Melanie Martinez is a creative and talented artist. Recently, she wrapped up her equally creative, 53 date arena, “Trilogy Tour.”
Throughout the tour, Martinez kept a consistent setlist, which ran for around two hours, with the exceptions of music festivals. The show included elements of stage lifts; however, since the festival venues had a generic stage, there was a lack of room and time, so she had forgo these components.
The one aspect that did change was outfits. Outfits were rotated for every show, with three being worn. One outfit for each era.
The only outfit that had limited options was her outfit for the “K-12″ act. From May 1o to June 3, Martinez wore a pink version of the iconic “K-12” dress. On June 5, she switched to the dress’s purple version, retiring the pink one.
No matter what outfits she wore for each night, she still looked incredible while performing. What shined brightest during this tour was Martinez’s artistry.
After the openers finished their sets, Martinez was next, starting shortly after them. The concert started with the side screens showing parts of the “Cry Baby” music video, while an eerie instrumental was played in the background.
The dancers came out from the sides of the stage and some arose from beneath the stage. They were dressed in frilly, doll-like outfits.
Soon after the curtain dropped, Martinez was revealed on the main stage lift. This showed off Martinez’s outfit for the “Cry Baby” section of the show.
The first song, “Cry Baby,” started once the first beat dropped, and the arena was colored with the vibrant, childlike visuals of a baby crib.
In the first act, Martinez danced and sang through eight other songs from the “Cry Baby” era. My top three songs from the act were “Carousel,” “Pity Party” and “Mad Hatter.”
“Pity Party” was the first song that she performed off of the platform. The visuals for this song included a pink room along with multiple stuffed animals. The room also had a carousel, dollhouse and baby crib in the back, with the song ending with heart-shaped balloons being dropped into the audience from above.
To end the “Cry Baby” act, “Mad Hatter” painted the arena red with the visuals and lights. Similar to “Pity Party,” the screen showed visuals of a pink room with stuffed animals, a crib and children toys. As the last verse was sung, the room flipped upside down, while the red strobing lights and lasers continued.
The second act of the concert was the “K-12” era, starting with “Wheels on The Bus,” which was the first song featured on the album and movie.
The aesthetics of “K-12” differed from the “Cry Baby” act, which leaned more into colorful child-like things. “K-12,” on the other hand, displayed a pastel color palette.
My top three songs from the second act were “Class Fight,” “Nurse’s Office” and “High School Sweethearts.”
“Nurse’s Office,” maybe my favorite part of the entire concert, had Martinez held captive in a pink nurses gurney rolled around by her dancers. While she performs the song, there is a camera attached above the gurney so she can sing to the camera with the footage still being clearly displayed on the side screens.
The final song of the second act was “High School Sweethearts”. The visuals for this song showcases a white room/hall seemingly inspired by the inside of the Palace of Versailles.
After the song concluded, Martinez started to walk forward and was shot by a heart-shaped arrow. As she fell to the floor, Martinez’s dancers surround Cry Baby’s “lifeless” body with the heart props. This represents the supposed death of Cry Baby, and the end of the “K-12” act.
After the transition between “K-12” and “PORTALS” ended, the first song of the “PORTALS” act started. For the “PORTALS” section, Martinez came out as the new form of Cry Baby with her four-eyed persona, as well as a third outfit and hair change. The aesthetics of “PORTALS” is very different from the aesthetics of “Cry Baby” and “K-12”.
The “PORTALS” act had the most songs out of all three albums. She performed 11, with my top three being “TUNNEL VISION,” “BATTLE OF THE LARNYX” and “EVIL.”
While performing “TUNNEL VISION,” a tunnel of flowers, mushrooms and moss were displayed. This time, only two of the six dancers were onstage. While singing the verses, Martinez’s dancers circled her while interlocking their hands.
During “BATTLE OF THE LARYNX”, Martinez danced with a medieval style sword while fire was shot up out of the stage. The visuals on the screen displayed a dragon blowing fire. The dragon flew around a mountainous and grassy landscape with fields covered in flowers and mushrooms. At the end, Martinez went to the back of the stage and drew her sword to the ground, as the dragon on the screen falls to the ground.
“EVIL,” sported a similar red theme to “Mad Hatter” with the very heavy red lighting and theming. The visuals had a dark feeling to them traveling through different dark forest landscapes. At the end of the song, there were continuous flames and fire throughout the stage.
The tour concluded up on Nov. 16., and overall, the concert was amazing in every aspect: lighting, costumes and theatrics. I’m so happy that my first concert was the “Trilogy Tour,” also since it celebrated the end of Cry Baby’s story.
This tour encompassed Cry Baby’s life and Martinez’s artistic view. This tour showed the creativity Martinez has as an artist, and her dedication to her craft.
