TIFFANY STRINGER: THE TEXAS PRIMADONNA SHOW
MOROCCAN LOUNGE — LOS ANGELES, CA
Today, Tiffany Stringer is a popstar on the rise, garnering social media attention and stamps of approval from current pop culture icons such as Tate McRae, Addison [Rae], and most recently, Alix Earle. But back in 2021, I knew her as the bloody bride covering No Doubt’s “Just a Girl” at a Halloween show at the Whisky-a-Go-Go. Even back then, if star power had an energy force, we all would have been knocked to the floor. Later that night, my best friend and I stopped her upstairs to compliment her performance and snap selfies with the girl we knew was going to be a "big, big star." It seems people have finally started to discover what I’ve known all along, because on July 11th, I found myself at the Moroccan Lounge for Tiffany Stringer’s sold out headline debut, THE TEXAS PRIMADONNA SHOW for her debut EP, The Texas Primadonna.
When you’ve been to as many shows as I have, you just know when the energy is going to be incredible before a note is even sung. The pre-show playlist was pop girl essentials before shifting to be more on theme with fun-loving country songs like “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” and what seemed to be the crowd favorite, Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” But when the lights dimmed and we heard the unmistakable theme from the 1966 western classic The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, the energy shifted from upbeat to electric.
Accompanied by dancers Nessa and Sasa, the night’s show was choreographed, cheeky, and full of flair, cowgirl hats, and extravagant burlesque feather fans. Stringer’s theatrics never hindered her vocals as she weaved through a set consisting of covers, originals, and unreleased gems, which she joked was the only way to keep the show from consisting of just the five tracks from her EP.
About halfway through the night, we hit what she called the “yap session”—one of the only sections of the night where she’d be able to do her favorite thing: talk! The yap session was designated for the acoustic portion of the night, which consisted of two unreleased songs: “Casualty” and “You Might Kill Me”. She shockingly shared that “Casualty” had been written the same week as the infectious single “Oh My God,” which she described as her “crash out moment” post-breakup. "Oh My God" is a tongue-in-cheek rebellious breakup anthem, and “Casualty,” she said, is the other side of that emotional coin—what she wished she could have said, and what she would have said if she had “taken a moment.”
Wrapping up the acoustic section with “You Might Kill Me,” she reflected on her experiences with online dating during her single era. Laughing in recollection, she told us about the moment which inspired the song: standing in an alley with a stranger she’d met on a dating app, suddenly realizing—as most women do when navigating our modern methods of finding love—that she has no way of knowing whether or not this person is a serial killer.
From potential true crime documentary material to a good breakup song, Stringer loves it all. But she admitted there was just a certain je ne sais quoi about being able to sing about her man. In fact, one of my favorite moments of the night was her feet-kicking and hair-twirling performance of another unreleased track, presumably titled “That’s My Man,” during which she shared a quick onstage smooch with guitarist Danny Spadaro, who just so happens to be... her man.
Stringer didn't hesitate to thank Spadaro, her dancers, her crew, and her manager, shouting out everyone who made the night possible. But as she said sarcastically that there was nobody left, attention turned towards her drummer for a brief skit a la Dora the Explorer, with Stringer hilariously asking us if we could find the drummer.
This show was packed with highlights, with such a vibrant energy, not just from the roaring crowd, but from Stringer herself. From Lana Del Rey covers and old releases to sneak peeks and recent singles, Stringer put on an incredible show. Whether it was cowboy hats and the title track “Texas Primadonna” or steamy choreo and throwback single, “End of an Era,” there was not one moment where the crowd wasn’t screaming, singing, jumping, or dancing.
Before the night was over, Stringer left the stage as the crowd cheered for an encore. In the now dark venue, none other than Grace Vanderwaal emerged in Stringer’s place on stage, wielding a megaphone. Vanderwaal, reciting the dialogue of The Texas Primadonna’s opening track, “The National Anthem (of Independence),” walked the stage asking us to “rise for the national anthem.” Finished with “It seems like nobody wants to have a good time anymore, and Tiffany is fucking sick of it!” there was the sudden sound of a drumline behind the crowd. Stringer emerged from the back of the venue, weaving her way around the dropped jaws and utterly amused shrieks.
Seeing the “primadonna” sash across her chest for her third look of the night, marching band drummers in tow, it was at this moment that I realized this was probably the most creative encore I’d ever seen. When she made it back to the stage, she sent us off with “Oh My God,” giving us her all one last time.
Today, Tiffany Stringer is a popstar on the rise, blending confessional songwriting, southern charm, and dazzling, campy theatrics into music and a stage presence that makes you want to live full-time at the pop princess rodeo. In the future, I expect nothing less than incredible success and full-blown social media meltdowns over high-demand tickets to her inevitable sold out world tour. I can’t protect you from the future trauma of the dreaded virtual queue, but if you take just eleven minutes to dive into her latest EP, maybe you’ll find yourself at a show before the rest of the world catches on—because, to quote myself circa 2021, Tiffany Stringer is going to be a big, big star.
