Ashnikko
Ashnikko and Robert Baxter live in Metro City, Perth | 29 September 2026
Metro City was packed to the brim at the sold out final night of Ashnikko’s ‘Smoochies Tour’, with fans ‘stacked like cake’ on the layered balconies dressed in extravagant outfits hoping to be the night's ‘Smoochie Girl’.
Prior to the show, I had previous knowledge of Ashnikko’s music having been an avid listener to some of her earlier work when I was younger, so was eager to attend. This was my first time at Metro City, so was amazed by the balconies and capacity, thinking that it would have been smaller than it was. I think the best view of the show would have been from the balconies, if you were able to get to the front, same as from the floor. I found it quite difficult to see the stage from the back of the crowd considering both the height of people in front, or height of platform shoes, and the slight obstruction of the balconies. However, I was able to find a pretty good spot considering I arrived just before the opener.
The opener was an artist called Robert Baxter, who had an electronic pop sound and an infectious energy on stage. Compared to other shows I’ve been to, the crowd really showed up for the opener, dancing, cheering and participating when call and response was initiated. Baxter had amazing stage presence moving around and doing choreography during the set, which really contributed to the engagement of the crowd. Additionally this was their first time performing in Perth so having a full sold out crowd as your first audience is pretty insane. During the set, they performed both original songs and a cover of ‘Ribs’ by Lorde, being such a well known song, got the crowd singing along. Baxter was very entertaining on stage and I enjoyed their set and think that they did an excellent job warming up the crowd before Ashnikko was set to come on.
When Ashnikko finally came onstage she was introduced with an audio clip of her ‘running out the door’ checking she had her phone, wallet, lipgloss ect, in her purse and then finding a tiny door at the bottom of it, which led to her entrance on to the stage through the tiny door built into the set. The running late gimmick of the segment was fitting as she was running a bit late but working it into the show made it feel more intentional then like you were just waiting around. During the set, she played mostly songs off of her most recent album ‘Smoochies’ as well as some other popular tracks off of some of her previous work, including my favourite ‘STUPID’ off of her 2019 EP ‘Hi, It’s Me’. On stage Ashinkko was energetic with full choreography during her songs, and had two backup dancers as well who came in and did choreo for some of the songs as well as handling any props on stage.
Ashnikko had some cool props including an oversized heart-shaped locket and, my personal favourite, had a moment before her song ‘Smoochie Girl’ with lifesized paperdoll clothes that the back up dancers held up to her. This was my favourite prop as I thought it was unique and ended up looking really effective on stage. I also enjoyed Ashnikko’s costuming, which consisted of bright coloured tights, and matching bra and booty shorts that was a very nice pastel plaid with a white cutout tank over the top. This outfit really fitted her show well as it was in theme with her album and was just so fun which matched the energy of her set.
Stylish was not only Ashnikko on stage but the fans as well, highlighted with a segment during the show where Ashnikko crowned her ‘Smoochie Girls’, 4 fans from the crowd who were selected for being the best dressed of the night. During this segment the girls received sashes and got to go on stage and talk through the outfi ts that they created for the concert, creating a really nice moment for these fans being able to interact with their favourite artist on stage. During this segment it was also really cool to hear the crowd cheering for the ‘Smoochie Girls’ on stage which was lovely to see how supportive everyone in the crowd is of each other.
Supplied Image - by ginnycphotography
Overall the show was really enjoyable to attend with the sets being really engaging and with choreography and cool props as well as the crowd being very supportive of both the artists and each other, creating a really great atmosphere.
Reviewer by Ava Thomson
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