Mannequin Pussy and Wednesday’s “The Bitch Cabal” tour began in Downtown Orlando with Nashville egg-punk band Snõõper, who opened the show with explosive yet quirky hardcore noise. After their signature end-of-set ritual involving frontwoman Blair Tramel traipsing around the pit in a giant papier-mâché puppet head, the sold-out crowd swarmed even closer to the stage, spanning from the guardrails of the pit almost all the way back to the ticket booth.
Wednesday’s defining hybrid of alternative country, hardcore and shoegaze was with the guttural screams of frontwoman Karly Hartzman and the talents of Xandy Chelmis on the lap and pedal steel guitars. Joining the quintet on the Beacham’s stage were eerily whimsical porcelain dolls from Hartzman’s childhood collection and a giant stuffed rat, callbacks to their breakthrough Rat Saw God album. Their closing song, “Wasp,” also the punchiest off their latest album, Bleeds, whipped fans into a total frenzy, catalyzing their fellow alternative Southerners to open up a heaving push-pit.
Mannequin Pussy’s highly anticipated set followed, showing how their evolution from punk-rock powerhouse to genre-defying rebellion has made them a near-mythical name in the scene. Revolving between their cult-classic tracks and speeches on immigrant parents and red-state politics, the crowd echoed back ecstatic chants of “pussy” and rounds of enthusiastic barking. The night ended with a cathartic “tribal group scream,” affectionately led by frontwoman Marisa “Missy” Dabice as she coaxed Orlandoans into relinquishing any festering rage held within.
