Bimbocore icon Hannah Collins, better known as Scene Queen, decided to start her European tour in the UK, and what better place to kick it off than Glasgow’s iconic SWG3 venue. With a capacity of 1,250 in the Galvanizers room, this was the perfect size for her crowd of very pink fans. Hannah put together a stacked lineup of queer alternative artists, offering a huge variety of sounds – from Girli, with her electropop love songs, to Lake Malice with their hyper-pop metal bangers.
Lake Malice, the Brighton-based alternative metal duo consisting of Alice Guala and Blake Cornwall, opened up the stage and the pit with their oldest single, “Blossom,” enticing new and old fans alike toward their onstage presence. The energy given by both members was contagious, with people who hadn’t heard their music before (myself included) jumping and singing along as if everyone already knew them. Alice’s harsh vocals, mixed with a voice one could only describe as ethereal, felt like whiplash but in the best way possible. I wholeheartedly believe everyone who was at the show that night came away with at least one Lake Malice track added to their playlist, given how catchy and well-received each and every song was.
The atmosphere took a softer yet more angsty turn for Girli’s set, which blended pop, rap, and R’n’B influences throughout her songs. Also known as Amelia, Girli is a London-based artist who traverses genres while also writing music about important topics. Her track “I Really Fucked It Up This Time” addresses mental health and its impact on relationships, while “Matriarchy” is a defiant “fuck you” to the patriarchy and the rules imposed on queer people by those in power. I felt really connected to Girli’s performance and the messages in her songs. They carried the perfect level of anger without hate, and love that felt unlimited.
Scene Queen, queen of the scene ineed, then took to the stage with the pinkest intro and stage setup I have ever seen – perfect for the unofficial ambassador of the colour pink. She jumped straight into the man-hating heavy jam “BDSM,” which got the crowd riled up and ready for an energetic one-hour-and-fifteen-minute set. She played a variety of songs from across her albums and EPs, and of course made sure the twerkle pit (a circle pit for twerking) was present. She also debuted her newest track “Platform Shoes,” which has a heavy ’70s/’80s disco vibe. Acting as a fun dance break between heavy breakdowns and mosh pits, it gave the audience a chance to sing along to lyrics about short men and why women are simply better. Scene Queen’s feminist rage against men, the scene, and those in power always makes for a great live experience, leaving everyone feeling empowered and ready to take on the world.
Hannah took a break from performing to talk to the audience, leading a segment that felt like a sorority house pledge. She invited five fans who couldn’t attend her pre-show VIP experience to come onstage, introduce themselves, and become part of her sorority/cult. I was lucky enough to be one of these people, which felt more like a dream than reality – a dream that also involved me standing on a water barrel to get onstage, which promptly collapsed beneath me, leaving me with a very soggy leg for the rest of the evening.
She rounded off the night with my personal go-to karaoke song, “Barbie & Ken,” featuring Cody Carson of Set It Off, followed by her TikTok hit “Pink Rover” from her first EP Bimbocore. To close the show, she played her most controversial yet most well-known track, “18+,” from her album Hot Singles in Your Area, calling out the toxicity and behaviour displayed by certain bands, and the actions taken to cover these up. This song is arguably the most important of her discography, carrying a message that demands to be heard.
This night was definitely one for the books and will be remembered by me, and many others, for a long time to come. The level of female empowerment felt from an all-woman-led lineup is something I want to see and feel more of within the scene – and I can’t wait to see what all these amazing acts have to show in their futures.
All photos by Charlotte Emily Photography
