Christine and The Queens at Brooklyn Steel
photo by Em Grey

Christine & the Queens played Brooklyn Steel & 'Colbert' (pics, videos, setlist)

Héloïse Letissier finally followed Christine and the Queenshugely beloved debut with the project’s sophomore album, Chris, in September, and she is on a North American tour supporting it right now. She played her first of two consecutive, sold-out NYC shows at Brooklyn Steel last night (aka Halloween). We didn’t get a picture of or write down the setlist last night, but as you can see from the LA show’s setlist written out below, the setlist is heavy on Chris along with a handful of faves from her debut. UPDATE: Check out the NYC setlist below. Here’s an excerpt of The Daily Californian‘s review of the Oakland show:

Letissier sauntered on stage as “Chris,” her newest, hypermasculine persona, greeting her androgynous backup dancers with the opening bars of Chris’ album-opener, “Comme si,” as they engaged in a dance battle that rivaled “West Side Story.” The exaggerated, hands-on-hips motions and cocky swagger of Letissier’s and her dancers’ interactions weren’t new to anyone familiar with the choreographies employed in the best of Christine and the Queens’ music videos: always fast-paced, inventive and entire performances in and of themselves.

This theatricality wasn’t unique to the performance of “Comme si.” Every song Letissier performed was its own sovereign one-act play, telling a story through its staging. “Goya Soda,” an album standout, exhibited an unrequited love story between Chris and a backup dancer, one that ended with the lover going “up in smoke” as white smoke suddenly exuded from the dancer’s jacket and smoke machines rolled a gentle grey fog upstage. “Science Fiction” embodied the spirit of Michael Jackson’s iconic “Thriller” music video in choreography, yet another nod to Christine and the Queens’ ‘80s synth-pop-inspired style.

In the show’s most vulnerable moment, Chris stood alone on the stage, sans band, sans dancers, for a stripped version of the French ballad “Nuit 17 à 52.” But even then, she invited the audience to sing along and mocked their butchering of French phrases. Letissier is at her core an artist concerned with every element of staging design and production, one who prioritizes audience reception while still enjoying herself onstage.

You can read more of that review here.

Pictures of Christine and the Queens’ Halloween night show at Brooklyn Steel are in the gallery above (including shots of opener Dounia) and videos from the show are below, along with the setlist from LA. Christine and the Queens play Brooklyn Steel again tonight (11/1), which is sold out.

While in NYC, Christine and the Queens stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to play “Comme Si.” Video of that is below too.

They also just announced their first-ever headlining Australian shows.

Christine and the Queens @ Brooklyn Steel 10/31/2018 Setlist
Comme Si
Girlfriend
Le G
Make Some Sense
Science Fiction
Les paradis perdus
iT
Feel So Good
Tilted
5 dollars
What’s-Her-Face
Here
The Stranger
Goya! Soda!
Damn (What Must a Woman Do)
Nuit 17 à 52
Doesn’t Matter
The Walker
Saint Claude
Intranquillité

Christine and the Queens in LA – 10/27/18 Setlist (via)
Comme si
Girlfriend
Le G
Make Some Sense
Science Fiction
Les paradis perdus (Christophe cover)
iT
Feel So Good
Tilted
5 dollars
What’s‐Her‐Face
Here
The Stranger
Goya! Soda!
Damn (What Must a Woman Do)
Nuit 17 à 52
Doesn’t matter
La marcheuse

Encore:
Saint Claude
Intranquillité

photos by Em Grey