Daisy Grenade Brings Their Explosive Pop Punk Tour To Fishtown

On Thursday night, June 18th, I had the most adrenaline-pumping night witnessing the electric punk pop duo Daisy Grenade on their So Much To Say Tour at The Foundry in Fishtown. With opener Vienna Vienna joining them on their first-ever headlining tour, the energy in the venue felt like blood, sweat, and black eyeliner.

My friend, who appreciates alternative music just as much as I do, accompanied me to the concert. The show started at 8:00 PM, but we got there around an hour and a half before. We pregamed with some Love & Honey Fried Chicken, a couple of blocks away from The Foundry. Lemme just say–that potato salad was an insane bomb of flavor to the mouth. 10/10, would definitely recommend.

The show was completely sold-out, but that said, the venue didn’t feel suffocating at all. We had ample room to move around and check the place out. Past the merch stands was a 21+ section with the bar and a bunch of couches. My friend and I slipped into the crowd, finding a comfy spot in the center of the floor with a good view of the stage. Around us were all of Philly’s coolest alt kids! Everyone came dressed in their best grunge attire and had their shiniest piercings in. Daisy Grenade truly had one of the most fun audiences I’ve been a part of in a while.

We got to know some of the folks around us while waiting for the show to start. My friend swapped Instas with a group of girls from South Jersey, and while talking with one of them, we learned that this was her SIXTH time seeing Daisy Grenade live. Sixth. The band has opened for many other punk rock and alt artists over the past few years, including huge emo sensations like Fall Out Boy and Pierce the Veil. However, this is their first-ever headliner tour. The fact that they’ve already got such hardcore fans like that one NJ girl we met shows a glimpse of what the future looks like for Daisy Grenade as they only continue to gain recognition.

Vienna Vienna

When Vienna Vienna opened the show, they came out swinging with some energetic tracks off of their EP Entertain Me, including “Molly” and “Buzz.” James Barre, the California-based glam rock artist behind the persona, had an incredible stage presence. The opening set list included some bangers from their 2024 Wonderland EP, including “Sex Drugs Whatever” and “Vienna (Everything’s Fine).” Their most popular song, “Make a Man Out of You,” which also comes from Wonderland, had the crowd screaming! Barre moved with rhythm–like they were making love to their music. If you couldn’t hear the passion in their singing and guitar playing, goddamn, could you see it! The performance was all around fantastic, sexy, and raw–and packed with emotion.

During their newest song, “Grief is For The Living,” my friend pulled me in and screamed into my ear over the music, “THEY’RE SO GOOD!!!” Couldn’t agree more. I first discovered Vienna Vienna from their song “God Save The Queens,” which gained a lot of traction on social media back in 2025. With a powerful message about protecting drag queens, transgender individuals, and all queer people whose rights have continuously been under attack in our country, the crowd went fucking wild when Barres ended his set with the song. If "GSTQ" by Vienna Vienna is the only song you’ve ever heard from them–go check out the rest of their discography! I guarantee you it won’t disappoint.

Daisy Grenade

Grenade is most definitely the correct word to describe the headlining duo of this show. Dani Nigro and Keaton Whittaker ran on the stage with such explosive energy that a mosh pit instantly burst within the middle of the crowd during their first song, “A Beautiful Woman Is A Weapon, I Guess That’s Why They Call Her A Bombshell.” My friend and I got shoved and almost separated, but it was some real fun chaos! Honestly, I didn’t think a small venue like The Foundry was capable of moshing. I guess with the right energy, punks can turn any space into a party.

By the time the band started playing “Got It Bad,” crowd surfers had already begun riding the waves to the front of the floor. Nigro greeted the lively crowd in between songs, screaming “PHILLY, HOW THE FUCK ARE WE DOING??” She expressed that this was the first time the band had crowd surfers at a show, and they were absolutely pumped by the energy their audience brought. They shared that they had performed at The Foundry three years earlier, as openers for another band. That just made this concert all the more special since it was their first time back at the venue, now headlining their own show.

When they played “Don’t Sweat It,” a single they released last summer with feel-good pop vibes, a fan was brought on stage to sing and dance with the girls. It was so sweet watching the three of them up there together; you couldn’t help but be happy for the fan who got to join them. Both Nigro and Whittaker gave the fan an endearing hug before sending them back into the crowd to continue the show.

Their most popular song at the moment is “Emily,” from their latest EP So Much To Say. As someone who’s had her fair share of "Emilys" in her life, I can attest to the accuracy of the lyrics and the absurdity of that kind of relationship. The chorus says it all

“I can’t believe what you do to me / You push me down on my hands and knees / I worship you, so come bless me / And spit me out, please, Emily.”

