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Archive for the ‘Poppy’ Category

Poppy (Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ, September 4, 2025)

Posted in Montclair, NJ, MSPaint, Poppy, UnityTX, Wellmont Theater on September 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[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. (more…)

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UnityTX (Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ, September 4, 2025) [POPPY]

Posted in Montclair, NJ, MSPaint, Poppy, UnityTX, Wellmont Theater on September 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 4, 2025] UnityTX

I was under the impression that MSPaint was the only opening band for this show (and I thought I might get home by like 11).  Then this afternoon I found out that UnityTX was also opening.  I’d never heard of them.  I listened to a bit of a song and heard that they were very heavy and rather screamy.  So I was ready with earplugs in.

And then they came out on stage and proceeded to rip the roof off the place.  Even though I didn’t know them, their sound was so much more alive than MSPaint’s.  Was it because there was a guitarist instead of a synth?  Or maybe it was because lead singer Jay Webster had stage presence galore.

He got people to do a circle pit, he got the audience to sing along and to even have a right side/left side “battle.”

We were on the side of bassist Kendrick Nicholson whose low end was amazing.  Kendrick also added some intense backing vocals.   I couldn’t really see guitarist Ricky Cova until he bounced around the stage, but his sharp and heavy guitar sound was fantastic.

I’ll be a little prudish and say there were too many f words in the songs–but It was more just overuse that made the lyrics seem less powerful.

But like Rage Against the Machine, they repeated parts a lot, which made it easy to sing along to. (more…)

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MSPaint (Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ, September 4, 2025) [POPPY]

Posted in Montclair, NJ, MSPaint, Poppy, UnityTX, Wellmont Theater on September 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 4, 2025] MSPaint

I was under the impression that MSPaint was the only opening band for this show (UnityTX was added later).  I listened to them and was mildly intrigued.

When I arrived at the Wellmont, the parking sucked and it was raining really hard.  By the time I got into the building, I think MSPaint was just about to start.  When I entered the foyer, the nice lady there told me to stand by the side and she’d get someone to help me to the ADA section (I didn’t know they had one).  But it was pretty chaotic an took awhile for them to get me to my seat.  By the time I was seated MSPaint was about half way done.

So MSPaint is a kind of metal/punk band that has NO GUITAR PLAYER (gasp!).  They have bass (Randy Riley) drums (Quinn Mackey) and electronics (Nick Panella) with vocals by Deedee.

Deedee’s delivery was kind of like Rage Against the Machine–the same tone and same sloganeering.  It kind of worked but something felt a little flat in the execution.  Riley was going pretty nuts on the bass and I rather liked the electronics that Panella was laying down, but it just didn’t do anything for me.  It was loud but didn’t feel “full” like the two instruments weren’t blending.  And, I felt like the vocals were maybe too loud, superceding the music.

I heard about three full songs but nothing really stuck with me.

All of which is kind of a shame because the album is pretty solid and feels fuller.  Maybe I was just suffering from weather sadness to appreciate their set.

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Poppy (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, April 3, 2025)

Posted in House of Protection, Philadelphia, PA, Poppy, The Fillmore Philadelphia on April 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[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. (more…)

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House of Protection (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, April 3, 2025) [POPPY]

Posted in Fever 333, House of Protection, Philadelphia, PA, Poppy, The Fillmore Philadelphia on April 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 3, 2025] House of Protection

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 who would be opening and when she announced it would be House of Protection, I assumed they would be a metal band that was super heavy.

I wasn’t expecting a duo.  Aric Improta ran out and sat at the drumset which was sideways and sitting at the front of the stage.  Seconds later Stephen Harrison also ran out.  He sang and played guitar.  But mostly he incited the crowd.

Improta sang the first song while drumming in a very elaborate (and yes, I’ll say it, a very California) style with lots of arms flailing around.  He was exceptionally theatrical, standing on his drum stool and waving a cymbal around, and really trying to get the crowd into it.

Harrison was equally as theatrical.  He literally ran all over the stage (his guitar was remote, so no cables held him in place).  He spun around, he punched the air, he swung his guitar around his neck.  He was exhausting to watch.

He also commanded the crowd in a way that an opening band very rarely does.  But it turns out that both guys were in Fever 333 (who I don’t know, but who sound pretty cool) and are veterans of the stage. (more…)

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Poppy Jean Crawford (Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, April 29, 2023) [PLACEBO]

Posted in Deap Vally, Franklin Music Hall, Philadelphia, PA, Placebo, Poppy, Poppy Jean Crawford, Tears for Fears on April 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 29, 2023] Placebo

When When Placebo announced their first American tour in ten years, I immediately grabbed a ticket. I was vaguely surprised that my wife wanted to go–she loves a couple of their songs, but doesn’t know much else by them.  I had actually forgotten that they had set up a tour in of the States in 2022 with no Philly date and then cancelled the tour.  But there was the Philly show and there was my ticket

Deap Vally were supposed to open.  We had seen them open for Blondie a number of years ago and I really liked them.

