Froge.tour () is a nine-date tour by the English band
Piri & Tommy. Released to promote their mixtape ''
Froge.mp3'', the tour began on 2 November 2022 at Belgrave Music Hall and ended on 19 November 2022 at
The Warehouse Project
The Warehouse Project is a series of club nights organised in Greater Manchester, England, since 2006. Unlike most other clubs, it has a limited seasonal approach rather than running all year. Each year's season runs from September through to N ...
. Sets included most of ''Froge.mp3'', several future singles, and cover versions of
Chic
Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word.
Etymology
'' Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English dictionaries classified ...
's "
Everybody Dance" and
Crystal Waters
Crystal Waters (born November 19, 1961) is an American house music, house and dance music singer and songwriter, best known for her 1990s dance hits "Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song), Gypsy Woman", "100% Pure Love", and 2007's "Destination Cal ...
's "
Gypsy Woman". Their
Brighton
Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
gig was opened by
Coupdekat, while their
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
gig was opened by
Maisi and contained
pole dancing
Pole dance combines dance and acrobatics centered around a vertical pole. This performance art form takes place not only in strip club, gentleman's clubs as a form of erotic dance, but also as a mainstream form of fitness, practiced in gyms and ...
and
Parthenope Parthenope ( ; ) may refer to:
* Parthenope (siren), one of the sirens in Greek mythology
People
* Parthenope (mythology), Parthenope, in Greek mythology, the daughter of Ancaeus (son of Poseidon), Ancaeus
* Frances Parthenope Verney, Parthenope ...
. These three gigs were between them reviewed by
Alexis Petridis
Alexis Petridis (born 13 September 1971) is an English journalist. He is the head Rock music, rock and pop music critic for ''The Guardian'', and a regular contributor for ''GQ''. In addition to his music journalism for the paper, he has written ...
and reviewers from ''
LeftLion
''LeftLion'' is a monthly arts and culture magazine and website based in Nottingham, England. The publication takes its name from a stone statue in Nottingham's Old Market Square, also known colloquially as 'the left lion', which has served a ...
'', ''Brighton & Hove News'', and ''
Gigwise
''Gigwise'' is a British online music news site featuring music news, photos, album reviews, music festivals, concert tickets and video content. Founded in June 2001, the site is based in London, England.
History
Gigwise was launched in 2001 in ...
'', who gave what they saw a mixed reception.
Background
Piri, who had learned
pole dancing
Pole dance combines dance and acrobatics centered around a vertical pole. This performance art form takes place not only in strip club, gentleman's clubs as a form of erotic dance, but also as a mainstream form of fitness, practiced in gyms and ...
while studying chemistry at
Lancaster University
Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...
,
met
Tommy Villiers
Thomas George Villiers is an English musician from Saffron Walden. After being introduced to dance music via his brother, he began producing drum and bass tracks and uploading them to SoundCloud. While at the Royal Northern College of Music, he ...
in 2020 just before the
second United Kingdom COVID-19 lockdown. They started calling each other 'froge' ()
as a nickname as Piri was in a phase of drawing frogs and toads.
In June 2021, the pair released "
Soft Spot", which went viral on
TikTok
TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...
and
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...
,
prompting
EMI
EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
to sign the pair, re-release the track,
and release "
Beachin" in January 2022 and "Words" in April 2022. They followed the last of these that month with a three-day tour which attracted stage invasions. The month after, Piri joined
Loud LDN
Loud LDN is a British collective of female and gender-expansive artists based in London. Formed in May 2022 by Coupdekat and Maisi as a WhatsApp group chat called Ladies Making Noise in London, the chat started off with ten members including P ...
, a collective of London-based women and genderqueer musicians founded by
Maisi and
Coupdekat.
Polydor Records
Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...
later signed them and released "
On & On"
in July 2022.
Contents
The tour was announced on 21 September 2022 alongside their debut project ''
Froge.mp3'',
which was released on 21 October. Directed by
Charlie Deakin Davies
Charlie Helen Deakin Davies (born 9 June 1995) is a British musician from Walkern. They have released two EPs; ''Green'' under the name DIDI and ''Dog Bowl'' under the name Charlieeeee. They have also co-written the Gary Barlow song "Let's Get D ...
,
sets included "Soft Spot",
"Beachin",
"Words",
"On & On",
album tracks "Slowly But Surely",
"Silver Lining",
"Settle",
and "Say It",
cover versions of
Chic
Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word.
Etymology
'' Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English dictionaries classified ...
