Review and photos by Katrina Gelety

The Weird World Tour came to Pittsburgh, PA on November 13, 2024. Violet Chachki opened the show and mentioned that it was her first tour doing live vocals. I was shocked when she said that because she sang with such an ease and very much commanded the stage as a star. I would have thought she’d been doing live vocals on tour for years.

Not only was Chachki an absolute icon while performing, she is also effortlessly hilarious. One of her first interactions with the crowd was “I know what you’re all thinking … Allie X looks different.” She also confused Pittsburgh (the “steel city”) with being associated with iron and then exclaimed “it’s still blue collar!” Another hilarious moment (which was not planned) was when the smoke alarm started to go off in the middle of Chachki’s set. I giggled to myself that Chachki is so hot that the smoke alarm couldn’t help but go off. 

In all honesty, I hadn’t looked into Violet Chachki prior to the show, but I’m actually glad I didn’t. I was not expecting a stunningly beautiful drag queen that not only can captivate a room but is absolutely comical as well. I am now a huge Violet Chachki fan after seeing her that night.

Allie X then took the stage in front of a packed crowd; however, she began her set facing backwards for her opening song “Bitch.” She had a mask on the back of her head which is what the audience saw, and to those of us in the crowd, it looked like the mask was singing to us. It was such a unique way to open the show that I was completely stunned. The crowd was singing along to the lyrics as loud as they possibly could. And then, during the second song of the set (“Weird World”), I could feel the floor shaking from everyone jumping around and having a great time. 

Myself and the audience absolutely loved Allie X’s performance of “Black Eye.” That song is MEANT to be performed live in a room full of people absolutely losing their minds. Allie X also used this moment in the set to let her vocals shine. With every note she hit, the audience applauded louder and louder. Hearing her voice live and in person is an experience in and of itself. I was in awe the whole night at how she could hit certain notes with ease while also turning some of her runs into a scream that was still in key with the song. 

The first time I had ever heard of Allie X was when I worked retail back in 2016. Myself and my co-workers would often plug our phones into the aux chord and play music over the speakers of the store so that we didn’t have to listen to top 40 radio for our entire shifts. I remember my manager playing a song that I loved, and I asked her what it was. It ended up being Allie X’s “Old Habits Die Hard.” I think it may have been an early demo version of the song because the version currently on Spotify has added production that the version my manager played did not. I couldn’t help but smile when Allie X started performing that song during her encore. I was flooded with fond memories of that retail job that I loved. 

The last song of the evening was “Truly Dreams” which Allie X dedicated to all of the dreamers in the crowd. To me, it felt like that was the perfect song to end the night on. Everyone in the audience then left the show with the reminder that “truly dreams never die.” It also hit close to home for me because I put off getting into live music photography for years. I always thought it wasn’t a possibility for me. But I kept the dream alive and eventually became brave enough to pursue it. And now I have been able to take pictures of some amazing and beautiful artists as well as write about the incredible shows I get to attend. I left the show with a full heart after getting to hear Allie X reinforce that message to us all.

Allie X’s Weird World Tour was an absolute dream to witness. If you have the opportunity to catch Allie X live, I highly recommend that you go! You can also take a look at some of the photos I took of the show below!