O2 Ritz, Manchester, March 06 2026
In the two years that have passed since Poppy’s last UK headline tour, there have been significant shifts in both her catalogue and status.
Two albums – 2024’s ‘Negative Spaces’ and January’s ‘Empty Hands’ – with former Bring Me The Horizon keyboardist Jordan Fish steering the production ship have gone down an absolute storm with rock and metal fans. Having dabbled with industrial and alt-metal undertones on 2020’s ‘I Disagree’, Poppy’s decision to wholly embrace the heaviness has been incredibly fruitful.
While she’s been a prominent voice and face in pop culture ever since her mysterious, android-like character started producing YouTube videos in the 2010s, the prolific nature of her recent collaborative exploits have helped ensure she remains more relevant than ever. There’s the Grammy-nominated ‘Suffocate’ with Knocked Loose, the triple-headed ‘End Of You’ alongside Evanescence’s Amy Lee and Spiritbox’s Courtney LaPlante and, of course, ‘V.A.N’ with Bad Omens – Rock Sound’s 2024 Song Of The Year.
Riding this wave of momentum and productivity, on her return to the UK as a headliner, the setlist has been completely revamped. Of the 19 songs she played on her last visit to Manchester, just four make the cut for tonight’s show at the O2 Ritz, selling out months in advance. The 1,500-capacity room is flooded with as many teenagers as seasoned metalheads, the latter you would imagine won over by her recent escapades more so than the art-pop of her 2017 debut ‘Poppy.Computer’.
And the headline slot certainly gives Poppy’s fascinating discography the breathing space it needs. After Fox Lake and Ocean Grove open the evening, ‘Empty Hands’ track ‘Bruised Sky’ slices open the set with knife-like precision, setting the tone for everything that follows. And though initially tepid, the crowd bide their time before inevitably descending into fully-fledged pandemonium. In her sugary-sweet speaking voice, Poppy asks politely: “If anyone’s not moving around you, you better make them move.”
Flitting around the stage in a frilly white dress, much of the show’s production value actually hinges on Poppy’s presence. Leaping up onto podiums and towering over the faithful at the barrier, she wields her glittery mic stand like it’s a weapon on ‘BLOODMONEY’, bouncing it back and forth. The divine synth melody does feel undercooked during ‘the cost of giving up’, but a cheeky showing of ‘Public Domain’ cuts through beautifully with an addictive, mechanical groove that makes you want to dance like a robot.
Aside from the carnage incited by songs, tonight’s set is also punctuated by the voice of a mysterious narrator, visualised solely through sound waves on the rectangular screen under the drum kit. “Is this a performance? What if you’re the ones on the stage?” questions the creepy voice, before upping the ante by posing “Are you here to watch me or are you here to watch you?” in its next appearance. Before you have time to unpick that riddle, Poppy bites back with ‘have you had enough?’, skipping the build-up with a fast-track ticket to the alt-metal sucker punch of the chorus.
Those soundwaves are replaced by an infinity loop of clocks during ‘Time Will Tell’, one of many simplistic but sufficient backdrops to Poppy’s wall of sound. On this track, her band’s backing vocal harmonies are particularly impressive, deservedly putting the spotlight on the four masked musicians for a brief moment. Perhaps unsurprisingly, ‘V.A.N’ induces the loudest cheer of the night, whilst ‘If We’re Following The Light’ is a rare moment of Deftones-esque ambience – and a deserved minute to catch breath.
But the apex point of this show is Poppy’s blood-curdling screamed vocals. Scaled up to maximum brutality, ‘the center’s falling out’ and ‘they’re all around us’ are both formidable displays of breath control and savagery in her ear-piercing high register. While this skillset has always been in her locker, the daring overload of heavier material in the setlist ensures the show retains the sense of extremity that has always defined her career.
There may be no material representing ‘Zig’, ‘Flux’ or ‘Am I A Girl?’, but Poppy has never been an artist to rest on her laurels. Tonight’s show is firmly rooted in the present, and the never-ending moment that she seems to be going through – and it’s a triumphant celebration of her journey over the past two years. One final “thank you” from our sweetly-spoken host is the only invitation that crowdsurfers need to claw their way to the barrier for ‘new way out’.
She may be a woman of few words, but that closing song, and the reaction it garners, is a fitting reminder that Poppy’s music will always do the talking.
