Would there be anyone, in 2014, on a YouTube deep-dive, stumbling across a sweetly spoken, surreal, and vaguely threatening young Poppy, who would have predicted the artistic direction that would lead to the packed balconies of a nu-metal show at KOKO?
From the days of interviewing her plant and repeatedly saying her own name, she has spawned an impressive genre-melding music act that pulls in audiences from pop, electronic, and metal communities.
When it comes to Wargasm, the term “support act” doesn’t quite feel appropriate. The London duo brought the energy and utter chaos with a frenzied and exciting set, an ideal choice of act to warm the crowd and light the stage on fire. As a hometown show, the locals certainly embraced this band as a bit of them and opened up KOKO’s pits right from the very first song.
The enigmatic Milkie Way and Sam Matlock are currently riding the electrifying wave of their new album, Venom, and radiated a real hunger for grabbing the attention of anyone in the crowd who wasn’t already on the Wargasm hype train. Most in attendance seemed on board already, though; that level of excitement was rare for an opener, but there wasn’t a hint of taking it for granted from the pair who lept around the stage relentlessly.
Fever reached its pitch during “Bang Ya Head,” a deliciously aggressive track that originally features Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst, and the energy continued in abundance to the closing song of “Do It So Good,” which was a perfect example of Wargasm’s unique take on metal melded with electronica.
Poppy began her first of two nights of the Zig tour at KOKO with the powerful “BLOODMONEY,” flitting around the stage in typical Poppy fashion, one moment with graceful fluidity, then switching up to aggressive stomping and headbanging. Sweet, breathy vocals were melting into earnest, punchy roars executed with skill and precision. This duality is regularly reflected in her stage outfits, and tonight, she paired a post-apocalyptic style white dress with a black trench coat, complete with the iconic high bunches.
“Church Outfit” and “Knockoff” follow, both from the 2023 album Zig, bringing us into the newest epoch of Poppy, a progressive genre blending era that dives deeper into EDM and polished production while maintaining the rock influences of past releases at its core. “Lessen the Damage” came next, a track from the 2021 album Flux, which provides a perfect example of this development—a bouncy and rowdy punk offering that stands confidently on its own but also feels like a precursor to Poppy’s current iteration, whipping the crowd into a proper frenzy. The impressive thing about these genre switches through her catalog and live performance is that they never feel forced. Her authenticity means that whatever style she puts out, the tracks’ roots are recognizable and intriguing, with genuinely good rock riffs and always a sprinkle of quintessential Poppy flair.
“V.A.N” is the moment in the set when the phones all go up in the air. The hype around this collaboration with Bad Omens has gone down very differently between the two fan bases, with admirers of Noah Sebastian lamenting his lack of vocals on the track. Inevitably, Bad Omen’s fans now seem to be coming around to the undeniable fact that this song is a bit of a masterpiece, and Poppy self-assuredly marched her way through to rapturous applause.
Before returning for an encore of a single track, “Bite Your Teeth,” Poppy closed the main part of the show with the deliciously weird “Concrete.” Leaving aside the disturbing lyricism of “Bury me six feet deep, cover me in concrete, turn me into a street,” this prog-rock track leaps through tempo and style changes at an almost “Bohemian Rhapsody” pace, with unmistakeable Queen influence, not only with the song structure but even reflected in specific guitar riffs and tone. A definite crowd favorite, moshing turned to arm waving, to singalong moments at breakneck speed. Engaging and ferocious, a Poppy show really has to be seen
to be believed.
Cover photo by Garrett Nicholson.