The crowd is a sea of pink, feathers, glitter and plenty of pink cowgirl hats. All eyes are drawn to the stage set at the front of sorority house, waiting for the lights to dim and the show to begin.

On November 18, Scene Queen took the stage at The Roxy @ Mahalls in Lakewood, OH on her Bimbo Beta Pi (BBΠ) Nationwide Tour. This night was a special and exciting show. It was a hometown show for the singer, making it extra special, which she highlighted talking about how she grew up going to shows in the smaller room at Mahall’s. She was also one the first dozen or so shows at the newer larger venue The Roxy.  

Scene Queen has coined her own style and subgenre of metalcore named bimbocore. Her music is full of themes of female empowerment, fighting the patriarchy and more. Bimbo Beta Pi is the sorority and community she has created to encompass her fanbase.

Halfway through the show, Scene Queen explained Bimbo Beta Pi a bit more. On stage she has the front of sorority house with the greek letters across the front along inflatable pools, prop kegs and solo cups to create a scene similar to what someone might expect at a frat party. She talks about how the idea of sorority is friendship and having a support system. Your fellow sorority sisters are people you can count on and create a place where you belong. That is the feeling and community she is trying to create. 

Scene Queen picked two people from the crowd and invites them on stage. She then inducted them into BBΠ. They had to recite a promise and then were given two necklaces with the BBΠ letters. She then went on to say that everyone in the crowd is also a part of BBΠ, which emphasized the fact Scene Queen shows are a safe space where everyone looks out for one another. 

Beyond that, the overall atmosphere, energy and experience at a Scene Queen show was different from any other metalcore or rock concert. For one, it was not a typical crowd of black band shirts you may expect to see at any other show. Everywhere you looked, you saw pink, sparkle and glitter. This show is for everyone to forget about the patriarchy, misogyny, hatred and all the other negative energy and problems going on in the world. At a Scene Queen show, you are encouraged to let go, shake your butt and be yourself. It is about reclaiming the metal and rock space to be a safe place for everyone, especially those who are not a cis-heterosexual male. Being in the crowd, you felt safe and comfortable. Before the show, everyone was talking to one another, making friends, and vibing. Everyone was there to rock out to some bimbocore. 

Scene Queen’s stage presence was also captivating. She looked like she was having fun and living her dream. A large smile covered her face the majority of  the time. But she also brought her songs to life adding in touches of sass, anger and flirting if needed. She used the entire stage and danced and interacted with the crowd, even crowd surfing several times. Her energy was on ten: bouncing around, dancing, messing with her guitar player, teaching the crowd how to twerk, getting the crowd to wave their arms and doing whatever she can to put on a show.

She is transforming what a typical metal show is. It is not just guys standing up there with guitars and singing. She is creating an experience that is more hyper feminine and is a safe space for women and people in the LGBT community. Which is a breath of fresh air, especially those who have been in the scene for a while. 

Then, how could I forget the iconic twerkle pit? For those unfamiliar with that term, it refers to a circle pit but instead of the typical moshing, you are encouraged to twerk in the circle pit. This is referred to in Scene Queen’s song “Pink G-String:” “twerkle pit: twerk in the circle pit.” Before she performed that song in particular, Scene Queen encouraged everyone to open up the pit and she needed to see people twerking and dancing in that pit. Only at a Scene Queen show would this happen, and it was incredible. The pit opened and people got to moving, dancing, and shaking. They understood the assignment for sure. People brought out their best twerking moves for the Scene Queen twerkle pit.

Scene Queen also performed her newest song “MILF,” which stands for “Man I Love Fxxxing,” which mixes country and metal together because she wants “to take country music back from Republicans.” If you couldn’t tell by the name, the song is definitely one that would make the conservatives mad, but the crowd loved it. She donned her iconic pink cowgirl hat and turned the stage into her rodeo. She even mimicked a lasso to round up her guitar player. We got to have a little metal hoedown moment. The song itself is sexy and fun. The balance of the metal breakdowns with country guitar and vocals is unique and was such a fun experience live. What other show would you combine all that into one moment? 

A stand out moment of the night was when Scene Queen played her song “18+.” This song calls out bands for being inappropriate with young fans and the rise of bands being canceled for allegations relating to that. Unfortunately, it is a very relevant topic at the moment. The crowd absolutely screamed the lyrics to this song, Scene Queen even pointing the microphone towards the crowd to give them the chance to sing parts of the lyrics. This moment felt very cathartic and satisfying, a moment for the crowd to release all the built of feelings of the current state of the scene. Scene Queen strutted around the stage, giving sassy, angry and powerful energy. When the part of the song that mimics a statement to address allegations of a band but bleeps out the name, the crowd shouted names, and she gave a look of we all know what band it could be. Sadly, there are so many. 

No matter what song she played, the crowd screamed along to the lyrics. They let out all their anger, frustration and personal experiences to songs about the government trying to take away women’s rights like “Pink Barbie Band-Aid,” speaking your mind and exposing everyone (“Pink Bubblegum”) and taking back your power after experiencing a traumatic event (“Pink Push-Up Bra”). You definitely left the show with no voice, but feeling powerful.

Right before the last song of the night, Scene Queen played into the predictability and overdone idea of an encore. The typical act of bands acting like it is the last song of the night is walk off stage, the crowd cheers and then they come back on stage for one or more songs, many times being their most popular or fan favorite songs. And then the crowd acts all shocked, when most people know that it would happen. For veteran concert goers, this overdone practice can become very overplayed and not as exciting. You come to expect it and the time in between walking off stage and the encore is long and pointless. Many acts in recent years have come to ditch the typical encore and just go right into the last song.

Scene Queen began to introduce “Pink Rover” and called it the “last song of the night.” While introducing the song, she was making winking faces and sarcastically talking about cheering for one more song after she walks off stage. She was, of course, referencing the very predictable act of an encore.

Then, there is one actual final song.  Scene Queen and her band came out on stage holding signs. They faced the stage and then all turned around to reveal the signs spelling out “Pre Planned Encore,” which the crowd all chanted. This of course played at the idea of how no matter what happened, they would sing one more song that was scheduled into the setlist. For Scene Queen, the last song of the night was “Pink Panther.”

The whole room was screaming the lyrics and taking advantage of the twerkle pit until the very end. The energy in the crowd was next level, giving it their all until the very last moment. Scene Queen took in every moment of the night and gave it her all until she walked off stage. She even walked along the barricade to say goodbye and give high fives to people in the crowd. As the song came to the close, Scene Queen closed out her hometown show and said goodbye to Lakewood, Ohio members of BBΠ, leaving everyone with a night to remember and a crowd full of new friends.

Scene Queen is an act to watch. Clearly just getting started, she is not afraid to be herself, call people out, and make the space a place that is welcoming to everyone. She is going to keep making the music she wants to, and no doubt her next tour will be even bigger and better. 

Scene Queen’s debut album Hot Singles In Your Area is scheduled to be released in Spring 2024. You can keep up to date on upcoming releases and tours on her Instagram.