Melanie Martinez’s sold out Cry Baby tour made a stop at the Trocadero last Saturday. The venue was filled to the brim with fans eager to see Martinez, some of whom had waited outside all day. Many members of the crowd were adorned in pacifiers, bibs, and had tear marks drawn on their faces, while others had their hair dyed half black and half pink to mimic Martinez’s signature hairstyle. Just from an observation of the crowd before Martinez’s set, it was evident that her fans are incredibly supportive of Martinez and adore her work.
To introduce her set, Martinez emerged from a cradle, kicking it down before launching into the title track of her album, Cry Baby. Martinez’s stage followed the theme of her debut album, with giant alphabet blocks spelling “CRY BABY” behind her, and her keyboardist/guitarist and drummer wearing fuzzy ear hats in order to look like teddy bears. Martinez herself wore a shiny dress with a sparkly duck across the chest, mimicking a child’s nightgown. During the show, the audience members were definitely not cry babies, but rather were screamers. From the first beat of each song, fans knew exactly which song it was and were ready to scream along to every word.
Martinez constantly reached out into the crowd and got the audience to sing along. During “Tag, you’re it,” Martinez and her fans had a back and forth, where Martinez screamed “tag” and then got the audience to scream “you’re it” back at her. Although the crowd was singing along to every single song, they were definitely the loudest during Martinez’s songs Soap, Cake, and Pity Party, actually screaming following the bridge of Pity Party since Martinez herself screams in the recorded version of the song. Songs like Alphabet Boy, Pacify Her, and Milk and Cookies also got huge reactions from the crowd.
As Martinez watched fans sing along to her words, she was constantly smiling, clearly appreciative of her supporters. Midway through the show, Martinez showed her love for her fans directly by dedicating a love song of hers, Training Wheels, to those who have supported her. Martinez genuinely adores her fans. I talked to a few big fans standing at the barricade who had VIP passes and met Martinez before the show, and they said that she was incredibly genuine and was sweet to every single fan she met. Many artists will just grin and bear it while meeting fans, but for Martinez, it seems to be something that she truly loves doing.
At the show, the crowd gave all of their energy to Martinez, and she gave her energy right back to them. The show ended on a bang with her song Mad Hatter. With a promise to come back to Philadelphia soon, Martinez concluded her set.
Setlist:
Cry Baby
Dollhouse
Sippy Cup
Carousel
Alphabet Boy
Soap
Training Wheels
Pity Party
Tag, you’re it
Milk and Cookies
Pacify Her
Mrs. Potato Head
Cake
Mad Hatter (Encore)
