Kesha Live is the fifth headlining tour by Kesha following the cancellation of the High Road Tour in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Australian-American singer Betty Who, who previously performed on Kesha's Weird & Wonderful Rainbow Ride, serves as the opening act. The tour originally consisted of 11 dates throughout the U.S. until Kesha announced that she extended the tour on June 22, 2021. On December 14, 2021, another set of tour dates were announced for 2022. The second leg of the tour was to be followed by the second cruise tour.
On February 1, 2022, Kesha announced that the second leg of the tour had been cancelled, as well as the cruise.
Background[]
On Episode 15 of the Kesha and the Creepies podcast (aired on February 26, 2021), both Kesha and Big Freedia expressed the desire to tour together again when it was safe to do so.
That April, Kesha performed two virtual college shows for students of Pennsylvania State University[1] and the State University of New York system[2]. On April 28, 2021, Kesha announced via Twitter her first in-person show of the year at MontanaFair due to the availability of coronavirus vaccines.[3] It was unknown at the time that this would be the first tour date of Kesha Live.
On June 3, 2021, Betty Who teased a joint tour in the caption of an Instagram post promoting Kesha Rose Beauty products. The tour was officially announced by Kesha the following day via promo video.
Kesha via Instagram on June 4, 2021:
| “ | ANIMALS!!! I'm hitting the road!! eeeeeppppp I can't wait to forget the words and have you guys scream them back to me 🎉💕 let's get weird and dance our tits off 🦑 | ” |
Betty Who via Instagram on June 4, 2021:
| “ | KESHA’S TAKIN ME ON TOUR Y’ALL! @iiswhoiis 🌈🎤✨ when i was a freshman in college, my roommates and I got written up for playing kesha’s first album too loud and we literally tried to brushed our teeth with a bottle of jack (it was awful i do not recommend). this is VERY FULL CIRCLE FOR ME AND I AM SO HAPPY TO GET BACK OUT ON THE ROAD WITH ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVES!!! it’s gonna be somethin special. see you soon ANIMALS / WHO CREW!!!! 🤘🏼🎸⚡️ | ” |
Ticket pre-sale begins on June 7 and the general sale begins on June 10.
In her NYLON article, Kesha expressed how she wanted this tour to be seen as mini Pride celebrations.
| “ | I love being around other people, I love entertaining people, and I thrive when I’m with people I love. I just think this tour is going to be everybody going insane to a level that I’ve never seen before. It’s not during Pride month, but I just want them to be Pride shows. Pride parades filled with rainbow and glitter and light and love and connection and happiness and chaos and fun and energy. And I just want people to come let out all of the energy that we’ve been having to hold inside of our bodies for the past year and a half. | ” |
Her style for this tour has been described as “punk grandma chic”.
| “ | I like things that are over the top, it’s just my personality...I’ve been tie dyeing a lot during quarantine so there’s probably going to be elements of that. I started sewing a bunch of different outfits and needle pointing and cross stitching and doing a bunch of crafting things that I used to do when I was in high school. So, you might be seeing like ‘punk grandma chic’ on stage. | ” |
The overall look and vibe of the tour has been described as "skanky Disneyland that's covered in glitter with way more bad words." Set pieces from Kesha's cancelled High Road Tour were already in production and will be used for this tour. She designed them all to "transfer people onto a different planet when they come to [her] show. To a planet that is extremely psychedelic, joyful, debaucherous, wild and a place where people can be themselves."
Peri El was added as an opening act to the September 2 show.[6]
For the second leg of the tour, Kesha released a PR statement saying:
| “ | Due to popular demand, I am returning to incite the party and enhance the boogie yet again this coming spring. Secure your tickets to ensure a night full of letting your demons run wild. | ” |
Opening acts[]
- Betty Who (Leg 1)
- Peri El (September 2)
Setlist[]
This is the setlist for the August 13, 2021 show.
- "Cannibal"
- "We R Who We R"
- "Raising Hell"
- "Woman"
- "Tonight"
- "Rainbow"
- "Shadow"
- "Timber"
- "Your Love Is My Drug"
- "Take It Off"
- "Blah Blah Blah"
- "TiK ToK"
- Encore
Notes[]
- "Tonight" was removed from the setlist starting on August 28.[7] In subsequent shows, "Timber" and "Your Love Is My Drug" were moved up before "Rainbow."
