Richmond, VA – Poppy has been on my bucket list to review for quite some time. I did have the chance to catch her in 2020, weeks before the COVID shutdown and was taken aback by her show. When it was announced that she would be making a stop at The National in Richmond, VA on September 5, 2025, I had to check her out again as there has been an interesting evolution.
From out of the darkness, a meek sounding voice proclaimed, “I am Poppy”. She emerged with her band, The Guitarist, The Bass Player, and The Drummer. Starting with “Have You Had Enough“, the National crowd roared and it was underway.
As she went into “BLOODMONEY“, I noticed that the somewhat quirky performance I had witnessed way back when had evolved. Yes, of course the Poppy quirks were still there, but not near to the extent of 2020. Next she did a recent collab with the Bad Omens, “V.A.N“. and transitioned into “the cost of giving up” and “Anything Like Me“. Unlike 2020, when the quirks drew me to the music, this year it was more the music drawing me into the music… with a few quirks for good measure.
One thing I have noticed to some degree in the industry in recent years is artist collaborations. Poppy is no exception, having now done several recent big collabs.
She did her Bad Omens collab earlier in the performance but honestly, her the first collab that got my attention was “from me to u“, which she released and performed with Babymetal earlier this year. She performed this to the great pleasure of the audience!
After “Scary Mask” she performed another newer song, “Bruised Sky” to the delight of the audience. By this time all were bouncing off the walls, at times as directed by Poppy. Several times during her performance she directed the audience into various moshing scenarios and like good followers, they gladly obliged. Another fun part of the night was her band intros where she introduced the masked musicians by their stage names, The Guitarist, The Bass Player, and The Drummer.
Toward the end of the set there were a couple of the songs that caught my ear back in 2019 / 2020, those being “I Disagree” and “Concrete“, the latter being quite unique because of its very unique time signature, key, and emotional changes. In a way, I always thought it was somewhat manic in a very artistic sort of way. After the last note of “Concrete” she made it sound like that was the end of the set, but it was not of course, with the last sone of the set being “surviving on defiance“.
She left the stage to chants of POPPY! POPPY! POPPY! and soon returned for a two song encore… asking if we really wanted another. Of course the answer was a roaring “YES!!” Finishing up, she did “they’re all around us” (a little more metalcore) and “new way out” before exiting for the night. All in all, this was a lot of fun!
Check out Poppy’s newest collaboration with Amy Lee and Courtney LaPlante, “End of You“
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I loved the performance. What was the most notable change was her stage presence. In 2020, I recall a much more electric, poppish feel, laden with gimmicked imagery. It was well done and a lot of fun, but it also distracted a bit from her talent and the show. Yes, there were a few Poppyisms tossed in throughout, but this performance was all about her. Perhaps the most telling aspect of her evolution is how she has been collaborating with some pretty big name acts, namely Babymetal, Amy Lee, and Courtney LaPlante (who was mistaken for Poppy at the 2025 Grammys).
Poppy Setlist
have you had enough?
BLOODMONEY
V.A.N
the cost of giving up
Anything Like Me
crystallized
push go
from me to u
Scary Mask
Bruised Sky
I Disagree
Bite Your Teeth
Concrete
surviving on defiance
Encore:
they’re all around us
new way out
Show Date: September 5, 2025