's "
Everybody Dance" and
Crystal Waters
Crystal Waters (born November 19, 1961) is an American house music, house and dance music singer and songwriter, best known for her 1990s dance hits "Gypsy Woman (Crystal Waters song), Gypsy Woman", "100% Pure Love", and 2007's "Destination Cal ...
' "
Gypsy Woman",
and their unreleased tracks "
Updown", "
Nice 2 Me", and "See Saw".
Their Leeds gig featured green frogs, which were later stolen, and their Bodega gig included beach balls being thrown into the crowd.
Coupdekat was the support act for their
Komedia
Komedia is an arts and entertainment company which operates venues in the United Kingdom at Brighton and Bath, and a management and production company Komedia Entertainment. Beyond hosting live comedy, the venues also host music, cabaret, theat ...
gig, at which Piri & Tommy performed for 52 minutes. On-stage, Piri used a TC Helicon vocal effects processor, Tommy used two guitars, and the tour featured a live drummer.
Their
Scala gig was opened by
Maisi and featured
pole dancing
Pole dance combines dance and acrobatics centered around a vertical pole. This performance art form takes place not only in strip club, gentleman's clubs as a form of erotic dance, but also as a mainstream form of fitness, practiced in gyms and ...
.
Alex Rigotti of ''
Gigwise
''Gigwise'' is a British online music news site featuring music news, photos, album reviews, music festivals, concert tickets and video content. Founded in June 2001, the site is based in London, England.
History
Gigwise was launched in 2001 in ...
'', who attended that gig, noted that the band were "dressed exactly how you’d expect a Gen Z raver couple to dress", with Piri in "an orange halter top, short pink skirt, and chunky black trainers" and Tommy "in a white shirt, white cargo pants, and appropriately frog-green sunglasses".
In addition, that gig featured a guest spot from
Parthenope Parthenope ( ; ) may refer to:
* Parthenope (siren), one of the sirens in Greek mythology
People
* Parthenope (mythology), Parthenope, in Greek mythology, the daughter of Ancaeus (son of Poseidon), Ancaeus
* Frances Parthenope Verney, Parthenope ...
and was laid out with potted plants, a small Persian rug, and giant mushrooms, which Rigotti described as "evocative of your mate's cozy living room".
The final gig of the tour took place at
The Warehouse Project
The Warehouse Project is a series of club nights organised in Greater Manchester, England, since 2006. Unlike most other clubs, it has a limited seasonal approach rather than running all year. Each year's season runs from September through to N ...
,
and was part of a birthday party celebrating the anniversary of London-based promoter Eat Your Own Ears.
Reception and aftermath
Reviews for the tour were mixed. Izzy Morris of ''
LeftLion
''LeftLion'' is a monthly arts and culture magazine and website based in Nottingham, England. The publication takes its name from a stone statue in Nottingham's Old Market Square, also known colloquially as 'the left lion', which has served a ...
'', who reviewed their Bodega gig, wrote that it both "contained a feeling of relaxed, playful spontaneity" and maintained "a sense of polish and cohesivity that you wouldn't expect two so early in their careers to have cracked".
Alexis Petridis
Alexis Petridis (born 13 September 1971) is an English journalist. He is the head Rock music, rock and pop music critic for ''The Guardian'', and a regular contributor for ''GQ''. In addition to his music journalism for the paper, he has written ...
of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' described their
Komedia
Komedia is an arts and entertainment company which operates venues in the United Kingdom at Brighton and Bath, and a management and production company Komedia Entertainment. Beyond hosting live comedy, the venues also host music, cabaret, theat ...
gig as "appealingly wonky, homespun fun" and noted that the ravers at the front were "word-perfect and vociferous enough to occasionally drown the duo out", though felt that it occasionally felt "a little too toothsome for its own good". He also described the pair's cover of "Gypsy Woman" as "fluffy" but noted that the track lost "a distinct shard of toughness" through Piri's softer vocals.
Nick Lanazasoro of ''Brighton and Hove News'' was amazed to hear the crowd singing along to "Everybody Dance" on the grounds that their mothers would have danced to it decades earlier.
Rigotti wrote that Piri's pole dancing was "pretty decent" and "a nice alternative from a typical dance choreo"; however, they found the setup "almost a bit too on the nose – aesthetically, it's everything happening on TikTok with a hint of spice to set them apart". He also wrote that the stage banter was minimal and that Tommy was occasionally superfluous to proceedings.
Piri split up with him a week after their
Warehouse Project gig, with the pair releasing "Updown" in February 2023, reuniting as friends in April 2023,
and releasing "Nice 2 Me" the month after that.
Tour dates
References
{{Piri
2022 concert tours
Concert tours of the United Kingdom
November 2022 in the United Kingdom