Review: Joshua Hobbins
Tour pictures supplied by Adam ross Williams
There’s a particular electricity that comes with being present at the first show of a new world tour, and in Brisbane last night, that feeling was undeniable. Launching the Constantly Nowhere World Tour, Poppy unveiled a live incarnation of her latest material that felt carefully considered, theatrical, and at times genuinely confronting. With support from Inertia and Ocean Grove, the night highlighted three very different interpretations of modern heaviness.
Inertia wasted little time setting a serious tone. Opening with Counterfeit and Leviathan before launching into Dominion early in the set, the Melbourne outfit showcased a tightly honed balance between aggression and melody. Vocalist Julian Latouche continues to impress, shifting seamlessly between crushing heavies and soaring cleans, while drummer Sebastian Schaber was an absolute standout, particularly on a new, unreleased track that landed as the heaviest moment of their set.
Songs like Enrapture, Too Far Gone and closer Lament carried real weight live, reinforcing Inertia’s growing reputation as one of the most reliable heavy acts in the country.
If Inertia laid the groundwork, Ocean Grove detonated it. From the moment Dale Tanner, Sam Bassal, Brent “Twiggy” Hunter and Todd Andrews hit the stage, the energy level spiked dramatically. Their blend of nu metalcore swagger and modern heaviness translated effortlessly, with Twiggy’s backing vocals adding extra punch throughout the set.
Kicking off with OG Forever and Cell Division, the band leaned hard into crowd favourites, with My Disaster sending horns up and bodies bouncing across the room and Last Dance highlighting Tanner’s versatility as a frontman, switching between rapping, growling and melodic hooks with ease. Guys From The Gord leaned heavily on Bassal’s drumming, while SOWHAT1999 saw Twiggy step forward with rapped vocals.
The run through Raindrop, Sunny, Fly Away and Junkie$ capped off a set that was chaotic, fun, and relentlessly engaging, with the latter leaning unapologetically into a big Limp Bizkit energy. Ocean Grove remain one of the more unpredictable and entertaining live bands on the Australian circuit, and their set only reinforced that.
From the moment Poppy took the stage, it was clear this wasn’t going to be a conventional headline set. Opening with a narrative-driven intro declaring, “The house always wins and the house is always watching,” the show unfolded like a carefully structured performance piece as much as a concert.
New material from Empty Hands translated exceptionally well live, with industrial textures hitting hard in the room and the contrast between pop sensibility and metalcore brutality feeling particularly sharp. Songs like Bruised Sky, BLOODMONEY and Scary Mask hit early, while Concrete triggered a chaotic circle pit that somehow worked despite multiple things happening at once.
Poppy’s ability to move seamlessly between screaming and clean vocals was a constant highlight, particularly on The Center’s Falling Out, where she truly shone in her heaviest register. Anything Like Me brought an enthusiastic clap-along moment with its dance-y, Nine Inch Nails-tinged intro, before exploding into something far more aggressive.
Covers were handled with confidence rather than novelty. From me to u (Babymetal) featured a ripping guitar solo, while V.A.N. (Bad Omens) sent one of the downstairs bar staff into a frenzy, jumping and singing along with joy behind the bar. The set continued to build through Crystallised, Time Will Tell and Never Find My Place, the latter seeing Poppy jump into the crowd, before closing out with a punishing run through They’re All Around Us
The recurring masked narrative segments threaded through the set added an unsettling conceptual layer, gradually reframing the performance as something more confrontational than theatrical. Early declarations like, “You only see what you’ve been told to see,” and, “The mask isn’t hiding the monster, it’s keeping you safe from it,” pulled the audience directly into the experience, reinforcing the push and pull between perception and control that runs through the new material. Later, the message sharpened further with, “You want the truth? The truth is there is no face,” before the narrative closed with a final directive, “If they ask you any questions, tell them who sent you – Poppy,” delivered just before the closing track, New Way Out, hit.
Visually, details like the jewel-encrusted mic stand and microphone added to the surreal aesthetic, and the band members all keeping their masks on throughout the set whilst Poppy removed hers after the opening song gave the performance a striking sense of intention rather than theatrical excess.
While I was hoping for the title track from the upcoming release Empty Hands to be unveiled, particularly given how brutal it would have been live, this was still a commanding opening statement for the Constantly Nowhere era. Industrial, melodic, confrontational and strangely but comfortingly intimate, tonight further proved that a Poppy show is unlike anything else currently touring, and Brisbane was so lucky we got to witness it first.