- "Bastards" was performed between "Woman" and "Rainbow" at the August 29 show.[8]
- Kesha sang "Happy Birthday" to a fan in the crowd between "Raising Hell" and "Woman" at the August 31 show.[9]
- Kesha sang a snippet of "Dinosaur" between "Take It Off" and "Blah Blah Blah" at the August 31 show.
- "High Road" was performed between "Praying" and "Blow" at the September 2 show.[10]
- Kesha performed her remix of "Fancy Like" for the first time between "Take It Off" and "Blah Blah Blah" at the September 9 show.[11]
- Kesha brought out Betty Who to perform "TiK ToK" at the September 9 and 12 shows.[12]
Audio[]
Spotify[]
Gallery[]
 "Click, click, snap!" To view the Kesha Live gallery, click here.
|
|---|
Tour dates[]
| Date | City | State | Venue | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | |||||||||||
| August 13, 2021 | Billings | Montana | First Interstate Arena (MontanaFair) | ||||||||
| August 15, 2021 | Denver | Colorado | The Mission Ballroom | ||||||||
| August 17, 2021 | Oklahoma City | Oklahoma | The Criterion | ||||||||
| August 18, 2021 | Austin | Texas | ACL Live at the Moody Theater | ||||||||
| August 20, 2021 | Dallas | Southside Ballroom | |||||||||
| August 21, 2021 | Houston | Bayou Music Center | |||||||||
| August 23, 2021 | Birmingham | Alabama | Avondale Brewing Company | ||||||||
| August 25, 2021 | Orlando | Florida | Hard Rock Live Orlando | ||||||||
| August 26, 2021 | Atlanta | Georgia | Coca-Cola Roxy | ||||||||
| August 28, 2021 | Columbus | Ohio | The Lawn at CAS (WonderBus Music & Arts Festival) | ||||||||
| August 29, 2021 | Cincinnati | Ohio | Promowest Pavilion at Ovation | ||||||||
| August 31, 2021 | New York | New York | The Rooftop at Pier 17 | ||||||||
| September 2, 2021 | Asbury Park | New Jersey | Stone Pony Summer Stage | ||||||||
| September 4, 2021 | Portland | Maine | State Theatre | ||||||||
| September 5, 2021 | Wallingford | Connecticut | Toyota Oakdale Theatre | ||||||||
| September 8, 2021 | Washington | DC | The Anthem | ||||||||
| September 9, 2021 | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | Stage AE | ||||||||
| September 11, 2021[A] | Milwaukee | Wisconsin | BMO Harris Pavilion | ||||||||
| September 12, 2021 | Minneapolis | Minnesota | The Armory | ||||||||
Cancelled shows[]
| Date | City | State | Venue | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | ||||
| March 21, 2022 | Milwaukee | Wisconsin | The Rave/Eagles Club | Unknown |
| March 22, 2022 | Colombus | Ohio | Express Live! | |
| March 24, 2022 | Hampton | New Hampshire | Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom | |
| March 26, 2022 | Bethlehem | Pennsylvania | Vision Nightclub | |
| March 27, 2022 | Richmond | Virginia | Altria Theater | |
| March 29, 2022 | Tampa | Florida | Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa | |
| March 30, 2022 | Hollywood | Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino | ||
- A This concert is part of Summerfest 2021.
References[]
- ↑ https://www.collegian.psu.edu/culture_lifestyle/penn-state-parties-with-kesha-during-spa-virtual-concert/article_8271f760-9428-11eb-bcb1-07cc22395e68.html
- ↑ https://www.morrisville.edu/events/suny-fest-kesha-and-ajr
- ↑ https://twitter.com/KeshaRose/status/1387406380789809157
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CPtLN8JpUf_/
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CPtLiZ4Jr2G/
- ↑ https://mobile.twitter.com/KeshaLegion/status/1429171593780121602
- ↑ https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/keha/2021/the-lawn-at-cas-columbus-oh-b8cedaa.html
- ↑ https://twitter.com/KeshaLegion/status/1432183585432223747
- ↑ https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/keha/2021/the-rooftop-at-pier-17-new-york-ny-638cce47.html
- ↑ https://twitter.com/lifeismagic200/status/1433638511652057091?t=5uDHRgkuaodSE32TlYwH_A&s=19
- ↑ https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/kesha/2021/stage-ae-pittsburgh-pa-5b8c1b60.html
- ↑ https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/kesha/2021/the-armory-minneapolis-mn-4b8c7be2.html
[]
 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||