I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: September 4, 2025] Poppy

Five months ago I saw Poppy play at the Fillmore.  I didn’t realize it was only five months ago, but it makes sense that this is still the same tour.  On the way to the show it started raining and as I drove around Montclair looking for a handicapped spot, I was sure I’d be really late.  Then one showed up in front of the library.  But right after I got out of the car the skies opened up and I got soaked.   Good grief.

Last time I wrote

I didn’t know how crowded it would be (somewhat), nor how enthusiastic the crowd would be (very).

And it was the same tonight.  The show definitely wasn’t sold out, but the crowd was really intense–two young girls sat in front of me and apologized saying they were going to stand a lot–which they did.

Seated?  Yes.  I had GA pit tickets, but they kindly shuffled me to the ADA seated section which was great for the first two bands, but behind too many tall people for Poppy so I wound up standing as well.

Before the show started, a giant keyhole appeared on the screen above the stage and an eye (Poppy’s I assume) looked out at us.

And then the masked band came out on stage, followed by Poppy who was wearing a white outfit with longish pants that looked like old fashioned knickers.

The setup was different from last time.  Last time Poppy was off to the side somewhat, but this time she was right up front, stalking the stage and being pretty cool.

But the songs were more or less the same.  Like last time she opened with “have you had enough?” which I once again thought sounds a ton like Garbage, even the heavy part sounds like Garbage, but with a more metal than alt sound.  Although there is a lot of absolute screaming at the end which is uniquely Poppy.

I love the insanity of BLOODMONEY with her singing “beg for forgiveness from Jesus the Christ” over and over while the band played all manner of weird sounds.   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.  I have just learned that this song was written by Bad Omens with the intention of Poppy singing it.

Then came The Cost of Giving Up, and again 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.

Last time I could see a doll appear on the side of the stage.  But this time the doll was mostly blocked–but we could still see the projection of the doll’s face in the keyhole window 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.

Anything Like Me seems quieter but it has some loud grating noises and low bass lines and it was followed by Crystallized, the closest thing to a dance song played all night.

Speaking of Poppy’s sound.  Her first few albums were absolute synth pop.  And then she snuck one crazy metal song on one of her earlier albums and she was then a metal singer.  And I love that the metal community has embraced her whole heartedly.  Even with all of her weird genre changing during the songs.

Like last time, a voice over introduced the band (this was a lot earlier in the set than in Philly).  The voice over said Ladies and gentlemen, on the guitar, make some noise for The Guitarist!  On the bass… The Bassist.  On the drums give a round of applause for The Drummer..  Incidentally, all three musicians were wearing masks that left only their eyes exposed.  So their anonymity was all part of the show.  Very funny.  The band is of Johnuel Hasney on guitar, Roshane Karunaratne on bass, Ralph Alexander on drums and Jordan Fish on keyboards (I didn’t see a keyboard, but I did hear a lot of keyboard sounds).

Poppy played a new song–a collaboration with Babymetal which I actually heard Babymetal play a few months ago!  The intensity stayed up with The Center’s Falling Out a massively screamed, heavy intense song with some remarkably harsh guitar sounds.

It’s interesting to me that the whole band leaves the stage between every song.  Not for long–maybe for a sip of water–just long enough to get a Poppy Poppy chant going.

I sat down for Scary Mask as I remembered it being a quieter song but after the quiet introduction the song really takes off and I was quick to stand back up during the next song.  This song features some wild noises and the great chant of  M-A-S-K Am-I-O-K.  The way the heavy part segued back into the girl group opening was fantastic.

It was followed by another new song with lots more screaming called Bruised Sky.

The ending of the set was the same as last time with three songs from I Disagree.  I love the title song, which has a remarkably catchy chorus.  It was followed by Bite Your Teeth–one of a few songs in which Poppy insisted that a circle pit commence and the crowd did not disappoint.  It was interesting to see them doing a circle pit for this song which has several quiet and almost dancey moments including a manic cartoon-like melody between verses (and yes, the pit continued through this part)

Then came Concrete which reminds me of Babymetal in the way it juxtaposes super heaviness and incredibly treacly moments.  It’s a masterpiece of genre bash-ups.  Whispered opening, psycho guitar riff and a very Babymetalish chorus about candy.  It’s so impressive the way the band plays this song with such exactitude as 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 with a very Queen-like guitar solo.  There’s so much in this song, it’s really fantastic and sounded great live.

She ended with Surviving on Defiance, a quieter song

Last time, when they left the stage the doll 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.

That didn’t happen this time, although when she came back on she did ask if we wanted more.

The first encore song was “they’re all around us” a raging intense song that really shows off how screamy she can be.  It’s a total rager and got the crowd going.  Then she ended with New Way Out, another rocking song, with moments where the song stops and she just screams.  I hope she’s taking care of her voice because she really shreds her cords.

I remembered from last time that 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.

But I wanted to hop on the merch line, so as soon as the song ended I hobbled to the merch line and managed to grab a shirt with waiting too long.

And, wonderfully, the rain stopped just long enough for me to get to my car and stay drive and then the heavens opened on the way home!

9/2025 (Montclair)	4/2025 (Philly)
have you had enough? ♦	have you had enough? ♦
BLOODMONEY Ø	BLOODMONEY Ø
V.A.N (Bad Omens cover)	Sit/Stay Ø
the cost of giving up ♦	V.A.N (Bad Omens cover)
Anything Like Me Ø	the cost of giving up ♦
crystallized ♦	Anything Like Me Ø
push go (preceded by band intro) ♦	crystallized ♦
from me to u (Babymetal cover)	vital ♦
the center’s falling out ♦	the center’s falling out ♦
Scary Mask ¢	Scary Mask ¢
Bruised Sky [new]	I Disagree Ø
I Disagree Ø	push go (preceded by band intro)♦
Bite Your Teeth Ø	Bite Your Teeth Ø
Concrete Ø	Concrete Ø
surviving on defiance ♦	surviving on defiance ♦
encore	encore
they’re all around us ♦	they’re all around us ♦
new way out ♦	new way out ♦

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