Poppy and Pvris played at The Complex in Salt Lake City on Aug. 28 as part of their Godless/Goddess tour. Poppy was promoting her upcoming fifth studio album, “Zig” which releases on Oct. 27 and Pvris her fourth studio album, “Evergreen” which released on July 14. Both artists are known for their blend of rock and pop. Poppy uses more metal sounds while Pvris has a punk rock feel.
The combined talent of the two artists led to quite a turnout with a line stretching down the street and around the corner as attendees waited to be admitted. Some were there for Poppy and others for Pvris, but by the end, all left as fans of both. To say the performance of these stars was energetic would be an understatement.
As stragglers found their way in after visiting the merchandise and concession stands, Canadian rapper Tommy Genesis opened the concert. Her song “Angelina” was recently sampled by Lana Del Rey in the song “Peppers” from her newest album “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd.”
Pvris took the stage next, starting off with one of their new songs “I Don’t Wanna Do This Anymore.” Lynn Gunn, the lead vocalist and guitarist, gave a magnetic performance that had everyone in the crowd rocking out. The peak came with her hit “Hallucinations,” but the crowd was also excited to hear her new tracks such as “Goddess.”
Gunn has discussed in interviews how she has struggled with vocal kinks while singing live and had to put a lot of work into retraining her voice. Due to this, she struggled extensively with anxiety on stage. In an interview with GAY TIMES, she went so far as to say, “I was ready to quit music or quit PVRIS and start something else, to be totally honest” Fortunately she didn’t give up. Her hard work has come a long way, and her voice swept the crowd away.
Next, Poppy took the stage to deafening cheers. Poppy is known for the android-like persona she has built over the years through her YouTube channel which helped popularize her. She played into this persona throughout her set by having a voice-over speak for her at prearranged intervals.
Poppy’s music has gone through an extensive evolution, going from bubblegum pop to incorporating more heavy metal and industrial rock. For her set, she leaned into the heavy metal aspects of her discography which made for an intense performance. Her screams were particularly impressive (which could have been an additional purpose of using a voice-over throughout her performance; she needed to rest her voice).
She sang two new songs from her upcoming album “Zig”: “Church Outfit” and “Hard.” “Church Outfit” has been released as a single but “Hard” has not yet been released. The crowd went especially wild for one of her more popular songs “Don’t Go Outside.” After leaving the stage, the crowd took up a chant of her name and Poppy returned for an encore of another one of her hits called “Concrete.”
One notable event that took place during her performance was when they brought out a guitar for her to play. There was some difficulty with her juggling the guitar and microphone while also trying to sing, and she ended up dropping the microphone. Without missing a beat, she recovered like a true rock star by throwing her guitar to the ground so she could recover the microphone and continue singing.
All in all, this was a concert full of energy and adoring fans. Both Poppy and Pvris were amazingly talented, creating an atmosphere that can only be experienced in person.
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