Ashnikko mesmerizes crowds at Nashville concert, brings spooky pop-punk energy

Ashnikko transported her sold-out concert at Nashville's Marathon Music Works to a spooky, feminist utopia of sexual liberation and energetic, spine-chilling pop music. The blue-haired pansexual artist is well-known for her certified-Platinum hit "STUPID" (feat. Baby Tate) and song "Daisy."

The queen of both Halloween and social media virality, Ashnikko, born Ashton Nicole Casey, is an American singer, songwriter, rapper and model. Ashnikko was raised in North Carolina, but spent time in Estonia and Latvia growing up.

Opener Tommy Genesis took the stage first, a pop artist known for song "Angelina," which Lana Del Rey sampled in her 2023 song "Peppers," featuring Genesis. Then, Ashnikko began her set, marching onto stage with two backup dancers in tow.

Ashnikko's stop in Nashville was a fast-paced circus of enthralling rap lyrics, energetic dance and charismatic storytelling monologues. And the effect? Fans wondering how Ashnikko can do it all, all the while summoning her outlandish imagination to bring the audience into a topsy-turvy, unfiltered world.

If you aren't familiar with Ashnikko, think of Doja Cat's quippy, bold rap lyrics and Grimes' futuristic electro-pop, alongside Ke$ha's edginess, Kim Petras' pulsing beats, and Billie Eilish's emo pop genre-experimentation. It's difficult to sum up everything Ashnikko contains; her songs range from bubblegum pop to punk rock.

After "STUPID" went viral on TikTok, Ashnikko amassed an impressive fanbase and released debut album "Demidevil" in 2021 and released her sophomore album "Weedkiller" on Aug. 25. Ashnikko's "Weedkiller Tour" brings her to Nashville, performing the album's hits "Worms," "You Make me Sick!" and "Cheerleader."

Ashnikko is well-known for her LGBTQ+ pride, infusing her sexuality into her music. Song "Slumber Party" captures a steamy relationship with a taken woman and became an iconic unfiltered song in the LGBTQ+ community. On the other end of the spectrum, song "Dying Star" takes a softer look at relationships, as Ashnikko reminds herself that at the end of the day, she deserves a gentle, kind love.

With impressive choreography and energy, Ashnikko mesmerized fans with her unpredictable and fascinating artistry, leaving the audience to guess her every next move.

Here are the evening's highlights.

Performance of song 'STUPID'

A fan favorite, "STUPID" came early in the evening as the second song on the set list. The song captures an angst and anger stemming from relationships, leaving Ashnikko to declare that she doesn't need a stupid boy, and she knows that she is on his mind more than he is on hers.

Ashnikko's choreography was intense and upbeat, matching her pulsing pop beats, with her and her backup dancers barely taking a moment for rest. Ashnikko gyrated her hips, shot out her arms and twitched her body, alternating between flowing movements and angular, sharp motions. Ashnikko proved her own, showing she isn't just a rapper and singer, she's quite the dancer as well.

"Stupid boy think that I need him / I go red hot like a demon / I go ghost for no damn reason / Stupid boy think that I need him," Ashnikko chanted with her audience.

Ashnikko's Feminist Messages

Ashnikko is outspoken about her feminist beliefs and political ideologies, all the while opening up about her sexuality and her passion for women's rights through her music.

In her song "Working B****," Ashnikko rapped that boys will always be second to her career, proudly proclaiming the chorus, "'Cause I do well for myself / Nothing you do is extraordinary / Taxing on my mental health / And my last boyfriend was cautionary." Prancing around the stage, Ashnikko and her backup dancers hit muscular poses, emphasizing the song's feminist takeaways.

Later in the evening, Ashnikko played her 2018 song "Invitation," another outwardly expressive song about bodily autonomy. Addressing the crowd, she said, "When I first started writing music, it all began kind of as love letters and reminders to myself." Ashnikko commented that she's an eldest sibling and had to teach herself a lot of lessons. "And I feel like the hardest lesson for me to learn was how to say no."

"No one deserves access to this garden that I have planted unless I open the gates and I say so," she said. A lot of her music, Ashnikko added, is still about maintaining and cultivating love for herself.

During the song, Ashnikko hit the stage alone, singing passionately, "I can't even wear my skin / Without them asking where I've been / Without them asking for a spin / This is not an invitation."

In song "Possession of a Weapon," Ashnikko reflects on the overturning of Roe v. Wade, crying, "It's just flesh /I can be grotesque, move my body like chess," as she moved in tandem with her backup dancers, slinking across the stage, yellow lights flashing around her.

Ashnikko's set contained many songs that reflected her outlook on life, femininity, ethics and the environment—reminding her audience that art is a form of powerful activism.

Halloween Medley

"Ghouls, goblins, witches, little Grimmy-Reap, my pumpkin spice hotties...what time of year is it?" Ashnikko asked the crowd. In response, the audience yelled, "Halloween!"

The self-proclaimed Queen of Halloween, Ashnikko released four different Halloween themed songs four years in a row from 2018 to 2021, aptly titled "Halloweenie," and "Halloweenie II, III, and IV." As the ghoulish season descends, Ashnikko is all around us. Just last week, fast food chain Sonic used an instrumental version of one of her Halloween songs in an advertisement for Halloween treats.

This evening, she combined all four spooky songs into a medley, summoning apparitions through her spirited performance. Ashnikko truly shined on the fourth iteration of the song from 2021, with haunted lyrics reminiscent of Neil Gaimon and Stephen King's storytelling.

"I'm an entity, an apparition looking for a host / I'm darkness's scary sister, dissipate like smoke," Ashnikko sang, continuing later, "Zipper down the side of my face / Spider eggs in my brain / Aye, aye, aye / Three times, say my name." Her two backup dancers wore white ghostly masks with protruding edges, evoking a spine-tingling, eerie feeling in the audience.

'Daisy' as the encore

Ashnikko closed out the night with her wildly popular and seductive track "Daisy." Ashnikko filled the entirety of Marathon Music Works with vibrating, powerful bass, permeating into the building's structure. The lights flashed blue, pink and white as Ashnikko and her dancers hit crisp, angular choreography with perfect execution.

The crowd, anticipating the song the entire show, sang along with every lyric, "I'm crazy, but you like that, I bite back / Daisies on your nightstand, never forget it." The female-empowerment present in the song and space was palpable, as Ashnikko sang, "F*** a princess, I'm a king / Bow down and kiss on my ring."

Ashnikko Nashville Set List

• You Make me Sick!

• STUPID

• Working B****

• Don't Look at It

• Super Soaker

• Slumber Party

• Dying Star

• Invitation

• Worms

• Cry

• Chokehold Cherry Python

• Tantrum

• Cheerleader

• Manners

• Halloween I / Halloween II / Halloween III / Halloween IV

• Possession of a Weapon

• WEEDKILLER

• Daisy

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Ashnikko mesmerizes Nashville crowd with spooky pop-punk energy