Kesha and the Creepies performed Thursday night in the PMAC for Groovin’ on the Grounds, an annual concert hosted by Student Government. Baton Rouge native Benjy Davis opened the show.
Upon walking into the building, the buzz was unmistakable as groups talked about their favorite songs and which singles they could recite word for word. If the inane amounts of glitter and neon colored makeup did not immediately give away the main act, everyone was talking about Kesha.
Davis was more than a pleasing hold over, but both men and women were constantly checking their phones wondering how much longer they had to wait for Kesha to come on stage.
The “Tik Tok” singer holds a special place in all of our hearts. At the top of her game when we, today’s college students, were suffering through our awkward phases, she taught us to let loose, even if all that meant was dancing alone in our bedrooms.
She sang many hits from her first album, “Animal,” while also working in a few from her second album, “Warrior.” She also incorporated covers into her act.
Kesha won over the crowd with a cover of “You Don’t Own Me,” which “took the words right out of [her] f-cking mouth.” Not her typical kind of music that we grew up fighting with our moms to keep on the radio, the audience was mesmerized from the second line.
A tragic symbol of Hollywood abuse, Kesha’s legal battle has nearly outshone her musical career, and this song reminded us of her place as queen of the outsiders and ability to truly connect with her fans.
She discussed her lawsuit, saying that while she is still unable to perform new songs, she has about 74 completed. Warning the crowd about people who just want to steal their happiness, she said that Doctor Luke “f-cked with the wrong mother f-cking woman.”
“It was so good to see her up there happy and thriving, still having fun despite everything she’s been through,” biology freshman Matthew Hensarling said.
Kesha quickly moved into her more gimmicky songs, bringing out dancers in T-rex masks for “Dinosaur” and whipping her hair to “Boots & Boys.” She proved years of lawsuits had not diminished her oddball spirit as she jumped on top of her shaggy haired boyfriend, who doubled as an onstage hype man, and ate at his neck during “Cannibal.”
She sang her next chart topper, “Blow,” with much more soul than we ever heard from her in 2010, but when she introduced “Take It Off” with a nondescript story about her first time in a strip club where everyone was “like so naked,” it felt as if she was simply waiting for her set to be finished.
However, a shout-out to the LGBTQ community and her whipping out a phone to record the crowd chanting “Free Kesha,” showed she might not have been lying when she thanked the audience for “the best night [she] had in a long time.”
Kesha’s ability to truly connect to her fans on such a relatable level is what has always made her allure so natural. Even at her music’s most vapid peak, she embodied the type of attitude our favorite rebels have, without the untouchable cool girl vibe of Rihanna or the artistic stuffiness of Lady Gaga.
By the end of the show, mass communication sophomore Candice Sieks said her middle school self “was living” for a few short minutes again.
The beauty of Groovin’ booking Kesha at this time in her career is that her F-ck The World tour is for us — college students who have loved her since the first time we heard “TiK ToK” on the way to the orthodontist in middle school.
Early in her set, Kesha admitted that she never went to college, but no one cared. She taught us all we needed to know about being who we are and she, being unapologetically herself, gave us everything she has and is.
