Kesha performed a secret DJ set in San Francisco for an intimate crowd in the Presidio.
Steve Jennings/Getty Images for Live Nation
It’s official: The Bay Area is getting a new resident pop star, and she hosted a surprise concert to celebrate.
“I’m moving to San Francisco,” pop singer Kesha declared during her secret DJ set at the Presidio’s East Meadow on Friday, May 1. She was met with hearty cheers from the intimate crowd of hundreds that was packed onto the lawn in front of her. “You’re my new people.”
Set against the backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge, the show felt like the perfect welcome celebration for the prospective new resident. Kesha even got a taste of San Francisco’s fog, which quickly rolled in behind the stage, spoiling what could have been a picturesque sunset during her performance.
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Kesha: 7 p.m. May 27. Tickets start at $30. Toyota Pavilion at Concord, 2000 Kirker Pass Road, Concord. 925-676-8742. www.ticketmaster.com
Most fans were bundled up in puffer jackets and coats, prepared for the weather, and Kesha caught on quickly. Strutting onto the stage in a floor-length cow print fur coat, she bounced around to her hits accompanied onstage by electronic pop duo Mgna Crrrta, which opened with its own DJ set, along with dozens of fans and local drag performers.
“Who’s ready for Kesha in San Francisco?” she teased again later in her 40-minute set after performing her breakout 2009 hit, “TiKToK.”
While it was unclear whether the singer was serious about moving to the Bay Area, it wouldn’t come as a complete shock if she was. She has shown her love for the region on several occasions over the past year.
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Kesha performed a concert at Mountain View’s Shoreline Amphitheater in July in celebration of her first independently released project, “Period.” The week of Thanksgiving, she pulled up to Patio, a popular Palo Alto sports bar, for an impromptu karaoke-style performance of “TiKToK.” Weeks later, she surprised regulars at Martuni’s in San Francisco, where she performed a sultry cabaret take on Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight.”
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The artist is set to return to the Bay Area for a May 27 show at Toyota Pavilion at Concord.
San Francisco resident Austin Graham said he has been a fan of Kesha since he was 15. Now 32, he said that his admiration for the star has only grown over time.
“Her brazenness and unapologetic style really spoke to me,” he said before the show. “I feel like she really cares about the people she makes music for.”
Graham said he heard about Friday’s set from a roommate the night before.
The pop-up performance was a promotional stunt for Live Nation’s new Summer of Live program, which launched Wednesday, April 29, offering fans $30 tickets to thousands of concerts across the U.S. and Canada, including stops on Kesha’s forthcoming Freedom Tour. All discounted tickets are limited and will be available through Tuesday, May 5.
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The pop singer declared that she is moving to San Francisco during her DJ set.
Steve Jennings/Getty Images for Live Nation
Live Nation teased the “secret set” on Instagram last week, urging fans to RSVP on the popular event planning app Partiful for a chance to attend. Those on the list received the event location Friday morning. The promoter hosted a similar event in Nashville this week with country singer-songwriter Thomas Rhett.
While the limited-capacity event filled up quickly, many fans joined the wait list, which some say they were accepted off of less than an hour before the show started. The event was also livestreamed on YouTube for those unable to attend.
San Franciscan Amoura Teese was one of eight drag queens handpicked by Kesha to work the event, helping fans get situated before the show and taking the stage with the pop star later in the evening.
Teese said she’s always been a fan of the singer and particularly loves the “energy that she gives to all her pop music and the energy that she gives back to her fans.”
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“It’s so genuine and also very wild and carefree,” Teese said. “We need that.”
Kesha certainly brought that energy to Friday’s show. She spent most of the performance jumping around the stage, dancing with the drag queens and fans among the strobe lights, which made the whole ordeal feel more like a party than a concert.
She breezed through most of her hits, both old and new. Though she was DJing, Kesha did grab a microphone during several songs, singing along to her own vocals. The pop singer also debuted a new song, “Origami,” which she announced on social media earlier in the day. The horny Japan-themed track is set to officially release Friday, May 8.
“Where’s the best gay bar in the city?” Kesha asked the crowd during her closer, “We R Who We R,” which she dedicated to her LGBTQ+ fans. After consulting a few fans near the front, she announced that the party would continue in the Castro, before exiting the stage, eager to further immerse herself in the city that just may be her new home.