Elle King Charms Raleigh

BY CAITLIN RUSS

Elle King performed at The Ritz on Friday, May 31. There was no opener for this show and while doors opened at 7:00 PM, the singer didn’t take the stage until 8:30 PM. King played all her hit songs while the crowd enjoyed dancing and singing along.

While there didn’t seem to be an elephant in the room, King decided to address her recent actions. Earlier in the year at the Grand Ole Opry in tribute to Dolly Parton, King performed... "hammered." She forgot the words and didn’t deliver an Opry worthy performance. Fans were mad but soon after King posted on social media that she is only human and spoke to Dolly about the incident. All was well.

While not directly mentioning the Opry performance, she talked about decision making and trying to be a better person. One major motivation and inspiration behind her song “Lucky” is her son. She doted about him onstage and was happy to have him on tour with her.

The “Ex’s & Oh’s” singer seemed very comfortable in the intimate setting and told her audience that they made Raleigh feel like home. King told the story of how her recording of Tyler Childers's “Jersey Giant” came to be. She dedicated the song “America’s Sweetheart” to a young fan in the crowd.

At the end of her set the crowd got a little rowdy, though it is unclear what exactly happened. To avoid some young fans in the audience from getting hurt, she spoke to them and brought them on stage. The girls danced together with Elle during her last song before walking off backstage together.

King performed at Railbird just two days later. She continues her solo tour in Iowa, followed by Virginia, and then makes her way up the East coast through the end of June.

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CAITLIN RUSS

Caitlin Russ is a Florida native currently residing in North Carolina. She is an English teacher by day and freelance entertainment journalist by night. Caitlin enjoys reading, hiking with her husband and 3 children, and attending as many concerts as she can. Her all-time favorite music artists include John Mayer, Tyler Childers, and Paramore.

Read Caitlin's posts here.