Poppy is certainly an anomaly in the heavy music world, almost resembling an overall brand or abstract concept more than just a simple musician as she further blurs the line between influencers and artists. While many people are familiar with her through her days of bizarre Youtube videos where she took on the role of a robotic AI humanoid spouting nonsense, she has come a long way from the novelty of being a subject for reaction videos and has really proved herself as a refreshing forward-thinking figure in heavy metal.
Fresh off of her newest album “Negative Spaces” and recent collaborations with Knocked Loose and Sleep Token; Poppy brought her blend of bubblegum catchy melodies, glitchy industrial effects, and brutal metalcore breakdowns to The Wiltern for a night of pure chaotic poppy energy. With Los Angeles being the last date of this tour, Poppy went all out in transforming The Wiltern into her own signature bizarre, twisted world that converted any stubborn metalhead in the room to a believer in her vision for the genre’s future.
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The opening act Chinese American Bear was an interesting choice for the evening, throwing the energy back to Poppy’s earlier days of Tumblr-era indie pop. The duo was a lighthearted but captivating performance that reminded me a lot of the 2010’s era of indie synth with bands like Passion Pit or Purity Ring. Although the later shift to metal and hardcore influences have made Poppy stand out as a popstar amongst her contemporaries, I do have a soft-spot for her earlier works and miss its obnoxiously cheery nature in a lot of ways. I would love to see her incorporate more of this sound into her future works, as she was really skilled in evoking this era of indie pop even though she came past its peak. The newer metalcore direction is a lot more interesting and I’m glad she’s taken on a new direction that lets her personality shine more, but it was a pleasant surprise for her to pick an opener that matched the energy of her roots.
The Wiltern was pitch black inside as all of the lights were turned off and a countdown appeared behind the broadway quality set on stage, before a vocal recording of Poppy reciting a surreal monologue played to intensify the anxiety in the room. Lights and fog effects overwhelmingly bombarded the stage as she broke into the synth-heavy opening track “have you had enough?” from her newest album. Poppy performed mostly atop a staircase while the rest of her band was below her all wearing masks; signalling that although she’s a metal artist with a full band behind her, she’s still a pop star at heart. One of the most notable qualities of her newest album is her incorporation of screaming vocals that weren’t as prevalent in her previous releases, as she formerly would incorporate metalcore elements like breakdowns alongside her more poppy choruses and sleazy industrial vocals. The training and leap of faith she took in learning how to scream definitely paid off, as she has a hell of a unique voice for it that blows most metalcore vocals out of the water.
Poppy is a natural in creating the most epic, festival-like experience with a vision that far surpasses most other performers, but she was limited with the indoor setting as cannons blew high-pressure smoke from the front of the stage when it was apparent these were intended to be flames. There wasn’t really too much moshing during her set, with a couple of factors playing into why; the layered set-up of seating at The Wiltern, leftover fans from her earlier pop career, her sound invoking more of a throwback spirit of early 00’s nu-metal and metalcore rather than the current trends of beatdown and crowd-killing. While she does have multiple breakdowns that made me want to impulsively start spin-kicking everyone around me, I think the more relaxed atmosphere of the crowd during her set was appropriate. She’s an artist that really makes you want to focus on her performance and theatrics, so it was excellent to have as little distraction from that as possible.
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From the day it was released, it was apparent that the single “I Disagree” was a vulnerable portrait of her struggles she faces as a woman in the music industry and more specifically within heavy music. Unfortunately, this can be seen very clearly in the online reaction to her collaborative single with Sleep Token as many meathead metal purists rushed the comments to vent their irrational frustrations of having a female “pop” artist dare to step beyond their precious gates they try to keep. Poppy did a phenomenal job at personifying the feminine rage that the song embodies live, but also added a bit of sassy and sensual swagger into the track that wasn’t present on the album version. It’s clear that she’s stepped into her role as a modern Queen of Metal much more confidently since its release, and it was inspiring to see her evolve past the frustration and rage of trying to prove herself that she felt from when the song was first written.
“Concrete” is the first single that had me completely on-board with Poppy’s transition towards more extreme music, and its theatrical composition is intensified by experiencing its juxtapositions live. I’m not sure if this was intentional, but the track heavily incorporates the concept of “musique concrete” as it constantly keeps you on the edge of your seat, rapidly changing compositions into segments that resemble different songs. The chorus “Bury me six feet deep, and just cover me in concrete. Please. Turn me into a street” is some of the most brutal songwriting to ever grace the world in my opinion. While the track is one of my favorites, it’s a sharp contrast from her newest album as she has ditched most of the kawaii Japanese influence that this song oozes during the more cutesy moments. While I do support this evolution as she steps away from her YouTuber roots, it’s undeniably the most fun time ever to jump around to the nauseatingly catchy last act of the song and getting the chance to do so live is one of the most carefree moments one could experience at a concert.
Considering the theatrical showmanship that Poppy commanded the crowd with throughout the night, it was inevitable that she would be called back to the stage for an encore. Switching things up completely from the bombardment of screaming that she originally exited the stage with, the band broke into the softer and more ethereal opening from the track “they’re all around us” on her newest album. She really crafted the set-up before and after the encore masterfully, performing some fan-favorites from “I Disagree” before showcasing songs from the newest release that represent her shift in direction as the encore. While the end of the night was not quite as heavy, it was just as brutal in a darker sinister manner that unwound the crowd perfectly to close the evening.
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The drastic pivot from indie-pop to more experimental metalcore that Poppy boldly executed is something I wish we would see from more pop artists (and just artists as a whole). Her previous career as a YouTuber gives her so much freedom to explore different avenues and genres, as the fanbase is just as tied to her personality and image as the scene she inhabits. There is so much potential to cross over into new audiences with the recent renaissance that hardcore punk is having, as well as the rise of nostalgia for early 00’s nu-metal on TikTok and festivals like When We Were Young. While I do think this shift is a trend we will be seeing a lot more from pop stars in the future, Poppy has been a pioneer in taking these risks way before it was safe to do so. Her consistent experimentation to keep things fresh shows that she’s not just a gimmick or nostalgia bait, but she genuinely wishes to change the dynamics of heavy music’s future as she continuously succeeds in doing so.
Words by Danny Ryan
Photos by Alana Lopez