But then it was announced a month or so ago that Poppy Jean Crawford would open.  I thought that it was Poppy and I was really excited because I’ve wanted to see her.  But no, it was Poppy Jean Crawford–whom I had never heard of.

Her brief bio says

Poppy Jean schooled herself in L.A.’s DIY scene, hanging out at places such as the Smell and taking an interest in writing music.  She joined her first band, Crosseyed and Pantyless, at 15. Playing Experimental Folk Punk in the nude.
Feeling she had more to offer, Poppy released her first single, “Dead Girl” at 16.

She was not nude when she came out on the stage, but she was in a bodysuit and I was very impressed with her body confidence.  She sang a few songs without a guitar and a few songs with a guitar.

To her right was a guy who looked like Howard Stern playing keys.  On her left was a woman playing bass.  She was pretty superfluous because almost all of the sound came from the synths.  But she looked good.

I had to assume that PJC was annoyed by the “no cameras” rule, because no one filmed her or her band at all–and a young band needs any exposure they can get.

Anyhow, Poppy has a nice powerful voice.  Her songs are simple but catchy and I mostly enjoyed her set.  Because I have no reference point, I’m remembering that I really liked a couple of her songs and kind of didn’t like a couple other ones for some reason.

The big surprise came about 2/3 of the way through the set when she played a cover of Tears for Fears “Head Over Heels.”  The pacing was much slower which was odd.  I couldn’t decide if i liked it or not.

She didn’t say anything until the very end of her set.  But she had an amazing stage presence–utterly fearless.  (she’s been performing for eight years or so, so that makes sense).

Overall, a thumbs up.

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Deftones / Gojira (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, May 18, 2022) [rescheduled, rescheduled again] [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Coronavirus, Deftones, Full show video, Gojira, Philadelphia, PA, Poppy, Postponed, Quarantine, The Met Philadelphia, VOWWS on May 18, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 18, 2022] Deftones / Gojira / VOWWS [rescheduled from August 22, 2020 and August 27, 2021]

I was pretty excited to see this Deftones show.  But I was even more excited when my son said he wanted to go to the show with me.  Well, it had sold out a long time ago and I couldn’t get a Pit ticket for a reasonable price.  I didn’t want my son to be in the balcony while I was in the pit.  But I also didn’t want the reverse.

But then, what happened was that I got a ticket to see Beach Bunny across town on the same night.  And so, my daughter and I went to the Beach Bunny show and I gave my son the Deftones ticket.  Yes, he would be by himself in the pit.

The timing actually worked out just fine, because while Wednesday bailed on our show, VOWWS bailed on their show.  This meant I had to do some mathematical time keeping to see if I’d have to leave Beach Bunny early to get him so he wasn’t hanging around on the streets of Philadelphia.

But it turned out that his show ended almost exactly the same time as our show.  Since our show was only ten minutes away, there was still plenty of foot traffic when I went to go get him.

He said the show was great. And Markit Aneight kindly recorded the entire Deftones set.

 

 

~~~~~~~

I was pretty excited to see this show this summer. It turned out, however, that the show was the night that we returned home from vacation.  Ie, it would have been a pretty exhausting day.  So, the fact that Deftones decided to postponed until May was fine with me.

I’m bummed that Poppy is no longer part of the tour because I’d really like to see her.  But she is now headlining her own tour–which I don’t really want to see.  I’m not sure a full show of hers would be that much fun.  But hey, maybe she’ll be back on board

~~~

I saw Deftones at a lousy location (Sands Bethlehem hall), but it was one of my favorite shows that year.  The crowd was pushy and shovey, but Chino came within five feet of me and the energy was amazing.

Plus at the end of the show, when a roadie threw out a drumstick, I actually got it.

I knew I’d want to see them at least one more time, but wow was I surprised to see that they were going to play The Met in Philly, which I think of as a more “delicate” hall.  I’d be slightly afraid for the seats at a Deftones show.

The opening acts were really intriguing as well.

Gojira area French heavy metal band whose 2012 album I loved.  Heavy and very technical I’d imagine they put on a great show.

Poppy is an absolute mystery.  She’s an internet creation whose every song is is a different genre.  Her latest album was really really heavy but with that fake internet sheen on it (in a Babymetal kind of way but less sincere, if that’s possible).  I’ve been intrigued by here since I first heard about her, but I wouldn’t want to see her show if she was headlining.  This seemed like a great way to experience her weirdness.  I hope that she is still on the bill next year and that she is still into metal, otherwise it could be kind of awkward.

