Standing tall on stage was a sorority entrance. Affectionately named Bimbo Beta Pi (also known to viewers as Birmingham o2 Academy), anyone who hadn't seen the Seattle power pink doll Scene Queen aka Hannah Collins on a podium, one will not be expecting a girly pop cover. Think of unity, accompanied with fuelled pop-metalcore and little trickles of pink as flowing was an audience of diversities, ages and to the more elite of heavy music concert goer.
Blasting through the stage as if Scene Queen was a rejected member of the film Heathers, the threatening trio of Pink Whitney, Pink Paper and newest track Pink Bubblegum were the perfect blend of sweetness and heaviness in the coined 'Bimbocore' genre. The shrieks of affirming unison wiped all doubts away when their popularity harnessed through TikTok. What impressed their spectators at the sold-out evening was the displays of politically and socially charged stances at current events. Not one song on the setlist was sugar-coated. Pink Hotel was a view surrounding sexual empowerment while the hard-hitting 18+ was a callout against the dark side of the music industry. One also cannot disguise Scene Queen's infectious command with a shrill to Pink Push-up Bra and Pink G-String allowing the crowd to become one big happy family in the moshpit.
Revealing the unreleased track MILF, an entertaining fusion of country and metalcore was completed with a jewelled cowboy hat and a strong yee-haw. Adding to the flow was the politically-fuelled Pink Barbie Bandaid that got the floor together in movement. Barbie & Ken was the standout track of the night and it was clear as to why it was. Not only Birmingham got to see In Her Own Words’ frontman Joey Fleming adding vocals the song's already brilliant energy, it was the loudest that lyrics bounced all corners of the venue. As the encore of Pink Rover was a dedication to wolf-whistling and the finisher Pink Panther embraced accepting one's sexuality, how the set went by that quickly was anyone's guess. However, it was a huge accepting community within that hour of Scene Queen, who made their early days at Scruffy Murphy's all the worthwhile.
