I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: April 3, 2025] Poppy

A few years ago Poppy was supposed to open for Deftones.  The show was postponed and on the new dates, Poppy was no longer available.  I wound up not going to the show anyhow.  She has played Philly once before as a headliner in 2022, but I had plans that night.  So I decided, why not check her out this time around, now that she has fully embraced her heavy metal persona.

I didn’t know how crowded it would be (somewhat), nor how enthusiastic the crowd would be (very).  I casually know Poppy’s music and assumed she’d put on a good show  But people there knew every song.

With five minutes to go before showtime, a countdown clock appeared on the curtain (this was a great idea I thought).  And when it reached zero, a voice read out a whole bunch of thingsas the words were projected onto the screen  I don’t know if this is part of a song or what.  But when it was done, the band emerged.

Her stage was set up with soft fabrics, including a keyhole entryway with soft curtains that she went through a number of times.  Her band was on the left on a large platform.  She was on the right on a large platform.  The view would have been spectacular except the guy who was earlier next to me was now in front of me and he swayed and pogoed in my face for about half the show.  Sigh.

So Poppy has a great stage presence.  She was dressed in what I can only imagine was a fairy wedding dress without the train, which was replaced by short shorts.  Poppy is, of course, an internet creation, so she is well versed in her image.  She also know how to play against type, being cute and bashful in between songs while screaming her head off during them.

She has a newish album out and most of the set came from that, which was fine with me.  Poppy loves to mess around with genre styles.  The opening song “have you had enough?” sounds a ton like Garbage, even the heavy part sounds like Garbage, but with a more metal than alt sound.

BLOODMONEY had her singing “beg for forgiveness from Jesus the Christ” over and over while the band played all manner of weird sounds.  Sit/Stay has more of the electronic vibe (and more of the Garbage vibe).  She finally came off of her platform and walked around the stage.  Kind of making eye contact with people, but really not al that much.

For V.A.N. (violence against nature) the opening was quiet with Poppy’s gentlest vocals (including a whispered line), until the band bashed out the chords.  Poppy sang really fast lyrics with ease.  Then came The Cost of Giving Up, I was surprised that she played it so early in the set, but it was everything I wanted it to be.  Soft in the beginning, with a massively catchy chorus, and then her absolutely screaming the final section.

A doll appeared in the keyhole window and a face was projected on the curtains behind the stage.  The face was stylized and was meant to be a childlike Poppy asking why people were there and what was going on.  It really plays with her stage persona.

A few quieter songs were followed by The Center’s Falling Out which is just a screamed heavy intense song.  Steve Harrison from House of Protection came out to play this song and that extra guitar was fun.

Things got really quiet and Poppy returned for Scary Mask, a song that starts sweetly, almost like a girl group song.  Although after a verse, the drop D chords come in andthe song launches into a frenetic pace pausing only for the chanted M-A-S-K Am-I-O-K.  The way the heavy part segued back into the girl group opening was fantastic.

I like a lot of songs from her previous album and I love the mix of heavy and catchy on I Disagree.  After the song, the voice over introduced the band.

The person playing guitar is The Guitarist.  The person playing bass is The Bassist.  The person behind the drums is The Drummer.  Incidentally, all three musicians were wearing ski masks that left only their eyes exposed.  So their anonymity was all part of the show.  Very funny.  Her band was really good.  The drummer was a maniac and the guitarist was an impressive shredded to be sure.   Each guy had time for a short solo, so even if we don’t know who they are, they did get a moment’s spotlight.

After the more upbeat push/go, she ended with two of her heavier songs, Bite Your Teeth–which has a manic cartoon-like melody between verses–and then a really soft and gentle Carpenter’s-like ballad for the final verse before smashing everything that came before it.  Concrete is like Babymetal in the way it juxtaposes super heaviness and incredibly treacly moments.  It’s a masterpiece of genre bash-ups.  The way the middle of the song turns into a Beach Boys harmony-filled walk in the park and then unravels into a wicked guitar soloing section that returns to that J-Pop vibe.  There’s so much in this song, it’s really fantastic and sounded great live.

She ended with Surviving on Defiance, an empowering song that was a perfect ending to the show.

When they left the stage the doll and the projection came back asking why people were still there.  A deeper voice said that they wanted more.  She asked if we wanted more and then Poppy came out for two encore songs.

The first they’re all around us is a raging intense song that really shows off how screamy she can be.  A total rager.  Then she ended with New Way Out, another rocking song, although not as scary as the previous–except for the moments where the song stops and she just screams.

When they left the stage, the projected person came back on stage and said good bye over and over, then it said, who is that?  And then started calling security.  It was all part of a hilarious wild stage performance.

I loved how she was so intense and yet between songs, so quiet and sweet.  It was a remarkable performance and at an hour and 15 minutes it was the perfect length.

I’m really glad I got to see her as the headliner instead of the opener, because the stage was entirely hers.

2025
have you had enough? ♦
BLOODMONEY Ø
Sit/Stay Ø
V.A.N (Bad Omens cover)
the cost of giving up ♦
Anything Like Me Ø
crystallized ♦
vital ♦
the center’s falling out ♦
Scary Mask ¢
I Disagree Ø
push go (preceded by band intro) ♦
Bite Your Teeth Ø
Concrete Ø
surviving on defiance ♦
encore
they’re all around us ♦
new way out ♦

♦ Negative Spaces (2024)
Ø I Disagree (2022)
¢ Choke EP (2019)