REVIEW: Ashnikko Brings “Smoochies” to NYC
REVIEW
REVIEW
☆ BY JULIA FINOCCHIARO ☆
“I WANNA BE A CREATIVE PERSON, I WANT TO MAKE A MARK ON THIS WORLD”—is just one of many things alt-pop singer Ashnikko said to the audience at a very busy Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC last week. The creativity was apparent even before entering the venue: Fans came fully adorned in neon-colored costumes with endless trinkets, craft supplies and household items dangling from wherever they could find. Blue hair, face paint, wigs, leg warmers and sunglasses were also top contenders for the most popular accessories. Inside the venue, there was even a trinket table for fans to trade their little creations with each other.
Taking the stage right before Ashnikko and putting on a dark, intense set was Royal & the Serpent. Wearing all black and dressed to show off the tattoos covering most of her body, her performance was almost exactly the opposite of Ashnikko’s aesthetic, though somehow it worked flawlessly to get fans ready and to set the scene for the night. She performed a variety of songs from her discography, though she focused heavily on her newly released album Emptiness Is Godly released at the beginning of May.
Both Royal & the Serpent and Ashnikko definitely have some hyperpop undertones in a lot of their songs, and they both know how to use heavy autotune as its own instrument to enhance their voices. Royal & the Serpent closed out her set with her song “Wasteland” from the animated TV series Arcane, which lots of the audience members seemed to know and sing along to.
A little bit after 9 p.m., it was time for Ashnikko to take the stage. Fans who had seen her Instagram story earlier that day may have been a little worried after seeing that she was in a boot from injuring her foot, but Ashnikko took the stage with seemingly full energy, and no boot, as she went right into “Sticky Fingers” to open the set. She followed this up with the viral “Working Bitch” before talking to the audience for a few minutes and bringing out her dancers for “Microplastics.” Ashnikko did address the boot situation, saying she would probably only be giving “70 percent or so,” but honestly, it was difficult to even tell she was injured from the way she was jumping around the stage all night.
Ashnikko’s 26-song set is a solid two hours long, and she still manages to sneak in lots of talking with the audience in between. Despite a lot of her lyrics being quite sexual and X-rated, her down-to-earth, quirky personality shines through between songs. “New York, do you want to feast on my purse sediment?,” “If you rocked with me through the fuckass bob era, you’re a real one,” and questioning the audience about whether they brought their own “human trinkets” with them were just a few of the things we heard from her throughout the night. She also made sure later in the night to talk about her mom and how supportive she has been throughout her career, explaining that sometimes she’ll even be put in charge of organizing the trinket table.
“Trinkets,” “Skin Cleared” and “Manners” were some highlights from the first part of the night before the vibes shifted for the much faster-paced “You Make Me Sick!,” “STUPID” and “WEEDKILLER.” Despite saying she was thinking about skipping it due to her foot injury, Ashnikko powered through the fun “Chokehold Cherry Python,” and brought out a version of herself during “It Girl” that she pretended to kill during the performance. The raunchiness continued with “Wet Like,” “Full Frontal” and “I Want My Boyfriends to Kiss” before she wrapped up the show with three of her most popular songs: “Itty Bitty,” “Slumber Party” and “Daisy.”
Ashnikko is currently on tour promoting her latest album Smoochies, released last fall. The tour wraps up this week in Canada before she moves on to perform at festivals in the U.S. and Europe this summer. She concludes the tour in the fall with several shows in Australia and New Zealand. You can see tour dates and buy tickets here.
