By Grace Moore
Addison singing New York in the Mission Ballroom (Radio1190/ Grace Moore)
On Oct. 13 Addison Rae performed at the Mission Ballroom in Denver. This is her first tour ever and she really gave it her all. Her recent debut album, “Addison,” was featured front and center. There wasn’t an opener which I really liked because I’m very picky about music and I usually hate the opener. I think everyone should get on Addison’s level so I never have to sit through a guy with under 1,000 monthly listeners on Spotify ever again. Please, whatever you do, don’t put me on. I only want to hear what I came to hear, thank you very much.
Addison rose to fame on TikTok starting in 2019. Her image then was very “basic.” She didn’t wear anything your sorority girl classmate wouldn’t wear and didn’t seem to have much of a personality outside of TikTok dances. So when she rolled out this album it was a huge surprise to her fans because of her departures from normal pop. Sonically it’s very different from her other work. “Addison” ranges from heavy drum and bass to outright trip-pop, which combine surprisingly well with her softer vocals. The roll out started with a single called “Diet Pepsi” where she created a new interesting sound for herself as well as a new fun aesthetic. It was exciting to watch Addison come into herself, and the concert felt like the final stage of this metamorphosis.
The show only started about 15 minutes late which I feel is on time for artists these days. The opening song was one of her biggest hits “Fame is a Gun.” This was a great choice for an opening number in my opinion, because it is a song that I feel really encapsulates Addison’s vibe. The music video was a dreamlike sequence filled with bright colors and dancing. The performance on stage was similar. Addison and her dancers wore outfits that were so avant garde that they were honestly ugly, with latex bras with cotton colorful mini skirts. Yet the dancing was so otherworldly and unlike anything I’ve ever seen on stage with a popstar that I could look past this.
The second song was “I got it bad” off of her EP “AR” that came out on Aug. 18, 2023. I felt that this EP was super underrated. With a feature from Charli XCX as well as a song, “Nothing On (But the Radio),” by Lady Gaga, seeing her perform the EP live was a dream come true for a gay guy in a straight girl’s body like me. I felt that the aesthetics of the EP and the album were very different because she had new producers on the project, Elvira Anderfjärd and Luka Kloser. However the aesthetics of the songs from the two pieces was the same on stage. My biggest issue with the performance was that I wish she had done something to show the difference in style between her EP and album.
The final song was “Diet Pepsi.” I loved this song so much when it came out. It defined last summer for me. The outfit she wore was a sparkly dress that was so frilly and fun. I was so jealous of her I wished I could’ve worn this outfit so bad! That being said, the performance was very heartfelt. I thought that was a very sweet way to end the show!
All in all, Addison’s tour was so much fun and I’m so glad I spent $66 (after tax) on a ticket!