Who dat, who dat? I-G-G-Y.
Really though. It was actually Iggy Azalea standing in front of us. I think it took until the end of the show – no, scratch that, it took until I was at home that I saw Iggy Azalea in person. I have been a fan of her for years, and it was completely surreal seeing her perform in such a crowded venue.
Azalea performed at The Observatory in Santa Ana on Wednesday, May 14, 2014. Not that it’s her fault or anything, but the timing could not have been worst. Not only was it on a Wednesday (9AM class the next day was not very fun), but it was also the hottest day of the week. The venue is general admission, which means the show is all-standing – and first come, first serve. Basically, the earlier you wait in line, the better position you will have during the concert. Guess where the line was?
Outside. In the scorching heat and evil sun.
Staff Writer Stacy Vannha and I waited in line for about four hours. Thankfully, we made friends in line who were willing to save our spots while we drove to a nearby Carl’s Jr. to buy drinks so we wouldn’t, you know, die of dehydration.
We all managed to survive the heat until we were finally let in; we all booked it to the stage and somehow scored on standing in fourth row or so. You would think that there would be air conditioning inside the venue, but boy, were we wrong. It was just as hot (if not hotter) as it was outside, and the overload of bodies pressed against one another made it worse.
The show was scheduled to start at 8, but as expected, Azalea didn’t come out till about 9:30PM. There was no opening act either! Tickets were about $45, which really is not too expensive, but seeing other performers would have been nice. Her DJ played upbeat music for about an hour to pump the crowd up, but it just didn’t cut it for me. The entire time her DJ was playing music, I began to feel lightheaded from the unbearable heat and I could barely breathe. In all honesty, I wanted to pass out.
Then finally, it happened.
No, not me passing out. The absolutely beautiful Iggy Azalea stepped foot on the stage, and my jaw literally dropped. I could not bring myself to scream because I was in that much of shock – is she even real? She is like Santa Claus for goodness sake! She looked exactly like an edit on Tumblr, or a cutout from a magazine. Honestly, she was flawless.
She opened with “Beat Down,” and transitioned to the crowd favorite, “F*ck Love.” I don’t know how, but Azalea somehow manages to present a graceful kind of energy. She definitely knows how to perform live, rapping and dancing simultaneously, but she also has delicate movements. Her songs emphasize on her confidence, but Azalea’s humble attitude was apparent when she would interact with the crowd. Despite her increasing fame, I truly admire her down-to-earth personality.
I like how she did not perform songs solely from her new album, despite it being her headlining tour. As I mentioned in my prior review on The New Classic, Azalea always remembers where she came from. Performing her old tracks like “My World” and “Pu$$y” hyped the crowd and shows that she appreciates her history.
Unfortunately, her set felt like about fifteen minutes. I believe it was about half an hour, but it definitely did not feel like it. However, as disappointed as I was over how short it was, I was also grateful the moment it was over because I wanted to leave. I needed to get out of the heat and get some fresh air, as well as a drink of water and a place to sit down. It was complete chaos to say the least, and I wondered if all that trouble was worth it for such a short set.
Reflecting on it all now, I want to say it was worth it. Really, I do. Seeing one of my favorite musicians perform live was amazing, but to be blunt – Stacy and I went through so much sh*t just for this one show. There is no point in being negative about it since it already happened, so I’m just going to focus on how outstanding Azalea is as a performer and musician.
