Kesha/Scissor Sisters "Tits Out Tour"
Pine Knob Music Theatre
Clarkston, Mich.
July 19, 2025
I’ll be the first to admit I’m not a concert person. The crowd and decibel levels stress me out, and I’m often somehow simultaneously bored, so I tend to avoid them. But when there’s a singer or group I like with multiple songs I enjoy – especially when paired with another – I’ll make an exception, as I did Saturday night with the dual Scissor Sisters/Kesha "Tits Out Tour” concert at Clarkston’s Pine Knob Music Theatre. While still a bit overstimulating for me at times, the show was a true celebration of freedom and joy and did not disappoint.
When I arrived at the middle-of-the-woods amphitheater, I found the space packed. The theater’s massive lawn was an ocean of people outside the nearly sold-out covered pavilion. To my surprise, the lawn was full of Gen Z girls – who would have been children during Kesha’s peak years – all decked out in hot pants, fishnet tights and animals prints with color streaks in their hair and glitter on their faces. (Hell, they looked more like Kesha than Kesha did, whose modern aesthetic appears to be cleaner and less eclectic.)
Despite having a seated ticket, I opted for the lawn, which offered me some welcomed space and distance from (even more) intense crowds closer to the stage. We got lucky weatherwise. After Michigan’s relentless, punishing heat wave this summer, we had a rare evening of pleasant warm temperatures and just missed the predicted rain.
I snagged my ticket at the last minute and arrived halfway through Scissor Sisters’ performance. Luckily, I made it in time for their main hits “Let’s Have a Kiki” and “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’,” which I adore, and loved the collective energy dancing to this insanely catchy and ironic dance song.
Known for their camp, over-the-top glam-pop, the recently reunited group lived up to expectations. This was their first North American tour in over a decade, and their energy was infectious. In front of a set that featured giant scissors in between a pair of giant boobs, the group’s costumes were dazzling and playful, with neon smiley faces, blinding sequins and a fantastic shaggy red dress with eyes and lips that looked like it had been made from a Muppet. It was delightful.
By the time Kesha got onstage, the crowd was pumped up, ready to keep the energy flowing with the singer/songwriter’s sugary-sweet pop songs. The “Tits Out Tour” was the biggest of her career. Kesha said she was the happiest she’d ever been in her life, and her joy and gratitude for her fans was palpable.
The showed opened with her debut 2009 hit “Tik Tok,” during which she danced around holding a prop of her own head. Weird, but sure, I’ll go with it. Other theatrical gems included white furries, simulated knifings and singing in a straightjacket. Her final costume featured her and her dancers in “Kesha Records Bitch” T-shirts, a nod her new independent label “Kesha Records,” launched in 2024 following a lengthy legal battle with her former label.
Kesha opening
Her show featured most of her biggest hits, including “Die Young, “Blow,” “Take if Off,” “We R Who We R,” and “Timber,” with the disappointing exclusion of “Blah, Blah, Blah.” We also heard several songs, including “Red Flag," from her album “.” (pronounced “Period”), which dropped earlier this month and is her first as an independent artist. She described "Red Flag" as a banger, and indeed it was.
It made me happy to see Kesha back in her element and in an apparently much better place in her life than in the past decade. I still don’t see many other concerts in my future, but I’m adding “Red Flag” to my playlist and am looking forward to what’s yet to come from her.
