Elle King performs at The Regency Ballroom in San Francisco on March 24, 2022. Nate McKinley/STAFF.

SAN FRANCISCO — Roots rocker Elle King transcended several genres at her performance at the Regency Ballroom on Thursday night, blending elements of country, soul, rock, pop and blues at the show, which had been bumped from the Warfield earlier in the week.

Shoeless, wearing all black, with a cowboy hat and yellow glasses, the Pacifica-born artist cracked her neck before her band launched right into “Good for Nothin’ Woman” in her recognizable, deep, throaty voice, adding some country twang in the mix. She then moved onto “Out Yonder,” demonstrating her booming vocals and Southern drawl, grooving around the stage during a guitar solo. 

King slowed it down for “The Let Go,” starting with a softer tune before building up to reach a crescendo, then segued into “Chain Smokin’, Hard Drinkin’ Woman,” a rocking number to celebrate the kind of everyday woman that you don’t always hear about. She ended the song with a quip about how “the hills suck, but the food is the best” here in San Francisco.

Elle King performs at The Regency Ballroom in San Francisco on March 24, 2022.

“Baby Outlaw” was up next, from King’s most recent album, 2018’s Shake the Spirit. She was able to showcase her range from soulful crooning to guttural singing and head-banging to the rock and roll sound of the drumming and electric guitar solo. She also sang “Good Thing Gone” from the same album, which was a slower, emotional ballad reminiscent of an old recording.

Elle King brought out a banjo for “Good to Be a Man,” belting out the last part of the scratchy, Southern-sounding track, and “The Compromise,” a bluesy song that started out with her singing before the rest of the band came in to complement her sultry drawl. She later sang the edgy punk tune “Long Haired Country Boy” as she sauntered around the stage interacting with her bandmates.

Songs Elle King played from her debut album, Love Stuff, included the wildly popular “Ex’s & Oh’s” and “Ain’t Gonna Drown,” a bass-heavy track with a long drum and guitar intro.

Elle King performs at The Regency Ballroom in San Francisco on March 24, 2022.

Later in the show, it appeared someone toward the front of the room laid what looked like a joint onto the lip of the stage while King performed “High.” She picked it up and handed to someone in her stage crew, who then casually put it in his mouth to the crowd’s amusement. Another highlight was dance anthem “Drunk.” King mentioned her child’s nanny was at the show, and shouted out support to anyone involved in the community it takes to raise a child.

Elle King ended her set with the upbeat “Little Bit of Lovin’,” breaking it up with an interlude of banter with empowering words of affirmation about “protecting our light, loving ourselves and showing gratitude.”

U.K.-born and New-York-raised actress and singer-songwriter Lola Kirke opened the show with “By Your Side,” and “Lady for Sale,” the latter a country song she sang in her deep, husky tones. She wore a pink fringe top, pink belt, big pink sparkly hoops and pink cowboy boots to match. She then moved onto “Broken Families” and “Pink Skies,” a real boot-stomper.

Lola Kirke performs at The Regency Ballroom in San Francisco on March 24, 2022.

She showed love for San Francisco between songs, mentioning that the Giants made her a baseball fan.

“They make baseball look cool,” she said, adding she had a thing for Tim Lincecum back in the day.

Kirke bellowed out the honky-tonk jam “Stay Drunk,” showcasing her fierce and fiery vocals, followed up by the early-era Madonna-influenced “Better Than Any Drug.” She dimmed the lights to show off her glow-in-the-dark pink top and swayed her hips.

Another noteworthy bit was when she introduced her intimate song “Crime,” saying that it was “about a relationship beginning in Florida and ending in hell.” The song started slow but ended with the guitarist leading the crowd in an upbeat chant.

Most of her set consisted of songs from her forthcoming album Lady for Sale, out April 29. Other highlights included “If I Win” and “No Secrets.”

Follow photographer Nathan McKinley at Instagram.com/memories.by.mckinley.