I really thought that this show at the end of August might go on but on May 19, they sent this note.

Due to the current regulations, and uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, we must reschedule our North American summer tour dates with special guests, Gojira and Poppy. We’re currently rescheduling the dates for 2021, and you’ll be the first to know once they are confirmed. All tickets will be honored or refunded upon our next announcement regarding the tour.

I’m glad they are promising to come back  And by then, their new album (due in September) will be familiar to all of us.

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Deftones / Gojira (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, August 27, 2021) [rescheduled]

Posted in Coronavirus, Deftones, Gojira, Philadelphia, PA, Poppy, Postponed, Quarantine, The Met Philadelphia on August 27, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: August 27, 2021] Deftones / Gojira  [rescheduled from August 22, 2020 moved to May 18, 2022]

indexI was pretty excited to see this show this summer. It turned out, however, that the show was the night that we returned home from vacation.  Ie, it would have been a pretty exhausting day.  So, the fact that Deftones decided to postponed until May was fine with me.

I’m bummed that Poppy is no longer part of the tour because I’d really like to see her.  But she is now headlining her own tour–which I don’t really want to see.  I’m not sure a full show of hers would be that much fun.  But hey, maybe she’ll be back on board

~~~

 

I saw Deftones at a lousy location (Sands Bethlehem hall), but it was one of my favorite shows that year.  The crowd was pushy and shovey, but Chino came within five feet of me and the energy was amazing.

Plus at the end of the show, when a roadie threw out a drumstick, I actually got it.

I knew I’d want to see them at least one more time, but wow was I surprised to see that they were going to play The Met in Philly, which I think of as a more “delicate” hall.  I’d be slightly afraid for the seats at a Deftones show.

The opening acts were really intriguing as well.

Gojira area French heavy metal band whose 2012 album I loved.  Heavy and very technical I’d imagine they put on a great show.

Poppy is an absolute mystery.  She’s an internet creation whose every song is is a different genre.  Her latest album was really really heavy but with that fake internet sheen on it (in a Babymetal kind of way but less sincere, if that’s possible).  I’ve been intrigued by here since I first heard about her, but I wouldn’t want to see her show if she was headlining.  This seemed like a great way to experience her weirdness.  I hope that she is still on the bill next year and that she is still into metal, otherwise it could be kind of awkward.

I really thought that this show at the end of August might go on but on May 19, they sent this note.

Due to the current regulations, and uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, we must reschedule our North American summer tour dates with special guests, Gojira and Poppy. We’re currently rescheduling the dates for 2021, and you’ll be the first to know once they are confirmed. All tickets will be honored or refunded upon our next announcement regarding the tour.

I’m glad they are promising to come back  And by then, their new album (due in September) will be familiar to all of us.

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Deftones / Gojira / Poppy (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, August 22, 2020) [POSTPONED]

Posted in Coronavirus, Deftones, Gojira, Philadelphia, PA, Poppy, Postponed, Quarantine, The Met Philadelphia on August 22, 2020| Leave a Comment »

[POSTPONED: August 22, 2020] Deftones / Gojira / Poppy [moved to August 27, 2021]

index

I saw Deftones at a lousy location (Sands Bethlehem hall), but it was one of my favorite shows that year.  The crowd was pushy and shovey, but Chino came within five feet of me and the energy was amazing.

Plus at the end of the show, when a roadie threw out a drumstick, I actually got it.

I knew I’d want to see them at least one more time, but wow was I surprised to see that they were going to play The Met in Philly, which I think of as a more “delicate” hall.  I’d be slightly afraid for the seats at a Deftones show.

The opening acts were really intriguing as well.

Gojira area French heavy metal band whose 2012 album I loved.  Heavy and very technical I’d imagine they put on a great show.

Poppy is an absolute mystery.  She’s an internet creation whose every song is is a different genre.  Her latest album was really really heavy but with that fake internet sheen on it (in a Babymetal kind of way but less sincere, if that’s possible).  I’ve been intrigued by here since I first heard about her, but I wouldn’t want to see her show if she was headlining.  This seemed like a great way to experience her weirdness.  I hope that she is still on the bill next year and that she is still into metal, otherwise it could be kind of awkward.

I really thought that this show at the end of August might go on but on May 19, they sent this note.

Due to the current regulations, and uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, we must reschedule our North American summer tour dates with special guests, Gojira and Poppy. We’re currently rescheduling the dates for 2021, and you’ll be the first to know once they are confirmed. All tickets will be honored or refunded upon our next announcement regarding the tour.

I’m glad they are promising to come back  And by then, their new album (due in September) will be familiar to all of us.

Read Full Post »