K.Flay is in her healing era. The singer/rapper is back on the road (officially to promote 2023’s MONO) and is weirder and more confident and arguably better than ever. And plenty of fans experienced the mid-week pick-me-up that was her show at The Van Buren in downtown Phoenix on Wednesday night.
Opening act Vienna Vienna pulled a bait-and-switch on the early arrivals, starting with a heartfelt solo ballad before bringing out the live band to rip through a gritty, guitar-driven set. The rising artist explores queerness, identity, and spirituality in his lyrics, set to high-energy “glimmer rock” that made the performance a perfect primer for K.Flay. Closing with “God Save the Queens” (get it?), Vienna Vienna made new fans out of the growing crowd.
A projection screen introduced a video form of K.Flay, who first appeared far away but got closer with each flash of the light — until there she was, in the flesh, just behind the screen. The play on video vs human form was an interesting element, especially the side by side interactions during “Raw Raw”. How often have you seen an artist punch “themself” in the face on stage?
For anyone familiar with K.Flay’s background, the mid-set freestyle was a definite highlight. She used to get on stage with a beat and a looping machine, she said, and would see how fast she could go. Turns out: She’s still got it. The night’s rap referenced Phoenix, The Van Buren, and walking down Monroe Street.
The set was plenty of fun — “Four Letter Words” and “Bad Vibes” and even digging “Can’t Sleep” out of the archives — but K.Flay also zoomed out to talk through her recent journey with grief and mental health. Her message: Embrace change. “Your world is probably going to get a lot bigger when you do that,” she advised. Rolling with the different phases of life comes with so much growth, and it translates when she presents herself on stage these days.
With a closer of “Perfectly Alone,” K.Flay said farewell to another successful night in Phoenix, leaving us buoyed by good advice and even better energy.
