This is no exaggeration: PinkPantheress is a star. She is an outright, undeniable and effusive music star. That was more clear than ever during her sold-out show Wednesday night at the Metro.
The singer and producer, born Victoria Walker, performed an hour-long set featuring a bevy of hits and deep cuts from her first two albums, 2023’s “Heaven knows” and 2021’s “to hell with it.” And the adoring audience ate up every single second of the show, the latest in her Capable of Love tour.
The concert was divided into five acts including an encore. Each act was introduced with a voiceover that sounded pulled from a fantasy movie. Surprisingly, despite the small size of the Metro, the show’s conceit worked. One could imagine, in a few years, her stage shows expanding to include more sets and elaborate backdrops. But for the time being, last night’s setup was more than fine.
During some of PinkPantheress’s early-career shows she performed by herself. For this tour, she’s accompanied by a full backing band and a DJ. This new touch certainly elevated the live experience, adding more heft and a bombastic element to the songs she self-produces. The drums hit harder. The synths were sharper. And Walker sounded as sweet and sprightly as ever.
The show opened with “Break It Off,” an early single and fan favorite drenched in drum ‘n’ bass rhythms. In a nod to her past performances, the artist carried her purse on stage with her, a gesture that has gone viral in the past and elicited loving laughs from her fans. Phones were up and recording within a few seconds of the show beginning, but that didn’t seem to be a distraction for PinkPantheress. At one point, she even posed for a selfie from the stage with a group of fans. Audience interactions were plentiful.
Electronic musicians are often stereotyped as being cold or singularly focused on producing their tracks during their live shows. But this was not a problem for PinkPantheress, who oozes charisma and cheekily interacts with her audience after nearly every song. After noting there was a “good crowd here today,” she complimented an audience member and said, “This outfit is serious!”
Moving about the stage in a simple long-sleeved black top with billowing hair during popular songs like the single “Mosquito” from “Heaven Knows,” audience members at the front of the room often shrieked with glee. Honestly, it was a delight to witness! This close bond with the audience also translated to a bevy of gifts, which were given to the musician throughout her show, including a horse mask (“I love you for that,” she said), a My Chemical Romance T-shirt (Walker is a fan) and many, many signs.
Despite all of this, or maybe because of this, the show really worked. “The energy of the crowd!” she exclaimed at one point. “It feels like I don’t have to do too much. Like we’re just vibing.” Walker has created a sound that is familiar but distinct. She joked that her fans are either drum ‘n’ bass-heads or K-pop lovers, with a few who fit somewhere in between. And much like the sound of her music, she has attracted an audience that is solely hers.
I don’t think I had felt or seen that kind of devotion from an audience toward a performer since I attended Beyoncé‘s Renaissance World Tour in 2023. It seemed like every audience member knew every word of every song, and they did not hold back singing it. Some songs, like viral hits “Just for Me” and “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2” obviously received the most and loudest love. But other “Heaven Knows” songs like “Bury Me” also had many fans.
Victoria Walker, known professionally as PinkPantheress, holds a gift from a fan while preforming at the Metro in Wrigleyville as part of her Capable of Love Tour on April 17, 2024. (Trent Sprague/for the Chicago Tribune)
The room was diverse in race and gender and style, with folks decked out in everything from basketball jerseys and baseball caps to fluffy, neon raver boots and low rise jeans. Digital cameras were aplenty. The Y2K feels were as present in PinkPantheress’s music as they were in the accoutrement of the audience.
But most importantly, folks were genuinely excited to be there, and Walker was genuinely excited to perform. A man next to me was on FaceTime with a friend throughout the show who was not able to acquire tickets. It was clear to those in attendance, and those at home that you just had to be there to know how special this show is truly.
As the evening’s final act began, Walker jokingly expressed her gratitude for the room. “I don’t steal, you guys,” she said about the many gifts she’d received that evening. “Only hearts.”
Britt Julious is a freelance critic.
Victoria Beverley Walker, known professionally as PinkPantheress, preforms at the Metro in Wrigleyville as part of her Capable of Love Tour on April 17, 2024. (Trent Sprague/for Chicago Tribune)
