Lake Malice played as support for Scene Queen‘s show at Le Botanique.The band is Alice Guala and Blake Cornwall, from Brighton U.K. Influenced by Japanese Anime in style, writing about past trauma and real-life experiences; the band is a fast-growing force in the alternative scene. Although the crowd was a little shy at first, La Rotonde quickly filled with fans of both Lake Malice and Scene Queen. They danced and sang along with Alice, who ran around the stage to get closer to the audience. She opened with ‘Scatterbrain’, ‘Magic Square’ and ‘Ghost’. By the time she started ‘Creepers’, the crowd was already dancing in the pit. The show felt like it went by quickly, leaving the fans jumping around, freshly energized and ready for Scene Queen.
Disclaimer: don’t mix glittery pink with pop music! When Scene Queen takes to the stage, it’s Bimbocore that lights up the venue.
Bimbocore is a genre created by Scene Queen (Hannah Rose Collins) in response to the underrepresentation of women in music. When she was 16, she started going to metal concerts on her own. However, she often felt out of place in the crowd and received unwelcome attention from some men. This inspired her to create her own style, breaking the mold and allowing her personality to glitter through, as well as making more space for women. Bimbocore is an aggressive, hyper-feminine offshoot of metalcore that criticises patriarchy and tradition in its lyrics.
You could definitely feel her metalcore influence when she opened her show at Le Botanique with ‘BDSM’ from her album ‘Hot Singles in Your Area’, followed by ‘Pink Push‐Up Bra’, which talks about men’s impunity when it comes to assaulting women. Did we mention she is here to bring down the patriarchy? Yes we did. She smiles at the Rotonde crowd and adds, ‘You love bad bitches’. The fans shouted their agreement in harmony.
Despite being tired, she never lost her energy, asking the crowd to support her, and the fans certainly answered her call, singing the lyrics along with her. Throughout the show, Boy Hero and Jonathan Schwarts, the guitarist and drummer, delivered impeccable performances. She took the time to talk with her fans, mentioning Pride Month should be Pride Year and making a stand about her inclusive musical universe. As Lake Malice stated during the first part of the show, this is a safe place for everyone.
The show continued with ‘Platform Shoes’, a lighter song intended to lift up the mood. ‘MILF’, a song about… well, you know, is an unexpected mix of pop and country ambiance with hardcore two steps. The crowd moshed once more during this song. After another speech about sorority in the US and sisterhood in general, she invited 3 fans on the stage so they could introduce themselves and she made us take an oath to always be there for each other – or an oath to some sort of cult, we still don’t know but clearly agree.
Scene Queen performed her ‘Hot Singles in Your Area’ song from her 2024’s self-titled record. This was followed by ‘Pink Hotel’ and ‘Pink Whitney’. She closed the show with ‘Barbie & Ken’ (with Boy Hero as Ken), ‘Pink Rover’ and ‘18+’. It was definitely the perfect energetic, anti-patriarchy, glittery show of the week.
Setlist: BDSM – Pink Push-Up Bra – Finger Pink Panther – Platform Shoes – Pink G-String – MILF – Hot Singles in Your – – Area Pink Hotel – Pink Whitney – Mutual Masturbation – Barbie & Ken – Pink Rover – 18+