Straus wanted to “make a moment” out of this and decided to address the crowd.
“I said, ‘Well, I hear there’s somebody who’s been trying to flash, and I want to give you the space to do that,’” the musician recalled. “And so she did, and the spotlight hit her, and it was this beautiful moment. Everyone cheered, and it was really stunning.”
Straus rose to stardom when she independently released her debut single “1950” in 2018. The success of the queer-anthem led her to signing with Zelig Recordings, under which Straus released her debut studio album “Cheap Queen” on Oct. 25, 2019, and sophomore album, “Hold On Baby,” on July 29, 2022. She most recently signed to indie label Section 1, under which she released her third studio album “Girl Violence” on Sept. 12.
While Straus was born and raised in Brooklyn, she has strong familial ties to Massachusetts.
“I’m a Masshole, for sure,” Straus said. “And my family’s major Celtics fans, so I’d like to think I’m a part-time Massachusetts girl.”
Straus spent much of her childhood in Ashfield and in Northampton. Her late grandmother spent some of her final years in Ashfield and her father, Oliver, grew up all over Western Massachusetts.
Ashfield’s proximity to Northampton also resulted in Straus buying “so much weed” in the city and smoking it for the first time ever in Massachusetts. Straus’ cousins on her mom’s side also still live in Boston and her “fabulous” uncle, who built her amp, is in Cambridge.
“Every time I play a show there, I obviously go over to the amp club and hang out,” Straus said.
As shown through the flashing incident, Straus strives to create a strong level of comfortability at all her shows, especially for her LGBTQ+ fans. As an openly queer artist, the 26-year-old recognizes the importance of fostering a safe space for that community.
“I just think about what I would have wanted as a kid. Like if I had a King Princess concert to go to, I would be stoked and feel very liberated by that,” she said while mentioning how friendships are often formed at her shows.
“I have a Discord and somebody will throw up on Discord, ‘Hey, I’m going to this show. Is anybody else going? Because I really want to meet some buddies.’ And all of a sudden you’ve got these people being like, ‘yeah, of course, girl, come with us,’” Straus said. “That’s why live music is so important right now because it’s community building in a really [expletive] up country.”
Straus will get a chance to create more Massachusetts memories when she comes to Boston as part of the “Girl Violence” tour, which kicks off Saturday, Oct. 25 in Nashville, Tennessee. Consisting of 29 stops, the tour includes a show at House of Blues on Sunday, Nov. 2.
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