Live Review: Alt-popstar Biig Piig transforms basement venue into heart-filled dance party
Biig Piig cemented her status as a pop pioneer with an emotionally charged set.
Alt-popstar Biig Piig transformed the intimate downstairs of Birmingham’s 02 Institute2 into a dance party full of heart as she kicked off her headline UK tour last night (15.02.25).
Taking to the cosy stage on the same night that Barry from EastEnders brought his Barrioke party to the larger upstairs room, the basement vibe suited her music perfectly.
With a busy crowd ready and waiting long before 8pm, support act Rosa Cecilia provided a fitting warm-up; her soulful voice, bilingual lyrics and songs celebrating her Hispanic heritage carried across the room under warm golden spotlights. Before her song ‘Desire’, she encouraged everyone to get Salsa-ing while the seductive ‘Up Late’ landed somewhere between Tyla and Rosalia.
Then, after a lively DJ set from Nine8 Collective member Mac Wetha, it was time for the headline act.
Bounding onto the stage beaming following the release of her brilliant debut album ‘11:11’, Biig Piig displayed tireless energy right from the start.
Backed by a live drummer and bassist/saxophonist who added weight to her whispery vocal, set opener ‘4AM’ got the room bouncing beneath neon pink strobes which illuminated the ceiling.
What followed was a discography-spanning show which effortlessly veered between slower swaying numbers like ‘Don’t Turn Around’ and more hedonistic moments.
“For this one, any rage you’ve got inside of you just let go of that feeling and dance it out,” she said before spitting the crowd in two and running down the middle when ‘Picking Up’s emo-leaning auto-tune-heavy angst erupted among flashing strobes and pounding drums.
Halfway through, the mood switched again with the heart-stirring ‘One Way Ticket’ and ‘Brighter Day’ - the latter with its chirping birds - proved especially poignant; “there are some tracks in this set that really hit home, about letting go and moving on,” she said, dedicating the aforementioned two to anyone going through the stages of grief.
Seconds later, she’s started another dance party with throwback streaming hit ‘Sunny’ which had everyone clapping along before it segued flawlessly into the flirty ‘Favourite Girl’.
The bass guitar was dialled up and the drums even harder for the euphoric ‘Switch’, the chorus of which she shouted like a pop-punk frontwoman. That would’ve been enough to end things, but there was still the funk-fuelled 2020 radio hit ‘Feels Right’ - which had one guy air-guitaring - to come.
Closing the night was the addictive ‘Kerosene’, for which she got the crowd to get low and bounce back up together as one – often a risky ask, but they were more than up for it.
Across her hour-long show, the screams between songs were deafening and the fun that she and her band were having was clear to see.
Having departed to rapturous applause and pleas for one more song (despite performing all her hits and then some), it certainly felt like the last time that Biig Piig would be playing a venue of this size (just 600 capacity) – especially as she’s due to headline the much larger Camden Roundhouse in London later this month.
What’s undeniable, though, is that her ascendance to pop’s big leagues is underway.
Rating: 4.5/5
Words: Ben Jolley
