Canadian singer-songwriter Alexandra Ashley Hughes has been making alt-pop as Allie X for 10 years now, collaborating with Mitski, VÉRITÉ, and Troye Sivan among others, and she released her fourth album under the moniker, Girl with No Face, in February. It’s a blissful romp through ’80s-style pop, but with an oddball edge that makes it unique. She’s on tour supporting the album now, and just stopped in NYC for a pair of shows at Racket. We went to the second night on Wednesday (6/12), where Allie delivered a set of pop catharsis to a packed house of adoring fans.
Taking a stage strung with red string that recalled a spider web between her guitar player and bassist/synth player, Allie moved between a keyboard and center stage, and with her magnetic, operatic voice, which she punctuated with unearthly shrieks, she had the crowd in the palm of her hand the whole night. After starting the set with her 2014 track “Bitch,” she played a few songs from her new album, her Mitski collaboration “Susie Save Your Love,” then “You Slept on Me,” which she cheekily dedicated to her new fans.
“Galina” got a gorgeous acoustic rendition for its first verse, for and “John and Jonathan” she invited the title’s namesakes to join her onstage if they were in attendance (they were). She introduced “Off With Her Tits,” the last song of her main set, by saying, “I’d like to finish with my cuntiest song.” When she came back out for an encore, it turned into even more of an all-out dance party, with “Paper Love,” “Casanova,” and “Girl of the Year.”
Maylee Todd opened, and you can see pictures from the show and Allie’s setlist below.
Allie’s tour continues through June; see all remaining dates below.
SETLIST: ALLIE X @ RACKET, 6/12/2024
Bitch
Black Eye
Weird World
Girl With No Face
Susie Save Your Love
You Slept on Me
John and Jonathan
Science
Galina
Super Duper Party People
Staying Power
Bon Voyage
Off With Her Tits
Encore:
Paper Love
Casanova
Girl of the Year
ALLIE X: 2024 TOUR DATES
JUN 18 Portland, OR Polaris Hall
JUN 19 Seattle, WA The Crocodile
JUN 21 San Francisco, CA The Independent
JUN 22 Los Angeles, CA Teragram Ballroom
JUN 23 Los Angeles, CA Teragram Ballroom