March 17th, Saint Patrick’s Day, Pom Pom Squad played at Rickshaw Stop with Caroline Kingsbury opening the show. This fantastic show featured two up and coming queer artists and was the best way I could’ve spent a Monday night.
Caroline Kingsbury is a queer glam rockstar on the rise. First to the stage was the drummer, Alejandra Robles Luna, in a fun yellow jumpsuit. Next was Caroline Kingsbury, wearing a black leotard with a pink bow pattern and puffed sleeves, opaque teal tights matching her teal glitter eye makeup, silver boots, disco ball earrings, and a pink charm necklace with a guitar pendant in the center. Kingsbury performed all five of her songs from her 2024 EP I Really Don’t Care! as well as three songs from her 2021 album Heaven’s Just a Flight.
The energy was electric throughout her set. Alejandra Robles Luna was excellent, and watching her whip her hair up and down while she drummed made me want to headbang along to the music. Kingsbury’s synth-heavy backing tracks and guitar playing paired with the live drums made for a full, well rounded sound, and lively, upbeat performance with every song. Caroline’s powerful voice compliments her neo-80’s style so well.
Midway through the song “Our House,” a bouncy LGBTQ+ anthem, Caroline pulled out a transgender flag and waved it, standing in front of the flag. For her next song, “Heaven’s Just a Flight,” she brought out her glittering pink guitar, matching her glittering pink microphone. After performing “Alabama,” Kingsbury commented that one was, “for the queers from the South. And if you’re in this room and you’re from the South and you’re queer, you know what I’m saying. It’s a little different out there… and you know what, we survived, you know?” She finished by playing her most popular song, “Kissing Someone Else,” which was such a high to end her opening set on.
The outfits and aesthetic coordination for this show were everything. Pom Pom Squad entered the stage adorned in feathery angel wings, which some audience members also arrived wearing. Mia Berrin was a vision dressed in white lace with white ribbons in her hair, complete with white knee-high platform boots. As soon as everyone was on stage, they started with “Downhill,” the first and most popular track from their album Mirror Moves Without Me.
They played a bunch of short songs back to back in rapid succession which kept the energy up. Then Berrin announced the next song was “for all the girls who like girls,” and performed her dreamy cover of “Crimson+Clover,” featured on her 2021 album Death of a Cheerleader. “Forever Baby” was up next, a ballad that really highlighted Berrin’s silky smooth vocals. The juxtaposition of her clear, gentle voice with the heavy bass and deep kick drum made for a mesmerizing experience that entranced the audience as the angelic vocal solo continued. The other cover Pom Pom Squad performed was “Black Sheep” which was an exciting recognizable favorite. I think they were the perfect band to perform this song; they sounded just like the version we all know and love. Berrin had fun with this song, and after effortlessly gliding over the high notes, she took a bow as the last note of the song struck.
“Street Fighter” has a lyric Berrin sings that describes the genre of Pom Pom Squad perfectly, “I make pretty girl rock.” After “Running From Myself” which I found poignant and relatable, Berrin said, “I feel so lucky to be in a room right now with people who believe in human rights and who believe that the queer community, that marginalized people, people of color, trans people, deserve to live happily and freely, unimpeded by the government and racists and f—ing Nazis.” Berrin started the song “The Tower” by looking into a hand mirror, a nod to the title of the album and a lyric within the song: “mirror starts moving without me.” The song built up to a powerful climax, where Berrin threw roses at the audience, and it concluded with just keyboard and vocals.
Pom Pom Squad and Caroline Kingsbury performed their fun, relatable, emotional music with skill and passion. I love to see femme queer singer-songwriter rock artists touring together. It was such an exciting and inspiring show!
Review by Serena McIntosh
