By: Josh Kitchen / April 29, 2024
"This is the tour we dreamed of," Mannequin Pussy's lead singer and songwriter Missy Dabice confided to the sold out crowd at Mannequin Pussy's Los Angeles stop at the iconic Fonda in Hollywood on Friday night. "All of this has been for all of you." Over the course of 70 minutes in an emotional, intense, and confessional show, it was hard not to believe it.
Hailing from Philadelphia, Mannequin Pussy have been putting out music since 2011, but started to gain real traction with their excellent third album, Patience. Since then, they've traveled the up and coming indie hardcore/melodic punk trajectory and released their outstanding fourth album, I Got Heaven in March. I Got Heaven is one of the best reviewed albums so far of 2024, with Pitchfork (in a stellar 8.8 rating) saying, "I Got Heaven moves with an intuitive grace that makes it feel stadium-sized without losing its nuance or its grounding in the scene that birthed it. It’s easy to love, and it knows it."
That's exactly how felt hearing the entire album, albeit not in order, at the Fonda on Friday. In between moments of intense, rage filled screaming, there were moments of quiet and serenity, with Dabice even leading the audience in her own form of mindfulness exercises between songs. But the best parts of the night were the moments of release that Dabice invited the audience to let loose in. "I want you to make a noise that you didn't know your body was capable of making," she whispered during the climax of Patience's intense "Clams", into one of the standout tracks from I Got Heaven - "OK? OK! OK? OK!" The crowd ear-splittingly obliged.
Title track, "I Got Heaven" works so insanely well in a live format, and was one of the shows emotional highlights. In the song's leadup, Dabice talked about the state of the world, decrying those in power who would force religion onto others, take away abortion rights, and the right for everyone to be who they want to be, with the song's biting lyrics elevated to a seething indictment, "and what if wе stopped spinning?/And what if we're just flat?/And what if Jesus himself ate my fucking snatch?"
Bassist and co-vocalist Colins Regisford took a moment before the first song of the encore, "Pigs is Pigs," from the 2021 Control EP to thank fellow hardcore Philly band Soul Glo for being their support act at the show, and on the rest of the tour. Regisford talked about how he didn't see people like him at hardcore shows growing up, (Regisford is Black, as are the members of Soul Glo) and reflected on the enormity of the moment for him and the band.
Mannequin Pussy made sure that their first sold out show at the Fonda was a safe space for all the people there who have ever been told they're less than or different, and felt like they had to prove something to anyone. At the end of the show, Dabice asked if anyone came alone. When a few people raised their hand, she smiled in admiration and said that just them being there already proved to themselves that what they love is enough. The show ended with the title track of their second album, Romantic. "Darling, you'll come back to me/I know you will," Dabice sings towards the end of the song. She's right. Mannequin Pussy continue their American tour through the end of May before heading off to Europe. Do not miss them!
Comments