story+photos / Meghan O’Connor
Here at Ladygunn, we’ve been obsessing over Santi “Santigold” White since 2008, when her debut album “Santogold” dropped and rocked our world. Needless to say, her intimate performance at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Tuesday was our definition of a fairytale.
My boss Koko and I weaved our way through the hipster elite that had gathered to celebrate the return of the real queen of pop. (All hail the queen and her reign!) Immediately I spotted Alexander Wang who showed up at the same time we did and was in the same amount of rush to get in. Did I mention this was the place to be on Monday?
The audience consisted of the diehard fans who were quick enough to whip out their credit cards in the five minutes it took for the show to completely sell out, and list worthy press (like me!) that were eager to hear what Santi had been working on for the last few years. We were well-rewarded. The spell-binding show seemed personally catered to us hardcore fans with shout-outs like a special rendition of “Brooklyn We Go Hard” performed alongside surprise stage guest Spankrock. Other surprise guests included Karen O who made her appearance on the first song of the night, “Go” a slight Caribbean flavored dance heavy song that got the crowd moving out the gate.
Santi’s entire performance was endlessly entertaining; we got the classics we love (personal favorite: the superhuman sounding “Creator,” complete with animalistic vocal cries) and new singles off her soon-to-be-released album “Master of My Make-Believe,” due to drop this spring. We’ve been waiting in anticipation for this second album since the original “Santogold” and if the singles we heard were an indication of the album to come, we won’t be disappointed. The singles we heard were enough to obsess over themselves, but add the artist’s infectious smile and stage presence and we were full-blown junkies. Adding to the aura of awesome were two co-performers, a pair of dancers whose wardrobes may have changed countless times (from tuxedo dresses to army green bedazzled pantsuits to Marie Antoinette-style shorts and umbrellas no less), but their stoically badass expressions surely didn’t as they pulled the coolest dance moves we’ve ever seen. Clearly the artist found two dancers who were just as generally effortlessly cool as she.
We died. Santigold, we want to be you when we grow up, but we’ll totally settle for being your back-up dancers. Please call.
See more pictures here.
