Melanie Martinez
Toyota Center
May 22, 2024

No matter how much you think you’re paying attention to musical and cultural trends, some shit is going to make it past you without you ever realizing it. Even your trusty reviewer — who attends dozens of shows a year, reads Stereogum, and has teenage kids to constantly prod him about his relative ignorance — even he has a few blind spots.

When my niece asked if I could take her to the Melanie Martinez show, I wasn't completely in the dark (I knew the name). Nevertheless, I hadn't listened to any of her music. The months between my niece's request and last night's Toyota Center show, in theory, afforded me the opportunity to do a deep dive into Martinez's catalog.

Narrator: he did not, in fact, do a deep dive into Martinez's catalog.

The good news, a thorough retrospective isn't necessary. Martinez has three albums (2015’s Cry Baby, 2019’s K-12 and 2023’s Portals), and performed them all in (mostly) their entirety last night. What's better, the Portals Tour showcased her growth as a songwriter and storyteller as well as the pervasive weirdness of her live shows.

Martinez took the stage well before the announced set time; like, 30 minutes before. There were a lot of frantic people in tutus and tiaras rushing into place as the first chords of "Cry Baby" rang out. Martinez performed the first few songs from an elevated perch upstage, which obscured her somewhat from those with a side view seat (*cough*). Soon enough, she joined her dancers on the main platform, often backed up by fireballs and fireworks.

Cry Baby's songs are reminiscent of Dresden Dolls by way of Tove Lo. "Carousel" was a particular highlight, both for the synchronization of the effects behind Martinez and the harder edge provided by the live musicians. It was almost enough to forget the rabbit-headed dancers who horrified us earlier.

The K-12 set was next, kicked off by "Wheels on the Bus," Martinez's tribute to public school transportation (with all the horror that entails). Meanwhile, "Teachers Pet" is a rather … lascivious number (prone pelvic thrusts never go out of style it would seem), and the profane candy hearts ("Die Slow," "STFU") during "High School Sweethearts" were a nice touch.
Martinez also didn't shy away from politics, running a series of messages saying "End the Genocide," "Free Palestine," and "Fuck Colonialism," among others, to an instrumental rendition of "The Principal." These were popular sentiments, judging by the audience reaction. Kids: be sure to check your dad's X/Twitter feeds to make sure they weren't too triggered.

The show's final third was given over to Portals, and if we're being honest, it's the strongest of her releases to date. It chronicles the evolution of the character of Cry Baby to the Creature — a transformation marked by a shift from schoolgirl-ish uniforms to a more faerie look — complete with four-eyed "Nymph" mask, as well as an evolution to more complex song arrangements. The new stuff is complex and occasionally weird, but Martinez is clearly more confident in the material.

She's not a very chatty performer. Martinez did take a minute to single out her backup dancers, who shouldered the admittedly self-indulgent show demands with aplomb. She also thanked us for being amazing, etc. after "EVIL," which is quite the bop itself, a penultimate song that highlighted her rapport with the dancers and the band.

The show closed out with "WOMB," which was prefaced by a nihilistic take on human existence that wouldn't have sounded out of place coming out of Rust Cohle's mouth in Season 1 of True Detective.

Or maybe it's closer to Dune's Paul Atreides ('80s version, not Timothee): Melanie Martinez has blossomed into a songwriter and performer who no longer requires the gimmickry of faerie masks, whether or not she chooses to employ them. Lyrically and technically, she's got nowhere to go but up, as evidenced by what can only be viewed as her own personal Eras tour.

Personal Bias: I think we covered this.

The Crowd: Teenage emos and the fathers who sort of indulge them.

Overheard In The Crowd: "This shit is gonna give me nightmares."

Ask A 14-Year Old Niece:
ME: What's with the rabbit stuff?
14-YON: Beats me.

SET LIST

CRY BABY
Cry Baby
Dollhouse
Sippy Cup
Carousel
Alphabet Boy
Soap
Pity Party
Play Date
Mad Hatter

K-12
Wheels on the Bus
Class Fight/The Principal
Show & Tell
Nurse's Office
Strawberry Shortcake
Lunchbox Friends
Teacher's Pet
High School Sweethearts

PORTALS
DEATH
VOID
TUNNEL VISION
FAERIE SOIRÉE
LIGHT SHOWER
SPIDER WEB
BATTLE OF THE LARYNX
THE CONTORTIONIST
NYMPHOLOGY
AMULET
EVIL
WOMB