Last night at the iconic New York City burlesque club The Box, Addison Rae became a full-blown pop star.
She emerged on stage at the Spotify-hosted party/performance of her new album Addison on a vertical bed, under shimmering sheets. A gay person in front of me murmured to a friend, “Have you ever seen Hairspray?” More likely, it was a callback to Britney Spears on her 1999 Rolling Stone cover. Rae sang the first verse of “Fame Is a Gun” under the covers, ending on the ill-fated declaration: “I always wanted more.”
The covers are stripped away, and she’s revealed to be handcuffed to the bed in her underwear — leaving us in the front row seat as she goes down in history. “Nothing makes me feel as good as being loved by you,” she admits, or admonishes, or openly mocks.
On June 6, Rae took the stage to perform songs from her new album for the first time; the seven-song set included “Fame is a Gun,” “High Fashion,” “Aquamarine,” “New York,” “Headphones On,” “Diet Pepsi” and “Times Like These.” Amid outfit changes and simple props — the bed turned into a mirrored surface a la “Two Stars” from Camp Rock — Rae was giddy energy and sensual movement and commanding stage presence.
I thought back to her surprise appearance on the Sweat Tour last September, when Rae joined Charli XCX and Troye Sivan to perform “Diet Pepsi” for the first time. In her white tulle tutu and bra top, with the approval and encouragement of Charli and the breathily euphoric “Diet Pepsi” in her catalog, the signs of forthcoming pop stardom were all there.
But the Spotify performance crystallized it, the screaming crowd, the dancers in cut-offs and lingerie, the celebrities in the wings — Julia Fox, Lola Tung, Amelia Gray, Clairo, Jade, Conan Gray — the media clamoring for a look over the packed balcony. The deliciously sweaty atmosphere of naughty pop music, of witnessing a star come into her power on stage for the first time. Addison, fully in her body, digging her hips into the beat like she owned it, grinning and winking all the while.