There really is nothing like singing your heart out over the devastating aftermath of a toxic friendship. You could feel the shared catharsis throughout the audience during this song, as everyone mourned and raged over their own Emilys together.

During “Rent To Own”–a slower, bittersweet song (also from their newest EP), Pennsylvanian singer and songwriter Dan Campbell of The Wonder Years joined the band on stage. We were getting all kinds of friends performing with Nigro and Whittaker that night, and Campbell wouldn’t be the last. They took a break in between songs to give him a shoutout, and then another shoutout to our beautiful city of Philadelphia. One of the girls screamed, “GO BIRDS,” sending the whole room into the Eagles chant with a passion you can’t find anywhere else. If you weren’t a fan of them yet, you’ve gotta be now.

My personal favorite song from Daisy Grenade is “How To Hide A Body,” and their performance of it live did not disappoint. They told the whole audience to get down low during the bridge of the song, and everyone complied as they sang quietly to the building tension of the music. It was so fun as we all jumped up at the beat drop together — those girls seriously know how to control a crowd!

Included in the set list of this tour is a cover of “Hella Good” by No Doubt (Editor's note: GREAT CHOICE). This was the second to last night of their tour; they had performed this cover at least 16 times already, with Nigro musing that Whittaker had only just learned that it is not illegal to perform covers of other people’s songs. I found this hilarious considering the two had been releasing covers since 2023, such as “King For A Day” by Pierce the Veil and “Taste” by Sabrina Carpenter (two dramatically different artists who perfectly encapsulate the range of Daisy Grenade).

Hopefully performing with the peace of mind that they were not committing any crimes, their cover of “Hella Good” was full of the perfect spunk and edge that such a classic deserves. It was also then that I noticed the girls we had been chatting with before the show were getting their turns to crowd surf!

The concert then took a pause to shout out the nonprofit the band was partnering with for their tour — Let’s Give A Damn. They are a social justice-oriented media studio that produces content promoting resistance through art. A dollar of every ticket was donated to the nonprofit that night. Whittaker stated that the goal of Let’s Give A Damn was to be as community-driven as possible and that, given the current state of affairs across our country and around the world, such a community is needed now more than ever. On that note about the state of the world, they used the real talk to transition into “Real Horror Show” from their 2022 EP Sophomore Slump.

Out of all the fun surprises and heartwarming moments throughout the night, my favorite by far was Nigro’s words to her audience during their performance of “It Must Be Me,” the final track off their newest EP. This is such a heavy and beautiful song, and it clearly resonated deeply with the crowd, as it was the loudest I had heard them sing all night. “Do things that inspire you, they will inspire other people,” Nigro said at the end of the song when discussing the creation of this EP. “You are enough, your art is enough.”

Vienna Vienna made their return to the stage during “Liquor and Kerosene.” The unique singing styles of all three artists blended together beautifully as Barre sang with Daisy Grenade. Then, for one last special shoutout of the night, the girls handed the spotlight over to the members of their band who were touring with them for “So Happy,” a single from 2025 with rock-heavy instrumentals. Nigro and Whittaker stepped off the stage for the bridge of the song, letting their band go absolutely ape shit. Pete Lazorcik was on drums, Adrian Koch on bass, and Matias Sanes on guitar. Nigro shouted for the audience to make some noise for the boys, and the musicians went crazy on their instruments. I was especially impressed by Sanes’ shredding on his guitar; he went so hard and didn’t let up on the energy for the rest of the song.

Their final song of the night was “Sick In The City” from their 2023 album Cult Classic. However, an act this great can never end on any kind of finite note. The crowd cheered for an encore, chanting “one more song!” repeatedly. They turned the venue lights back on for just a second, tricking a few into thinking it was really the end. Then, they shut them off, and Daisy Grenade came running back on stage to play their 2024 single “Hypocrite.”

Since experiencing the So Much To Say Tour, I’ve discovered so much new music that has been on repeat every day. Daisy Grenade, Vienna, Vienna, and even The Wonder Years have all taken up the most recent downloads in my music library. I love music that I can scream my heart out to while knowing I’d be free of any judgment from the artists who created it. I truly love the energy that Dani Nigro and Keaton Whittaker brought to Philly, and I am so glad to support them as they continue to rise on their punk-pop journey. Go check them, and everyone else mentioned in this post, out, and give So Much To Say a listen — you won’t regret it.