King Princess stands on a bass drum singing while the drummer drums

King Princess Brings All the Energy to The Pageant

November 11, 2025 Carrie Zukoski

— by Carrie Zukoski

King Princess (a.k.a. Mikaela Straus) asked St. Louis fans to be feral, “I pulled out my shoulder the other night. I’m like Tinker Bell, I need you to scream to keep me alive.” And the rather small but mighty crowd complied throughout the night.

On tour supporting her Girl Violence album released in September, this once again New York-based sensation gave her all during her 90-minute set on this cold Monday night. Her energy never waned as she criss-crossed the stage, often kneeling closer to the crowd, climbing on the bass drum, or interacting with the backing band members.

Her quirky, yet soulful, atmospheric pop sounds emanated throughout The Pageant, and fans reciprocated with screams, shouts, and singing at the top of their lungs to their favorite songs. Since her debut in 2018, the nearly 27-year-old has released three impressive studio albums that have garnered great recognition in the industry.

Straus kicked the night off with two new singles, the seductive “Cherry” and the raw “Jaime.” She went on to include several songs from Girl Violence, including the sweet, soft “I Feel Pretty” and “Alone Again”, which she began solo with her acoustic guitar (she’s a talented multi-instrumentalist as well) before the band kicked it into a higher gear.

Afterward, she paused and said, “For this part of the set, I have too many songs.” A tour staffer came on stage with a large die emblazoned with song names, which they rolled. It landed on the quirky “PAIN.” The rest of the night included the sultry “Get Your Heart Broken,” to the soulful, emotional “Hit the Back,” to the mainstream “Let Us Die.”

The up-and-coming now L.A.-based singer Claire Chicha, who goes by spill tab opened the night. Her 40-minute set ranged from alt-pop (“CRÈME BRÛLÉE!”) to bedroom pop (“Hold Me”). From lo-fi to highly auto-tuned vocals and sound, such as on “by Design,” spill tab is not afraid to mix genres within songs. On her first night of this leg of the tour, it was also Chicha’s first time in St. Louis.