The Evolution of Santigold

Marjana Jaidi / June 10, 2009

Santigold’s sold-out concert at Terminal 5 last night marks my fifth (yes, fifth) Santigold show in the past year. If you want to get technical about it, she was still “Santogold” for the first two shows, but a lawsuit earlier this year forced her to change her stage name to “Santigold”.

The great thing about seeing Santigold perform multiple times is that she has stepped up her game considerably from show to show, going from hot new act to rockstar in just under a year. Last night’s show was by far her strongest, featuring a live band, guest appearances, and the best set list to date.

For the first six songs, the set list was identical to the one she performed in Philly over the weekend. Santigold opened with “Drop the Lime”, the new single from Major Lazer, followed by a series of favorites from her debut album. Spank Rock, who was also at The Roots Picnic, came out to perform his verse on “Shove It” and stayed long enough to do a Soulja Boy-type dance number with Santi and her dancers.

With a band behind her, she could finally play the album version of “Lights Out” (as opposed to Diplo’s Panda Bear Mix), and the acoustics at Terminal 5 were much better suited for the baseline than outdoors at the picnic. The band’s presence also allowed Santi to play “I’m a Lady”, which I had never seen live until yesterday. The song started with the Diplo Mix featuring Amanda Blank, one of the show’s two opening acts, before the band kicked in for the album version. Trouble Andrew, the other opener, was also featured on the song.

It was a satisfying performance all the way up to the finale, when Santigold and her guests – Spank Rock, Amanda Blank and Trouble Andrew – came together for “B.O.O.T.A.Y.”.

Check out photos from the concert and The Roots Picnic, and come back tomorrow for photos and coverage from the after party featuring Terry Urban.

Photo Credit: Oliver Correa