ROYAL & THE SERPENT AT UNION TRANSFER IN PHILADELPHIA
Royal & the Serpent rolled through Philadelphia, PA this past weekend as part of Grandson’s “Death of a Tour”, and Union Transfer had no idea what a treat they were really in for. The entire bill was perfectly crafted with a good time in mind. For me personally, it’s been a while since every single act on a bill has completely blown me away, but this was one of those shows.
Opening up the show that night were the independent alt-rock/hip hop band, Oxymorrons. “2 R’S NOT ONE!!” From the minute the group hit the stage, the energy in the room exploded. I have never heard of the band prior to tonight but I couldn’t stop gushing about them to my friends after. The stage presence they give off is larger than life. The entire time they were performing they were jumping around, dancing, interacting with each other, and overall having the time of their lives. At one point, the audience started throwing money and weed onto the stage, which had the band quite excited. They also never stopped cracking jokes in between their songs. I found myself laughing and smiling quite often when they were on the stage and I would highly recommend making sure you’re out early enough to catch them.
Taking the stage next was one of my new favorite artists, Royal & the Serpent. I had the opportunity to see the singer-songwriter back in August when she was on tour with Pvris, and had been looking forward to the next time I would get to catch her. I was so thrilled to hear that she would be making her way to Philadelphia. From the minute she stepped onto the stage, you were completely engulfed in the world and community she created through her performance. I feel as though just as many fans were there to see her as they were to see the headlining act. Royal opened up her set with “i can’t get high” from her debut EP searching for nirvana. She donned a shirt made by one of her fans and made sure to let the audience know. Fans knew all the words to her songs and screamed right along with her. She danced, ran, and contorted her body all throughout her performance. The amount of growth I’ve seen from her as a performer even in the short amount of time since I last saw her is astounding. She’s been quite busy since then as well. Royal released her newest EP IF I DIED WOULD ANYONE CARE back on January 28th, and she made sure to show it tons of love during her performance. She gave the audience songs like “PHUCKBOI REJECTS”, “ALT B!TCH POSER”, and “I DON’T EVEN LIKE U”. She sang her newest song “HAPPIER IN HELL” that she mentioned was unreleased, but set to drop on the last day of tour, and had the audience shine their flashlights at her while she performed. The front row threw roses onto the stage for her. She performed a really fun cover of “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers too. Her penultimate song “EAT SPIT!” is one of my favorites, and the entire room was bouncing around and feral as they screamed the chorus as loud as they could. When it was time for the set to come to a close, Royal ended with her viral song “Overwhelmed”, and Oxymorrons came bouncing out on stage to dance with her. The lighthearted energy from Royal’s set really got fans pumped and ready for Grandson’s performance.
When it was time for Grandson to take the stage, the crowd was raring to go. I am not entirely familiar with Grandson’s music, but he certainly made a lasting impression on me. Not only was his performance intense and fun, but his attitude on stage was that of gratitude and love. After his first song, the crowd flagged him down to have him stop all of the music. A fan had fallen unconscious and needed medical attention. The show had to be stopped for an extended amount of time to care for the fan, and throughout that time you could see the look of concern and worry on his face. He kept thanking the audience for their patience and when the fan was taken out of the venue, he asked for their name and started a chant. During this time, he, his band, and crew also made sure to get bottles of water out to the audience to make sure they stayed hydrated. It took a couple songs for the energy to return back to normal in the room, as you could see he was shaken up. He spoke to the audience a lot that night about the community they had all built and about love and acceptance. At one point he had the crowd throw flags on stage that they had brought, and he proudly held them up in support. By the end of the show, he passed out sealed water bottles and had fans open them and fling the water out in sync.
I left Union Transfer that night as satisfied as I could possibly be. The whole show, from beginning to end, was incredible. There are very limited dates left on this tour, so I urge you to make it out if you can and to definitely keep Royal & the Serpent on your radar.
Nicole DiBenedetto is a photographer based out of New Jersey. She likes making new friends and meeting new people so catch her out in the pit and say hi!