Photos by Adam Rossi
Words by: Belinda Quick
“I never liked to be pigeon-holed and I never liked people to think that they know who I am. I like to keep people guessing” – A. J. Cook
Rarely does a woman encourage the title of an enigma. We should more regularly, our side of the species is infinitely deserving of the title; POPPY is the epitomisation of that.
Beginning her culturist journey as a digital performance art satirist before swimming in the Bubblebath of pop, ‘an insatiably inventive drive has fuelled Poppy’s surrealist rise’ during the 2020s into the world of metal. Coupling together tendencies of sweetness and savagery, along the way redefining genre boundaries and collaborating with the titans of industry, she’s established a grand and surreal reputation.
Releasing her latest LP, Empty Hands, on Friday (a solid early contender for 2026’s album of the year, I might add), Poppy touched down in Adelaide on Saturday for the second-last performance of her Constantly Nowhere debut Australian headline tour.
A sole figure forefront, INERTIA’s Julian Latouche announces the Sydneysider’s genuine energy. ‘Adelaide, I need to see you get off your feet!‘ Without Counterfeit intention, the Leviathan quartet politely-yet-powerfully holds Dominion over Adelaide’s Hindley Street Music Hall. Enrapture holding attention, a Second Shadow falls. Too Far Gone already, Latouche foreshadows that Poppy’s ‘going to blow your fucking socks off; thank you so much, Adelaide’, for the love and Lament.
‘OG Forever, forever, forever’ rings out. The Victorians’ Cell Division splitting, frontman Dale Tanner and Twiggy Hunter share Superstar duties, distributing expressions of the Stratosphere Love OCEAN GROVE are renowned for. NO OFFENCE DETECTED to other Australian artists but OG are the best of the best. My love and My Disaster, if I was to identify the GUYS FROM THE GORD who influenced my entry into this world, it’d be them.
The beauteous Last Dance purely an intermission, SOWHAT1999 represents the Oddworld. Proudly part of it, ‘every day I stand alone, catching RAINDROPs on my own eyes’. Twiggy’s SUNNY disposition overshadowing the crowd prepared to FLY AWAY, whether JUNKIE$ or saints, this is so much of why I’m here tonight and I ‘hold that feeling’ swaying with delight under the bespeckled moonlight of the hall’s famed chandelier.
‘Welcome, let the house speak first. Under a Bruised Sky, assaulted by the 43° heat of the day, Adelaide’s audience is held captive by BLOODMONEY. The track earning Poppy the first Grammy nod in 2021 for a female artist in metal, the sheer power of the svelte figure standing akimbo, commanding a bejewelled mic stand, the touring band members face covered with Scary Mask is overwhelming.
The heat enforcing itself via the bodies of those around, even in the shrouded darkness of the Hindley Street Music Hall, we count the cost of giving up and ascertain it’s too high. An appreciated interlude to recapture breath is punctuated often by theatrical pauses; POPPY is firmly in the Public Domain and, shaking the Concrete foundations, she attests to the world (and Adelaide), you’ve never seen Anything Like Me.
Streams of grey smoke shoot in crystallized columns, the first of two collaborations-turned-covers commences to sheer delight; a gift from me to you, ‘quite literally‘ according to Poppy representing a transference of power, following another syncopation, Time Will Tell ushered in the final scene of the major set. Touring in support of BAD OMENS’ eastern state run in Australia, V.A.N. is performed by just Poppy, whose ethereal vocals audibly simulate the theme of light and dark which has been employed this evening.
Choosing the former from empty hands, If We Follow the Light is kaleidoscopic and, testament to the contrast contained by Poppy herself, the final two tracks demonstrate best the enigmatic nature of the artist and, indeed, her fanbase. ‘No one here is free and clear’ and perhaps we’ll Never Find My Place, but as people and snow confetti dance they’re all around us and together, guided by the sweet savage of our piper’s voice, we’ll find ourselves a new way out.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos supplied and owned by Adam Rossi
