From her arrival through a tiny door à la Alice in Wonderland, Ashnikko transformed Nashville’s Marathon Music Works into her world known as Smoochies Land. Its citizens had already donned the correct attire as concert goers flooded the sold out venue in carefully curated outfits often adorned with a variety of tchotchkes. The Smoochies tour encouraged this level of maximalism as the audience was able to participate in a “trinket trade” before the show and even a costume contest in which a “Smoochies Girl” would be chosen from the crowd by Ashnikko herself. To further expand her universe, the stage itself was decorated with a pastel city with tongue-in-cheek advertisements hanging on the storefronts. The crowd roared as Ash crawled through the miniature door onstage, starting the show with one of the viral hits from her latest album, “Sticky Fingers.” The fans shouted every lyric as Ash and her two dancers pranced around stage. After a high energy opening number, Ash segued to “door-choreography” as she performed “Working Bitch.”
Ash then took a moment to speak with the audience, showing a genuine interest in the stage banter as she explained the meaning of her latest album, Smoochies, and how the album is about falling in love with yourself and your body. The set was an incredible feat of production, truly allowing the audience to suspend their disbelief as Ash took them on a tour through her latest record along with songs from across her discography. There were twists and turns throughout the entire show, with props to go along with the narration between numbers and for the songs themselves. Ash also provided ample time to talk between every couple of numbers, even calling out that the entire show capped at around an hour and forty-five minutes if “yap-time” was included. Overall, the show was a true testament to Ashnikko’s performance abilities and growth as an artist, giving Nashville a taste of her magical world of Smoochies Land.
- GC Moorman
Photos Courtesy of GC Moorman (For Bell Music Magazine)
