Thursday night Philadelphia punk band Mannequin Pussy played to an ecstatic crowd at the sold out Delmar Hall show. The band is currently on their I Got Heaven tour with St. Louis being near the end of the tour with just a handful of shows left. The band consists of Marisa “Missy” Dabice (vocals, guitar), Kaleen Reading (drums), Colins “Bear” Regisford (bass, vocals), Maxine Steen (guitar), and while on tour multi-instrumentalist Carolyn Haynes.

The set got started on a bit of a slower side with ‘I Don’t know You‘. The set kuwfdkuv shows both sides of Mannequin Pussy from the slower rock songs to the heavier more intense hardcore songs like ‘I Got Heaven‘, ‘Ok? Ok! Ok? Ok!‘ and ‘Pigs Is Pigs‘, the later of the two being accompanied by Regisford on vocals. Speaking of ‘I Got Heaven‘, the song, to me at least, is reminiscent of the early 90’s riot grrrl scene that and with Dabice ocasionally bringing up during the night about anti-capitalist, anti-war and fuck the patriarchy. She also addresses antisemitism, Free Palestine, and how each and everyone here combined tonight are closer to having absolute nothing than being a billionaire. Nearing the end of the set as things went a little quiet Dabice adressed the crowd in an almost whisper and gave a monologue about the current state and affairs of the world and at the end of it had the crowd reach down into themselves and release a primal scream at the count of three. The place erupted in an almost cathartic scream. Mannequin Pussy played just about the entirety of their new album I Got Heaven with exception to the closing track ‘Split Me Open‘.

Opening the night was Hermosillo, Mexico-based band Margaritas Podridas. According to their Sub Pop bio the band was born out of admiration for the underground rock landscape of the ‘90s, culling from the distortion-laden songwriting of the grunge scene, the scuzz-coated pop of shoegaze, and the noisy sojourns of that decade’s college rock’s guitar icons. Sonics aside, there’s a political streak and DIY ethic in Margaritas Podridas that recalls the confrontational idealism of their musical forbearers, evidenced in their underage scene building efforts in their hometown, their negation of the English language despite their growing international fanbase, and their penchant for giving the middle finger to sexism in both the music industry and the broader world.

I really liked what I heard from the band and have been listening to the on heavy rotation since that night.