Review: Kesha ushers in new era in a wide-ranging, heartfelt stop in Chicago

Kesha is finally a free woman, and she’s shouting about it from the stages of her latest tour. As the pop star’s 90-minute concert kicked off at Tinley Park’s Credit Union 1 Amphitheater Saturday night, video screens displayed the message, “The truth will set you free … tonight, I will give you my truth, tonight I will give you my whole story,” then asked, “What are you willing to sacrifice?” For Kesha, it was clearly her former self.

As the singer ascended to the stage from a moving platform to launch into the perennial hit “Tik Tok,” she held in her hands a decapitated mannequin head bearing her 2010s likeness, which she literally kissed goodbye and hurled away. Towers of candles flanked each side of the stage as smoke filled the air and strobe lights erupted like lightning.

It was clear this was no ordinary show. It was a ritual, a cleansing, a woman reclaiming her powers and being reborn before our eyes. And it was the perfect way for Kesha to introduce her brand-new double-entendre album, “. (Period),” the title symbolizing not only the end of something but also the very essence of womanhood and female empowerment.

Purposely released on Independence Day, the record is a strong declaration of artistic freedom from a creator who spent a decade locked in an intense legal battle with her former producer and alleged abuser Dr. Luke (the two settled out of court in 2023) and perpetually tied to the overreaching RCA/Kemosabe Records deal she’s had in place since she was 18 years old.

New label, new woman

Instead, “. (Period)” is the first album the music star has released on her newly launched imprint, Kesha Records, and brings her back to the raunchy pop style she boldly entered the scene with — this time on her terms. Songs like the feverishly debauched “Boy Crazy” and the unlucky-in-love banger “Red Flag” carried the hallmarks of Kesha’s unabashed down-and-dirty early dance anthems. But it was also refreshing to see them paired with the more introspective “Cathedral” and “The One,” the latter a self-empowerment opus about finding happiness within.

With her own label now in place, the pop star hinted that she may be pulling from the Taylor Swift playbook to release “Kesha versions” of her earlier five albums as well. “I haven’t played these songs in 13 years, I took off the original productions and have redone them,” Kesha shared with the exuberant crowd as she whipped through earlier material like “Warrior” and “Thinking Of You” with new purpose.

With “Tik Tok,” she addressed the dated “P. Diddy” lyric head on, asking fans to throw up their middle fingers against abuse. “[These songs] were taken from me. I wrote them, and I wrote them for you. Will you help me take these songs back tonight?” she asked, immediately met with a deafening roar of affirmation.

Deluge of Kesha-core: fishnets and glitter galore

Kesha fans continue to be some of the most dedicated in the world of pop. At Lollapalooza 2024, when Kesha graciously swapped set times and stages with Chappell Roan to allow for Roan’s record-breaking crowd, the massive throng stuck around to support Kesha too. At Tinley Park, that love fest continued.

Many of her “Animals” came from all around the Tri-State area, in a deluge of total Kesha-core looks: fishnets, animal prints and buckets and buckets of glitter. The night was sold-out, with Kesha declaring it “the biggest show of the tour” as she walked through the entire arena to hug fans and, later, threw out sweaty towels after intense dance numbers.

There were points in the night where she was also visibly emotional, in particular fighting back tears after a stripped-back performance of “Happy.”

“I need you to know I really, really love you. I prayed for over a decade for times like this [and] I’m really happy to tell you that I’ve never been happier in my life,” she said.

Kesha has tried to brand her T-ts Out Tour as that same goofy flirt who’s always been hiding inside, through good times and bad. But she didn’t live up to the mission. (In fact, Scissor Sisters, the campy disco-rock act, was the one to heed the message, opening the night with giant inflatable nipple props and enough suggestive choreography to make parents cover their kids’ eyes.) Instead, the best moments were when Kesha exposed her inner spirit.

During the encore, when she traded in the evening’s boudoir apparel for jeans and Converse and delivered a rousing version of the solemn ballad “Praying,” the crowd responded with the loudest and most reverent singalong of the night. This may be Kesha's finest era yet. Period.

SET LIST

Tik Tok
Only Love Can Save Us Now
Warrior
Crazy Kids
C'Mon
Thinking Of You
Sleazy
Boy Crazy
Cannibal
Delusional
Take It Off
Blow
The Drama
Fine Line
Ram Dass Interlude
Happy
Eat The Acid
Attention!
Joyride
Yippee-Ki-Yay
Timber (Pitbull Cover)
Red Flag
Dinosaur
The One
Die Young

(Encore)

Cathedral
Praying
Your Love Is My Drug
We R Who We R