Words and Photos by Andrea Regina Esperon
This past weekend, KiNG MALA played a sold-out headline show at the Mercury Lounge in the Lower East Side. From the moment I walked in, it felt less like a concert and more like stepping into a room full of friends. In a city as big as New York, it was surreal to find a pocket of community tucked away downtown, bonded over music and fashion.
KiNG MALA walked out with a huge fur coat, dressing for the weather that New York City is used to. But that all changed when she started her concert. MALA admits that she had to take her coat off right after the first song because New York City brought the heat.
When “THE GRAND DECAY” started, the room erupted. MALA yelled to put their hands up, and the crowd followed! There was something grounding about her music, like finding stability in the chaos. As she brought out the guitar, the crowd followed her energy and started to head bang
“Is anyone in the crowd a lover girl?” she asked. Only three hands went up. As a lover girl myself, I was shocked at the low amounts of hand raised, but this was a perfect segue to “DEVOTION.” She joked that by the end of the night, she’d turn us all into lover girls. And I can tell you, she did.
She dug into older tracks like “sloppy,” and the way she could jump around while keeping absolute control of her voice was insane. MALA found the perfect balance between vibing through and pulling up the energy. “I eat it [the energy] the fuck up,” and honestly? So did we.
Then came a super new, unreleased song. And I can tell you that we felt the bass in our system. MALA sang, “Your body is crazy when you’re in control.” It was grittier, edgier, and showed off her vocals in a way that fully locked in the crowd, which arguably was the most engaging moment of the night. The chemistry between KiNG MALA, her guitarist, and her drummer, Brittany, was undeniable. You could feel how much this sold-out room meant to both her and her band.
“I’ve been dreaming about this city my entire life,” she said, “and it’s exactly how I imagined it. It’s crazy to play a sold-out headline show here.”
My favorite moment of the show? MALA had a brief intermission where she encouraged us to turn to the people next to us and get to know them. This was a reminder that this wasn’t just a music show, but it was a shared experience.
In the words of MALA, “Have a New York night!”
Loudspeaker Collective 