Pop Artist Ashnikko Shakes Stage in Boston With Pure Feminist, Queer Rage

Ashnikko (she/they) literally shook the house at their May 16 performance in Boston. The show was one of the most animated concerts I have attended. At times, the stands of the venue Roadrunner in Brighton were actually shaking as Ashnikko fans donning boots jumped to her intense, high-energy music.

Known for hits like “Slumber Party” (2021) and “You Make Me Sick!” (2023), Ashnikko blends genres including alt-pop, electropop, trap, and punk rock. Ashnikko’s concert, as part of her Smoochies Tour, was part strong vocals and part hyper-theatrical, camp aesthetics. The set design was at the level of thoughtfulness and vibrancy as some of the best theater in Boston. While Ashnikko’s feminist, unbridled, and feral power was always clear when I listened to her music, seeing her live expanded this world-building through fun stage design, powerful choreography, two amazing backup dancers, and a monologue about being the first woman in her ancestral line to not bend to the men around her.

Ashnikko’s lyrics are provocative and unapologetic. They channel feminine, queer rage into lightning bolts of compelling lyrics and fast-paced pop and trap beats. She says directly what others often do not. The mostly femme and queer audience yelled back Ashnikko’s lyrics that wearing a short skirt is “not an invitation!” The ground tremored below hundreds of pairs of Doc Martens stomping in unison. Somehow, this powerful energy felt closer to a compelling feminist mobilization than anything else I have witnessed in the U.S. I was in awe at the raw energy coursing between the stage and the audience, which also reminded me how rare it is to see public, collective displays of women raging, being unruly, and unapologetically expressing their sexuality while stomping on patriarchy’s claims to it. Looking around, it made me realize that Ashnikko not only produces their own lightning, but is also a lightning rod that attracts and gives form to many different people’s individual rage, rebellion, and queer expression, which otherwise may be repressed by society as unacceptable.

Overall, the performance was fun, powerful, and unforgettable.