issue 3// vol 45 Everybody wants to be Poppy >» ‘Poppy’ concert review Sonam Kaloti Arts Editor wee K KY oppy headlined at the Westward Music Festival on the evening of September 14 at the Vogue Theatre. Poppy is a YouTube sensation turned pop star, initially gaining a following through odd, cult-like videos. These videos range from her repeating phrases in a robotic demeanor to simply staring into the camera with a sly smile on her face. Viewers began questioning whether she is a robot, in a cult, or possibly even in the I/luminati, due to their symbols often appearing in her content. These comments became so frequent that she released a video in February of 2017 titled “T Am Not In A Cult” addressing some of these rumours. With an icon such as Poppy—who takes on the appearance of a regular teenager—her messages can come across as targeting and disconcerting. At the September 14 show, Poppy walked onto stage in a full candy-like costume, covered from head to toe in sparkles and bright colours. The stage lighting remained throughout the set as two-toned, cycling between different 1980s retro palettes. Her singing was live and pitch-perfect, which was rather impressive since her songs consist of mostly stable high notes. Because of the vocal effort this must take, the show contained an interlude about every three songs. During each of the interludes one of Poppy’s strange videos played ona projector and the audience watched in awe. One of these videos contained about 30 seconds of Poppy introducing and consuming Doritos and a Monster Energy Promotional image for ‘No Tears Left to Cry’ Drink. The shift between seeing her videos and seeing her live within minutes was jarring and helped the impression of her robotic nature. Her live dance moves were purposefully janky and rigid but held an allure of femininity regardless. Poppy did seem slightly awkward traversing the stage, but this may have also been a character quirk. For her second outfit, Poppy wore a flesh-coloured bodysuit decorated with white petals representing a kind of feathery bird. She looked like an ethereal being simply standing in front of us to make us stare. There were two backup dancers who took centre stage during all musical interludes within songs and their passion could be felt from the very back of the theatre—it was incredible! Sadly, the audience was not as energetic as | was expecting. There was an extremely casual feel to the atmosphere. No one pushed up against each other but rather had their personal space and kept their minimalistic grooves within it. Poppy called for audience involvement during one of her songs and received a lacklustre response, to which she jokingly asked if the audience “was dead.” This question was surprisingly met with glee. The concert ended abruptly with no encore. Someone from the audience could heard saying, “She didn’t even play ‘Lowlife!” (her first hit single), which was an obvious disappointment among the crowd. Despite that, she had gifted us earlier on by playing an unreleased song “Fashion After All” which was, as always, a banger. Her casual and cutesy approach to every situation was enticing and Iam excited for the rest of her album Am IA Girl to be released at the end of October. Eh Rw AA CO Photo of Poppy by Sonam Kaloti Even Sweetener >» ‘Sweetener’ album review Jerrison Oracion Senior Columnist wkweK KY riana Grande was at the top of her Aun after the release of her previous album Dangerous Woman in 2016. However, tragedy struck during the tour of that album: The now infamous Manchester Arena bombing. A total of 23 people— including some of Grande’s fans and the bomber—passed away in the bombing, a horrific event for a concert or any occasion. Grande and Manchester began to recover after the bombing and when she held a benefit concert to raise money for everyone who was affected by it, she showed that the show must go on—an idea she shows again in her next album Sweetener. The record begins with “Raindrops (An Angel Cried)”, which is a cover of “An Angel Cried” written by Bob Gaudio and references the bombing. Grande says the line “An angel cried,’ which potentially references the singer herself. Next, the album goes into “Blazed,” which also has Pharrell Williams in it. Because he produced the song, it has everything that you would expect ina Pharrell Williams song. A very catchy track is “The Light is Coming” because the beats in it are similar to the beats in the Lady Gaga song “Love Game.” The music video of this song looks like a commercial for Reebok. My favourite track on the album is “God Is a Woman” because it showcases Grande’s vocal talents. I was as mesmerized by it at first as her soon-to-be husband, Saturday Night Live's Pete Davidson, was when he heard it. The music video of the song is the most avant-garde music video that she’s made. It includes a random scene with a screaming beaver, which I found very funny. The first hit single from the album, “No Tears Left to Cry”, is not avery sad song and it can be listened to again and again. Missy Elliott is heard in “Borderline”, and in “Pete Davidson’, Grande sings a love letter to her fiancé Davidson and it is a simple message of “T love you.” The album ends with “Get Well Soon” where she tells everyone who was affected by the bombing that they will recover and in the next few years, they will get to the top. We hear silence for a few seconds to remember the people who passed away in the bombing and then the album ends. Sweetener sounds like an album that Pharrell Williams would make because he produced most of the songs in it, although he is not one of the executive producers of the album. Some of the songs on it were short but they were so good that I wish they could have been made longer by putting another verse or more music in. While Sweetener is a great album, it is not in my opinion Grande’s best album, though it has everything that you'd want in an Ariana Grande album mixed with the iconic sound of Pharrell Williams. Still, maybe it will win an award in the Grammy Awards next year.