There was something about Parisalexa’s Wednesday night concert at Chop Suey that felt very Seattle. Normally, a good portion of any given concert crowd is very clearly transplants from the tech industry, but this night felt more word-of-mouth, like a community coming together to support one of their own. The dance floor was packed with young folks, and the bar crammed full of industry types who looked and smelled great and greeted each other with a lot of loud back claps. But Seattle showed up for a good reason—the lineup was stacked with talented musicians.
I got to the venue at the very beginning of Chong the Nomad’s set when a “Sweet Dreams/Beautiful Nightmare” remix was in full swing. She turned the middling Beyonce hit into a jungle-y, groovy number. Chong’s musical knowledge is vast and pulls funk, pop, R&B, and hiphop; her music kept the crowd’s dance energy pretty high. The DJ herself was super into it, bouncing and dancing around the stage. I went crazy with her “In My Feelings” remix, that sampled the “Kiki” bit of the chorus, distorting it, tearing it apart, and pulling it back together to transition into Missy Elliot’s “Worth It.” Fucking inspirational. Listen to this remix Chong dropped this afternoon:
Seattle native Parisalexa, whose full name is Paris Alexa Williams, has talent up to her eyeballs. She came onstage dressed in all white, with highlighter glinting off her cheekbones. Opening with the track “Lv,” Parisalexa radiated a lot of confidence—it was quickly apparent that she’s one of those singers that actually sounds better live than on wax. There’s something about her voice that’s smooth and, most notably, easy.
After a few songs, she hopped off stage and came back having shed her white button-up for a black lace bodice. The crowd wooed appropriately. Despite an over-enthusiastic bassist/guitarist who at one point literally stood in between her and the crowd, and the chatty bar section where you could almost hear everyone publicizing their Soundclouds to each other, Parisalexa has a natural flair as a performer. She had great chemistry with MistaDC, who she brought onstage for their slow and sexy song “Garden,” and shone even when onstage completely alone with just a looper and moody lighting.
The night ended with her hit “Ballin’” as an encore. Parisalexa really let go—jumping around, offering the mic to the audience, laughing and having fun. Earlier on in the show, she commented to the crowd, “I love living in Seattle, there’s so much talent here.” Yeah, I fucking agree!
