Concert Review: Kesha + Chromeo
Review by Victoria Allen / Photos by Collin McDaniel for Germania Insurance Amphitheater
The Germania Amphitheater is the second largest concert venue in the greater Austin area and I was super excited to see fans flood the space for Kesha’s concert. Well the seats were flooded - Literally. Due to lightning in the area, there was roughly a 30 minute delay, but the show was able to go on! MEEK was set to open the concert, however it was cancelled due to the weather delay.
Thankfully, I did have the pleasure of seeing MEEK perform live at SXSW earlier this spring. Her quick rise in popularity happened when she released her iconic debut song, Fabulous, back in January of this year. The song makes a point of reminding you even when you’re at a lowest point, you can still be “f*cking fabulous.” MEEK makes music about empowerment and her songs are the epitome of feeling free. Her latest song Expensive Taste is out now - Check it out! It’s incredible to see how quickly her music and popularity has grown!
With the sun shining down here in blazing Texas, everything cleared up and the show was ready to begin!
Chromeo is an electric funk band that really knows how to turn an event around. As attendees came rushing back into the venue, Chromeo hyped up the crowd. The band has released many viral hits and the crowd was very excited to hear Fancy Footwork. The popular tune was released in 2007 and later went viral on TikTok and Instagram Reels. The duo not only got the audience pumped with energetic music, but also threw in some entertaining crowd work. They jokingly mentioned they got added to the tour after responding to a “Craigslist ad for two leather daddies” to perform with Kesha.
Chromeo makes music that is very upbeat and catchy, which makes the songs really easy to dance along with. The amazing duo performed their most popular streamed song, Jealous (I Ain’t With It),which was an obvious fan favorite. The 2024 song had everyone on the floor swaying and dancing. They also played Night By Night which is a fun hit from their 2009 album, Business Casual. Chromeo had the crowd chanting along throughout the amphitheater. Their entire setlist had perfect bangers that completely captivated the audience. There was not a single moment where you didn’t see hands waving or fist pumping. Overall, Chromeo was a fantastic opener to support the Freedom Tour!
The lights went down and the crowd’s cheers rang throughout the venue, but the party didn’t start til KESHA walked in!
Kesha has shared her music with millions of fans over the years, but for this tour she’s decided to share her story as well. The FREEDOM tour is centered on her music career journey thus far. She wanted to reclaim the songs she wrote that were previously taken and withheld by her previous record label. There’s no better metaphor for breaking out and feeling free than starting a show with a breakout hit. Kesha’s set began with an iconic classic when she played her 2009 chart topping debut song, TiK ToK. Her grand entrance started with flashing white lights as she rose from below the floor. She strutted over to an elevated platform with middle fingers high in the air as the crowd followed. She did all this while rocking a loose lace, light pink corset with a pair of jaw-dropping, matching pink angel wings.
Kesha announced up front that the set would include mostly music from over 13 years ago with the “original production removed and re-recorded.” Kesha is no longer just an artist, but the proud CEO of her own record company, Kesha Records. With the rights to her original songs finally reclaimed to whom they rightfully belong, she played amazing new renditions of all her iconic hits as well as some newly released songs. The setlist included many classics like “Cannibal,”“Take It Off,” “Die Young,” and “Your Love Is My Drug." Longtime fans were going crazy with the nostalgia and younger fans dancing throughout the night. Needless to say, the "Animals" were going wild!
During a fun remix of Crazy Kids and C'Mon Kesha hopped off stage to interact with fans. Starting at the barricades then making her way around the walkway to fans standing in higher sections, she reached out to connect with as many fans as possible. This was one of many exciting interactions.
Kesha reminisced about getting “drunk with T-Pain,” which led to my favorite mash-ups of the night and the most fitting performance for a Texas show. She performed YIPPEE-KI-YAY, which is a fun, upbeat song that featured T-Pain on her 2025 album, Period. The album was produced by her own label. She remixed the song with her number one, chart topping track, Timber! The crowd exploded in cheers and sang along to every word - Including myself!
There were a few special arrangements and remixes throughout her set. One fan favorite moment was when Kesha brought out Kyle on acoustic guitar to support her altered rendition of C U Next Tuesday. The song went viral not too long ago and many fans were shocked to hear it performed.
There were so many spectacular elements, but the costumes really caught my eye. After the first act, she changed into a fierce black and red leather corset. I thought the pink chrome, crystal studded corset was my favorite until she walked out in a shiny, gold one for the final act. The gold halo that surrounded her was perfect for the remaining songs. The outfit was used as she played CATHEDRAL and a highly anticipated hit, Praying.
Chromeo rejoined Kesha to perform, RED FLAG, which the duo is featured on. Kesha made the concert a very personal experience by sharing stories behind some of her biggest songs. Afterwards, she revealed a few personal red flags, like how sometimes she will "ghost - but only if you’re boring." Fans laughed and nodded in agreement. Kesha reflected on many moments and sang a verse from Good Old Days after sharing an anecdote about how Macklemore backed into her car shortly after the recording of the song. That entire portion of her set carried the message that "a good friend in a hard time" is a friend worth keeping around.
Kesha came to serve and her Animals were certainly fed. The theme of freedom for this tour was centered on the message of overcoming hard times and rebuilding confidence. I love how it was included throughout the concert from the narration of her journey between costume changes to the brief montage footage of previous tours and fan interactions playing in the background during the set. Kesha made the concert a truly unforgettable one! The tour wraps up at the end of the month on August 30th and I highly recommend getting tickets. Bring a friend or meet one at the show and "make the most of the night like you're gonna die young!"