Kesha
3Arena, Dublin
★★★★★
It has been 14 years since the American singer-songwriter Kesha – formerly Ke$ha – played in Dublin. The crowd at 3Arena on Saturday night is full of people who remember her huge hits the first time around, as well as younger fans, many of whom wear the chunky 2000s-style coloured streaks in their hair and body glitter that the singer was famous for.
Kesha’s gap in touring was caused by a lengthy legal battle with her former producer Dr Luke over his alleged drugging and sexual assault of the singer, claims that he denied. The producer countersued for defamation and breach of contract. They eventually settled the lawsuits outside of court in 2023.
Since then Kesha has been busy rerecording and reproducing her early music, and it’s clear that her fans are still hungry for more.
From the first song of her Tits Out set – which, granted, is her megahit Tik Tok – people are up dancing. A move like this can leave some disappointed that the big tunes are up first, but this isn’t the case for Kesha’s gig: the bangers keep coming.
READ MORE
The show is broken into four segments, each with a different colour theme, costume and vibe, from gay-club pop to a more intimate feel.
The first segment of the show sees her carrying around a prosthetic head of herself from Animal, her 2010 album, to represent her growth as an artist. She’s not afraid to mention what has happened to her and tells the crowd that she’s taking back her voice.
The stage is nothing special, but, really, nothing else is needed: Kesha and her team of dancers, as well as the light work, are enough to keep the show energetic and fun.
Both her oldies (We R Who We R, Die Young, Blow, etc) and her new tunes (Boy Crazy, Delusional and Joyride) have the crowd going bananas.
But Kesha doesn’t need this level of production, and she knows it. Her third-last song of the evening is Praying, which is about her battles. There is nothing but her voice to carry the performance. Her vocals are strong, and she knows how to hold the stage.
Afterwards she spends a few moments on her knees as the crowd cheers and she wipes away a few tears.
This is the final night of her first tour as a “free woman”, and she is soaking it up.
Kesha was the original party girl. Modern pop would look so different without her influence in the late 2000s and early 2010s. She is so much more than a party girl now, but, goodness, does she still know how to have a good party.
[ Kesha: ‘If you say the wrong thing now, your career is #cancelled’Opens in new window ]
