PinkPantheress Fancied Chicago at the Aragon Ballroom

British pop breakout PinkPantheress came “Stateside” Nov. 2 at the Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom with “An Evening With PinkPantheress” — a show so good, it felt “Illegal.”

The second of two sold out Chicago shows began with opener DJ Nick Cheo. Cheo’s set combined  relaxed vibes and crowd-pleasing hits, mixing any artist from Clairo to Nicki Minaj. His minimalistic stage design simply consisted of his laptop, DJ equipment, a small black table and a cardboard cutout of himself, setting the tone for the rest of his performance — fun, simple and never too serious.

 About halfway through Cheo’s set, TikTok creator Adamn Killa, who recently took Loyola by storm, made a guest appearance that garnered roars from the crowd. He briefly performed his song “Fall On” before leading the crowd in one of his now-famous “This is for you”  TikTok videos. 

After a mellow ending to Cheo’s set, the energy was brought right back up to 100 when PinkPantheress’ silhouette and a plaid backdrop signaled the beginning of the show. 

“My name is Pink and I’m really glad to meet you,” she sang, giving the audience a taste of “Illegal” before she seamlessly transitioned into “Stateside.”

The opening tracks found their home on her newest mixtape,“Fancy That,” in May. Despite the record only being out for six months, the Aragon was packed with people not missing a single word. 

“You can be my American hot, hot boy,” PinkPantheress sang. A bit of baked-in flattery for her crowd of adoring Chicagoan fans.

After an electrifying performance of “Stateside,” PinkPantheress jumped into two songs from her newest mixtape, “Fancy That,” “Noises” and “Nice To Know You.” Both tracks featured adorable choreography and staging, as well as several invitations for fan interaction. 

During the set, each song was backdropped by a unique variation of the 24-year-old artist’s signature tartan and occasionally a silent short film depicting a quirky romance scene or PinkPantheress interacting with herself onstage. Intense fans and fog machines, coordinated lights and dynamic screen displays didn’t detract from the performance, rather highlighting the creativity of PinkPantheress and her team.

Before introducing the next part of the set, PinkPantheress announced her true feelings on her 2023 debut album, “Heaven Knows.”

“I think this is probably my most underrated work,” PinkPantheress said. “Will you help me sing along?” 

The crowd responded with a resounding “yes,” and the audible hype for songs like “The aisle” and “Capable of love” showed they meant it.

In this portion of the show, PinkPantheress was able to show off her vocal chops and seemed truly passionate about the songs she was singing. In particular, “True romance,” a catchy love song about falling for a celebrity crush, was one of the most danceable moments of the night. 

“I’m in the crowd / Can you see my hands?” PinkPantheress sang. 

Here, Adamn Killa made his grand return on screen with a message on his hands, a new tradition for the tour where fans or public figures show their palms to the crowd with a message or the name of the city, inviting cheers and whoops of excitement. It’s parts of the show like this or PinkPantheress’ warm and humorous crowd interactions, like taking a full rotisserie chicken from a crowd member, that bring her back down to Earth for fans.

Aside from the Brit herself, the stage setup featured a DJ, drummer and two backup dancer-singers. Without their support, “An Evening With PinkPantheress” wouldn’t be the celebration of quirky British pop culture that it was.

During costume changes, the performers were featured with remixes of “Illegal” and “Tonight,” as well as a recording of LE SSERAFIM’s “Crazy.” Here, they showed off their hip-hop dance skills and kept the crowd engaged during periods of transition.

The final act of the night saw PinkPantheress, donning a delicate red lace bodysuit, rock out with some of her most popular songs like “Angel,” “Romeo” and “Boy’s a liar pt. 2.” Although her vocals and dancing remained in time and polished as ever, it seemed PinkPantheress allowed herself to let loose for these final few tracks. 

Throughout the show, the singer repeatedly made remarks about the energetic nature of the crowd, but her appreciation swelled the most during these last moments. 

“I feel like it’s magic, Romeo / You’re all I can imagine,” PinkPantheress sang. 

At the end of the full rendition of “Illegal,” PinkPantheress took her final bow and waved goodbye to the audience. However, after some brief chanting, she took the stage for an encore of “Attracted To You.”

“You’re in my head / So I cannot forget you,” PinkPantheress sang.

For the crowd at the Aragon Ballroom, it seemed the feeling was mutual.