Plush are an up-and-coming rock band led by the enormous voice of Moriah Formica. The band is gearing up for the September 18 release of their new album Mass Hysteria and recently kicked off a tour that saw them stop at the unique 52 Sumner, a former church turned into a performance venue.
Please scroll below for the MisplacedStraws Plush live photos and review –
The night began with a brief set of acoustic covers by local singer and former contestant on The Voice, Madison Curbelo. Direct support for the tour was provided by Boston’s Major Moment. Led by vocalists Andrey Borzykin and Sasha Razumova, the band showcased its original style of mixing male, female, clean, and extreme vocals. In addition to favorites like “The Flood”, the band featured 3 tracks from its upcoming release In Love & War. Major Moment relied heavily on preprogrammed, layered synth tracks along with a fantastic live drummer and guitarist. The reliance on tracks seemed to take a bit of the edge out of the live performance, but this young band still put on a strong set and hung out at their merch booth for the rest of the night.
Plush roared onto the stage with two standout tracks from their 2021 self-titled debut, “Champion” and “Athena”. Formica showed off her considerable guitar skills, while bassist Ashley Suppa and drummer Faith Powell provided a monster rhythm section. The only thing missing for those first two songs was Formica’s voice. Her mic seemed very low and she couldn’t be heard over the music. Luckily, by the start of the third track, “Left Behind”, levels were adjusted and her thunderous voice filled the venue.
Plush’s setlist consisted of the majority of their debut, a handful of songs from 2023’s Find The Beautiful ep, and four from the upcoming record. One of the highlights was the band’s take on the Heart classic “Barracuda”, a song that goes deep in Plush history and was featured on Find The Beautiful. It’s hard to compare anyone to Ann Wilson, but Formica demands that comparison. She isn’t intimidated by the song at all, and the band performs it like they wrote it.
Formica’s voice and songs may be the core of the band, but Suppa and Powell make Plush the great live band that they are. The two of them not only excel at their instruments but play with an infectious energy that bring to mind the early years of some of great rock acts of the 70s and 80s. Suppa also received a writing credit and provided lead vocals on the new track “Severance”. As the song ended, Formica gave her a hug, almost like a proud mentor watching her protégé excel.
The new material was well-received by the crowd. Some of the tracks showed the change and growth of the band since its debut. In addition to Suppa singing lead on a song, there was also the addition of keyboard and synth sounds on “Mass Hysteria” and “Where Is My Mind”, while “Animalistic”, which is already receiving airplay on SiriusXM’s Octane brought the set to a raucous conclusion.
Moriah Formica has a one-of-a-kind voice. In addition to Plush, she has also toured as part of Trans-Siberian Orchestra. But seeing Plush live, you see that the band is more than her voice. These three musicians are stars. The music on the upcoming Mass Hysteria goes over really well live and should help bring this band to the next level and even bigger audiences.
