I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: July 9, 2026] Poppy

When Poppy announced this show, I managed to get a ticket for $20 off, which was great.  I hadn’t realized that this would be my third time seeing her in less than a year and a half.

But each show has been different in one way or another.  Tonight’s show featured the giant cubes that were in use for Landmvrks.  But these were special for Poppy.  Each cube had a platform on top of it, so when the show started, Poppy was on top of one  and the drums were setup on top of the other–easily fifteen feet high.  And on the stage were three masked musicians.

A recording of Constantly Nowhere played and then Poppy appeared on top of the cubes and sang have you had enough (which I see she has opened the show with all three times that I’ve seen her).

I’m so intrugued by Poppy because she started as a seriously Pop pop singer and just a few years later, she is beloved by the metal community.  And why not?  Her songs are heavy as anything and she screams with serious intensity.

She mixed up the rest of the set.  Climbing down to the stage, she sang The Cost of Giving Up.  This song has serious pop chops and is really catchy, although the middle section has some of her most intense screaming.

As I mentioned for Landmvrks, the place was packed.  And, I hate to say it, I’m not sure how I feel about Poppy fans.  A trio in front of me was pogoing and bouncing into everyone even though there were several circle pits in the area.  And that’s not cool to crash into others but to be afraid of the circle pit.

I was really surprised she played Concrete third.  I love this song, it is so bizarre, with that weird guitar lick and then the insane J-pop section that shifts into a rocking section and then shifts again into a more or less sixties pop song.  All within 90 seconds.  And then what a riff!  It’s an insane and great song–straight out of the Babymetal playbook.  Any question about her metal bonafides are put to rest with the new song Bruised Sky–heavy and noisy with great screams.

Her band was a little different this time around.  Actually the lead guitarist might be the same, but for this show one of the masked guitarists was a woman.  This worked really well, when the guitarist sang backing vocals or even an occasional lead part.  The masks were really different this time too–scary Japanese theater type masks.

The only bummer thing about the show was that there were so many tall people around me.  For the first couple of songs, I could barely see anything.  Luckily, she called for a circle pit and that shuffled everyone around nicely.  I never did get a super clear view, but I could see a lot better.  And yet, like every other time, I never got a clear look at the masks.

Speaking of masks, she played Scary Mask, while holding a mask atop her tower.  This one had the crowd going nuts all shouting M-A-S-K / M-I-O-K.

Throughout the show she had those smoke canons that shoot streams of air (or whatever that is) up. I can’t believe I never got a good video of them–but everyone surprised me and they were never repeated in the same way.

I’m intrigued that this was a tour for her new album, but she actually played more songs from the previous album, Negative Spaces, including two songs from that album that she didn’t play on the previous tour (vital and negative spaces).

And yet… despite her metal bonafides, there’s still some real pop diva left in her. crystallized is pretty much pure dance pop.  There’s no screaming or even heavy guitars.  Vital is very similar–it’s got some heavy guitars but it mostly features her great soaring voice.  This was the start of seven songs that she hadn’t played before (with a couple older ones thrown in, too)

And just when you think Poppy doesn’t have any more surprises left, she comes out with an acoustic guitar.  And then a song later, with an electric guitar for Negative Spaces (whoa oh)  This one feels more like a heavy alt rock song (so it’s right up my alley).  Obviously it’s not necessary for her to play since she’s got two guitarists already, one who totally shreds those solos, but it’s always fun seeing singer pick up an instrument.

The next new song Eat the Hate had a sing along “eat the hate it makes me come” and she teased the audience who seemed to not want to sing the lyrics–although the song is fairly new, maybe no one knew them?  It’s another alt rock song that reminds me of Garbage –they should tour together.  But she followed it with the center’s falling out a 2 and a half-minute song that is pretty much all screamed, with dissonant guitar chords thrown in at the end.  Super intense.

Public Domain is a new song with some really cool components–a sassy verse (with help from the guitarist) and then a grooving chorus.  After a couple of outright screamed albums, it feels like Poppy might be settling into more of a heavy alt-rocker rather than a straight up metal singer.  Although even a song like Time Will Tell has some intense screaming in it.

This was my third time seeing her play V.A.N. (violence against nature).  I’ve wondered why she always plays this song, but I learned that the song was written by Bad Omens with the intention of Poppy singing it.  I don’t know anything about Bad Omens, although a guy in front of me was wearing a Bad Omens shirt.  If the rest of their songs are like this, I will certainly like them.  I love Poppy’s delivery in this song–the whispers in the beginning, the fascinating delivery of the verses and then the screams at the end.

There was one more song before the set ended.  If We’re Following the Light is another heavy building song and a solid set ender.  It was during this song that I got kicked in the back of the head–who starts their crowd surfing form THAT far back?  When she left a bunch of people left giving us all a little more room.

Interestingly, her encore was two more songs from Negative Spaces.  There was no They’re All Around Us tonight, which was a bit of a bummer, but halo was cool to hear.  And she ended, as she has done at every show with New Way Out–a song that not only features some great screaming, this time it unleashed confetti cannons–which are always fun.

And that was that.  Each time, her shows have been pretty short–usually like 75-80 minutes.  t was actually fine for me because I was ready to go home.  But she’s got a lot of music now and could easily play for 90 minutes or more.  Maybe the screaming and climbing al of those stairs takes a lot out of you.

I left the show thinking I didn’t need to see Poppy again.  And yet I do think she’s a lot of fun.  Each time I go I ask my kids if they want to come along and they always say no.  I think they’d really enjoy her.  Since I’ve seen her three times in 15 months, maybe if I wait a year I’d want to see her again.

9/2026 (Philly)	9/2025 (Montclair)	4/2025 (Philly)
Constantly nowhere [tape]	have you had enough? ♦	have you had enough? ♦
have you had enough? ♦	BLOODMONEY Ø	BLOODMONEY Ø
the cost of giving up ♦	V.A.N (Bad Omens cover)	Sit/Stay Ø
Concrete Ø	the cost of giving up ♦	V.A.N (Bad Omens cover)
Bruised Sky ¥	Anything Like Me Ø	the cost of giving up ♦
Scary Mask ¢	crystallized ♦	Anything Like Me Ø
crystallized ♦	push go (preceded by band intro) ♦	crystallized ♦
vital ♦	from me to u (Babymetal cover)	vital ♦
Guardian ¥	the center’s falling out ♦	the center’s falling out ♦
negative spaces ♦	Scary Mask ¢	Scary Mask ¢
Eat the Hate ¥	Bruised Sky ¥	I Disagree Ø
the center’s falling out ♦	I Disagree Ø	push go (preceded by band intro)♦
Public Domain ¥	Bite Your Teeth Ø	Bite Your Teeth Ø
Time Will Tell ¥	Concrete Ø	Concrete Ø
V.A.N (Bad Omens cover)	surviving on defiance ♦	surviving on defiance ♦
If We’re Following the Light ¥	encore	encore
encore	they’re all around us ♦	they’re all around us ♦
halo ♦	new way out ♦	new way out ♦
new way out ♦

¥ Empty Hands (2026)
♦ Negative Spaces (2024)
Ø I Disagree (2022)
¢ Choke EP (2019)