Royal & The Serpent | Milwaukee, WI
Royal & the Serpent returned to Milwaukee with their first headlining tour at the Rave in Milwaukee on Tuesday night and put on a fantastic show. They brought along openers Carlie Hanson and Baby Fisher.
The show began when Baby Fisher walked onto stage to a few claps from a modest crowd, holding a guitar case. He sat down on a folding step stool, took out his guitar, and tuned. He tossed his amazing hair aside and told the crowd he usually wasn’t in a chatty mood, but this night was different. From the get-go, he was charismatic and funny, talking with individuals in the crowd about his thrifted sweater, making his own clothes, and being inspired by tour. He started his acoustic set with an unreleased song written three days prior called “Chicago Fire Escape.” It was quickly apparent that he’s quite talented, especially in his guitar work and playing with arrangements. In playing a song off his most recent EP, “Jesus and Mary Jane,” Fisher mentioned he plays it different every night. He started the night’s rendition slow but then sped up the arrangement quite dramatically, clearly having fun. He then transitioned to a seamless mash-up of One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful” with Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever.” A highlight was his cover of Elvis’ “Heartbreak Hotel” that really showcased his talented guitar playing. By the end of his closing song “Madonna,” the crowd had changed their tune to clapping and shouting enthusiastically - the crowd was sold.
Next up was Wisconsin native Carlie Hanson. She walked onto stage wearing a Green Bay Packers x Grateful Dead shirt and exclaimed that this was a home-state show for her, that she got Culver’s for dinner, and that she grew up in the La Crosse area. At 17, she moved to LA, but she still had a fondness for the dairy state, so she wrote her sophomore album “Wisconsin” to honor her home state. Highlights included “608” that showcased her unique vocals, the call and return of yeah yeah yeahs with the audience in “Pretender,” and the unreleased “Budge.” Her music stands apart from her indie-alt pop peers due to her distinguished voice.
Royal & the Serpent closed out the night with an energizing, dramatic show that surely satisfied the pop-punk, Warped-Tour-esque desires of the audience, despite some technical difficulties. Lead singer Ryan Santiago made a memorable entrance on stage wearing an ankle length, longsleeve, white night gown and matching white slippers. By the second song, “One Nation Underdog,” the crowd was chanting along to the songs revised version of the Pledge of Allegiance that pledges allegiance to drag and the United Gays of America. The next three songs flew by until there was some technical difficulties with the drumkit for a few minutes. Santiago took it all in stride though and adapted quickly. She deemed the break “Nickelback Time” and led the crowd in singing “How You Remind Me” by Nickelback, told some jokes, and talked about getting to sign the walls of the Rave while techs and the drummer worked to fix the kit. Once the issue was resolved, the group jumped right back in giving excellent performances all around; the guitarist, bassist, and drummer all put on noteworthy performances throughout the night.
A few songs later, things changed. Up until this point, the show had been well-lit in white light, but now the lights turned red. Santiago performed spoken word to a soundtrack of thunderstorms and heartbeats before collapsing on stage. The soundtrack switched to alarms beeping, bells tolling, clueing the crowd that it was a performance. Then, Santiago rose from the ground with blood on her hands and white gown, welcoming the audience to hell. The energy level from here on out was unmatched.
The group played hits “GO FUCK URSELF,” “Choke,” and “I Can’t Get High” to a wild crowd, but then, technical difficulties struck again and brought the show to a halt. Rather than let the issues get to her, Santiago changed course and rearranged the set list, which originally had “Weddings & Funerals” to close the show, but instead, she bumped it up and played a beautiful acoustic rendition. The moment of calm was short lived, as the crowd descended further into hell and Santiago demanded the energy level go from a 9 to a 15 for “Happier In Hell'' and “EAT SPIT.” The show ended with a song she said changed her life, the hit “Overwhelmed.”
If you had any doubt that pop punk is alive and well, set those doubts aside. Royal & the Serpent is essential listening.
