Saturday (March 2nd 2024) we got the chance to see one of my favorite acts in the last few years; Qveen Herby.
We arrived relatively promptly and were able to find good parking which for a show on a Saturday night in Philadelphia is shocking in and of itself. After getting in line for security we were eventually brought into the venue where someone walked us through to the front of the venue so that I could see from my wheelchair.
While we were waiting for the show to start we met a lovely pair of I want to say kids but they’re like 25 or more and got one of their socials. Hi Billy! Billy’s compatriot was kind enough to step out from in front of me so that I would have a clear view of the stage only to have that spot eventually usurped by somebody who wanted to hang off the gate and block my view for the rest of the evening.
Thankfully my husband was able to take some pictures as he stood behind my chair watching the show. I was able to get some good shots from my perspective and crop out the surrounding folks where I could but sometimes leaving them in would leave the shop better so I left some of them in.
The opener for the show Marlee XX was incredible and I accidentally twinned with her by wearing the same holographic crown.
I knew that this event would be almost like a fashion show with the way Qveen fans are so I made sure that like I had a sick outfit for the evening and I worked meticulously on my makeup; you can imagine my frustration when I realized upon getting home that we had not gotten a full body shot of the hole ensemble and had not gotten a decent shot of the makeup itself in proper lighting however it still looks cool when I was blue so I guess there’s something to be said for that.
After Marlee XX’s set – my favorite track was ‘More Than ILY‘ I spent some more time chatting with Billy while they reset for Qveens performance. Eventually the house lights go back down everybody around me is shouting at ear splitting decibels I am among them I should have brought ear plugs I left them in the car.
That said once I adjusted to the sheer force of noise around me stage lights start coming on and a cloaked figure comes out on stage, the lights go up and it’s Qveen in a velvet Druid-like cloak. The intro was like something out of ‘Fantasia’. This concert was equal parts rambunctious fun, empowering, magical, and Theatrical.
The First costume reveal was during Abracadabra I believe and that was the outfit that she wore for most of the evening which was a huge bustled skirt with a corset top striped thigh highs and these incredible combat boot platforms I want to say they were very like Steve Madden. There were at least four outfit changes which was like a level of performance that I have not seen or expected out of a lot of acts currently performing at her level.
There were a total of 27 songs with very little downtime in the show. Qveen spoke between tracks here and there interacted with the audience but there was not really any dead time even during the outfit changes something was happening like the lights were doing something or the music was in an instrumental an audio skit playing.
It was so enthralling and everyone in the crowd nearly knew the lyrics to every song, myself included I probably knew about 86% of the lyrics there was An unreleased song that I’ve only heard like bits and bobs of and there’s like just you know a couple songs that I haven’t listened to as much in her catalog 27 songs is a lot.
For the last song of her regular set Qveen came out into the crowd and was taking selfies with people on the gate giving them hugs it would have been cool to participate in that but I was at least able to photos from close.
Still mildly frustrated about that I’m not going to lie it might be petty but you know if I had like a fully functional body and somebody without one or with less of one was like getting blocked by me in some way or I was hindering them in some way I would like stop doing that? Alas.
I was already sore by the time we got home from how much I was moving around in my chair but the discomfort was well worth the incredible show we experienced.
Neither myself or my husband had seen Qveen live before and we will 100% be going to see her again and the Vibes were Immaculate as the kids say. I’m so excited that she is blowing up and I can’t wait to watch her pop off again. If you’re a fan or if you want to become one check out her Spotify and I’m also part of her Patreon so if you want to support her directly and her music you can check that out as well.
EllyRox 