Melanie Martinez @ Hollywood Palladium - Los Angeles, CA

Alt-pop sensation, Melanie Martinez, brought her onstage adaptation of her newest album, K-12, to the Hollywood Palladium on Friday, November 9th.Fans wrapped the outside of the sold-outvenue dressed head to toe in babydoll attire and multi-colored makeup looks.Once the doors opened at 7:00 PM, everyone piled into the venue and the energy of anticipation and excitement for the show buzzed throughout the room. Every person in the building eagerly awaited the moment in which Melanie would grace the stage.

Lauren Ruth Ward opened the show with her unique alternative sound that the audience immediately fell in love with. She played up-beat hits such as, “Wise Gal” and “Well, Hell”, as well as slower, more emotional songs like “Pullstring”.Fans all around me were dancing to the beat and singing along with heras she strummed the guitar. For any of those who had not heard of Lauren previous to this set, they had surely discovered a new favorite artist after her performance.

Melanie Martinez came on around 9:00 PM, and the crowd erupted as she started the night with the first song off of the album, “Wheels on the Bus”. A group of dancersdressed in pastel costumes joined Melanie on stage to help further bring the song to life and add to the production. When the song concluded, Melanie and her dancers ran backstage for a quick transition while a massive screen portrayed a playground as the beginning notes of “Class Fight” played. School was officially in session.

Melanieperformed her entire album with visuals and choreography like I had never seen before. Each song was like its own world within the K-12 Universe. Nothing was off the table when it came to the production which included a massive heart-shaped box in which Melanie played a marionette in during “Show & Tell”, perfume being sprayed into the audience, and multiple outfit and hair changes. Melanie even created makeshift orange juice with her fist during the hit “Orange Juice” and had fruit thrown at her behind a glass screen during “Detention”. The show also incorporated the widely successful feature film K-12 in it with visuals from the movie playing on an onstage screen behind Melanie. Once Martinez and her dancers had given their all to each song on K-12, the concert concluded with a four song encore that included the songs, “Sippy Cup”, “Alphabet Boy”, and “Mad Hatter” off of her first record, Crybaby, as well as the unreleased song “Fire Drill”.

Between her unparalleled live vocals, production, and utter enthusiasm from the crowd, this was easily one of the most exciting shows I have been to. I urge anyone in the remaining cities to attend the K-12 Tour as it is truly an inside look into her vision and a concert you won’t want to miss. Melanie and her team absolutely outdid themselves with this tour, and the overall experience was certainly worthy of an A+.