I have been waiting a long time for the opportunity to catch Allie X live again; especially with her latest immensely synth-heavy record Girl With No Face that I am oh so obsessed with currently. Truthfully, it is a near perfect front to back listen and the hype for hearing all of her fresh material live could not be understated. Warming up the crowd, Maylee Todd kicked off the evening with a rather chill yet still very engaging set. She wore massive snow pants with white furry boots which was indeed a show-stopping outfit from the get go. Her dreamy sounds and lo-fi beats built the room’s excitement for Allie X.
The sold-out venue grew dense as Allie X and her bandmates made their way into the limelight. She is known to wear rather “campy” and avant garde fashion on stage and Thursday night’s outfit did not disappoint. She wore a long white dress shirt and black tie with a flowy leather harness of sorts with straps hanging all around her giving it the illusion of a deconstructed dress. The cherry on top of her fit was a pair of thick black sunglasses that really brought everything together; for a Y2K-esque look. X puts in a lot of effort into her looks which myself and the rest of her fans can appreciate as it's almost a whole other aspect of artistry she is bringing to the stage!
The audience roared enthusiastically as the first few notes to her song “Bitch” steeped into everyone’s ears. It was a bold statement of her to open up with her biggest hit but it made for an unforgettable commencement of her set. Allie X spared absolutely no expense with her performance; she brought out the best in her and all of the greatest hits from her entire discography! There really was zero downtime the entire evening as it was banger after banger. She proceeded with the lead single from her latest record, “Black Eye,” which sounds like an anthem straight out of the 80s with its gushing synths and echoey drum beats and keys. Allie also blessed my ears with my favorite song on Girl With No Face, “John and Jonathan.” A robotic and haunting synth track that is just so catchy and melodramatic!
“Staying Power” rattled the walls in the room with its heavy bass and really reeled everyone in. The synths sounded just as good if not better in person; but there's something about live synths that makes going to shows so worth it and that much more special. You get a version of the song that not everyone gets to hear. Before a nostalgic encore, Allie X closed out her set with an unreleased and very dreamy almost shoegazey track titled “Bon Voyage” which I am very much looking forward to its release as it sounded way different than most of Allie’s other works. On a high, she ended the set with “Off With Her Tits” which shortly after led to the entire room jumping and dancing carelessly. X came back on stage for a little throwback encore that consisted of Super Sunset’s “Girl Of The Year,” and CollXtion II’s “Paper Love” and “Casanova,” leaving Thalia Hall well fed and on a high from such an phenomenal set.
Girl With No Face is arguably her best album yet, showcasing that Allie X is back and stronger than ever. However, I’m a synth junkie myself so I was slightly biased when I found myself immediately hooked Allie’s new album. I truly believe that this is the start of a new era of artistry for Allie X and her music. Her new album is definitely worth a listen and I highly recommend catching her show the next time she comes around!
All photos by Andrew Lagunas