Review: Poppy @ Hindley Street Music Hall 24/01/26
40-degree weather couldn’t stop the metal-pop icon’s debut in Adelaide. It was a night of brand new songs and a triple-threat bill supported by Ocean Grove and Inertia.
Words Thomas Jackson // Image Hector Clark
Poppy w/ @ Hindley STreet Music Hall 24/01/26
On this 40-degree Saturday night, heavy alt-pop singer Poppy brings her new album - it literally came out on Friday - Empty Hands to Hindley Street Music Hall as part of her Constantly Nowhere tour. It's Poppy's first headline tour of Australia, and although she’s performed on the east coast numerous times, it’s her debut performance in Adelaide. And despite the heat, the crowd has shown up early, filling the venue as soon as the doors opened as they eagerly await this triple threat supported by Ocean Grove and Inertia.
Sydney’s metalcore four-piece Inertia are performing to a full room by the time they take the stage with ‘Counterfeit’. The reason for the large turnout might be due to their impactful performances, either supporting Imminence last year at The Gov or their performances at Good Things Festival.
Singer Julian Latouche’s voice effortlessly flows between heavenly singing and throat-tearing screams. Ahead of ‘Dominion’, Latouche asks for a circle pit and receives one of the biggest of the night as the opening riff explodes through the room. Latouche’s request for a wall of death for ‘Enrapture’ is welcomed with eager recruits throwing their bodies into the fray.
All the songs tonight are from 2024’s Second Shadow, apart from an exciting tease of an unreleased song. It’s a reminder that although Inertia has been around since 2017’s Unlearn, it was Second Shadow that stamped their name into the book of ones to watch. Their performance is a masterclass in opening act 101 and everyone in this room will be itching to see what they do next.
Ocean Grove’s vocalist Dale Tanner is exhausting to watch as he effortlessly throws himself around the stage in this heat like it’s a parkour video from 2006 YouTube. As they charge through their setlist - that mostly focuses on 2024’s ODDWORLD - it’s thrilling to see how much they’ve changed as a band since their first album, Black Label.
Tanner has become this charismatic frontman, trading his original role as bassist for the microphone after former vocalist Luke Holmes. It feels like there are two frontmen in the band as the magnetic Twiggy Hunter makes being the bassist feel like the lead instrument with his larger-than-life performance. While the architect of the band, drummer and producer Sam Bassal, keeps the rhythm for the chaos around him.
Although they’ve been around since 2013 and have been a constant name in Australian alternative music, Ocean Grove still feel criminally underrated. Songs like ‘SOWHAT1999’, ‘MY DIRECTION’ and ‘FLYAWAY’ are a love letter to Limp Bizkit and nu metal of the 2000s. They spotlight Tanner’s vocal range from rap-rock to anthemic soaring choruses. The immediate chaos that begins when the whistle blows in ‘RAINDROP’ feels too big for such a small venue; it’s a song that should be played in an English football stadium, not a theatre. Before they end with ‘JUNKIE$’, Tanner says they’ve got new music on the horizon and that they’ll be back real soon.
READ MORE: Review: Garbage @ Thebarton Theatre 12/12/25
A narrating voice fills the venue, announcing that “you are now inside the house of Poppy.” Poppy walks onto the stage as her Hannibal-inspired, mask-wearing guitarist, bassist and drummer join her for ‘Bruised Sky.’ The stage has been transformed to have tiered platforms with the drummer positioned at the top, feeling like a guard at the top of a castle turret, while Poppy parades along the grated horizontal catwalk at the edge of the stage.
The setlist mostly features 2024’s Negative Spaces and new songs from Empty Hands, but older songs like ‘BLOODMONEY’ and ‘Scary Mask’ are welcomed warmly early in the set. ‘Concrete’ is the quintessential Poppy song that shows her J-pop-inspired, sweet vocals juxtaposed with the dark lyrics – “bury me six feet, cover me in concrete, turn me into a street” – and instrumentals that flip between breakdowns and pop.
Poppy just keeps getting better with each album. Empty Hands is no exception. Although it’s only been out for two days, several non-single songs appear on the setlist, including ‘If We’re Following The Light’ and ‘Public Domain’. However, the standout is ‘Time Will Tell’. Although it wasn’t a lead single ahead of the likes of ‘Guardian’ or ‘Bruised Sky’, it wouldn’t be surprising to see this as the fan favourite in time. The chorus is mesmerising and the introductory riff channels the best of peak Korn.
Poppy performs her BABYMETAL collaboration ‘from me to u’ and her Bad Omens collaboration ‘V.A.N’ to a massive reception. It’s a refreshingly back-to-back setlist – no time for pleasantries in this 75-minute assault. A fun surprise is the heavy reinterpretation of ‘crystallized’, the electronic dance anthem. It’s a great way to include a fan-favourite without impacting the flow of the night too dramatically.
‘they’re all around us’ is the heaviest moment of the night as Poppy screams ‘Coward’ before strobe lights attack the audience like machine-gun fire. Poppy farewells the night with ‘new way out’, accompanied by confetti cannons.
It’s an odd moment in time seeing Poppy with Empty Hands just released, with the song yet to be fully absorbed by the fanbase. Even though it’s only January, you can tell Empty Hands will be one of the albums of the year and will dominate her setlist for the foreseeable future.
