REVIEW: Poppy @ Brighton Music Hall 2/5

By Graham Rodes

Moriah Rose Pereira, known professionally as Poppy, embarked upon a North American tour in January to celebrate the release of her third studio album, I Disagree, released Jan. 9, 2020. She paid a double-visit to Boston’s Brighton Music Hall Feb. 4 and 5. 

I Disagree gears Poppy’s music into a much heavier, alternative aesthetic. Whereas her past music encompasses idyllic, sugar pop, Poppy has completed a full 180 degree turn from this softness of her music. I Disagree is built upon metal guitar riffs and fractured synth. Poppy does make nods to her past self throughout the album, with sing-a-long melodies scattered throughout I Disagree’s songs, yet these moments are balanced with opposing violent themes. Her artistic style is hard to pin down due to her constantly-changing music. Poppy has created her own post- genre self-image and her live shows touch on every aspect of who she is. 

The show opened with the leading song off of I Disagree, “Concrete,” which immediately set the tone of the show. As the soundbite of a siren blared through the speakers, Poppy’s four-person band took the stage, each wearing either a ski mask or intense black eye makeup. Then, Poppy took the stage, eliciting many cheers. As Poppy whispered the beginning lines of the song, “bury me 6-feet deep,” into the microphone, the energy of the room began. Immediately, the song jumped into heavy metal. Fast-moving stage lights flooded the back of the stage, projecting onto the crowd, and a mosh pit was formed in the center of the floor. The show followed the similar contrasting aesthetic of some songs inciting mosh pits and others that left the crowd swaying their hands in the air. 

Brighton Music Hall doesn’t provide their performers with much to work with, stage- wise. Fitting five people, Poppy and her band, on the stage made the set-up seem crowded at first. But, once the show started, it seemed less so; every person on stage added a crucial visual element to the show. Poppy was backdropped by a mirror box that occasionally lit up with different colors that spread out to either ends of the stage. The minimalistic approach to stage design complemented her songs wonderfully. During her song titled “Am I A Girl?”, a track that deals with the complexities of gender and its expression, the stage alternated blue and pink lights, emphasizing the theme of the lyrics. White strobe lights and pulsating red light accompanied her song “BLOODMONEY”. There was a close tie between the show’s visuals and how it sounded, making Poppy’s performance more of an experience rather than a concert. 

Poppy herself held a high-energy stage presence throughout the show. Wearing a loose- fitting silver metallic body suit with her signature pigtails and editorial makeup, she owned the stage and visibly felt the music as she performed it; her energy on stage matched the energy of the songs she was performing. During a few of the more intense songs, she would hunch over and let out screams into the microphone. The sonic landscape of the songs made the voice of Poppy a little hard to hear over the instrumentals at times, due to their high volume and rhythm. Yet, it seemed to just raise the energy of the performance even more. 

Poppy will conclude her I Disagree tour in Europe this coming March and will join Deftones on their North American tour in July.