Written by Leon Spiess + Photos by Jack Armstrong
Diva Cup! From Left – Addy Shae (Bass), Maggie Kempen (Drums), Polly Catharine (Vocals), Maxx Goodman (Guitar)
With a loud, boisterous and distinctly female punk sound, Boulder-based band Diva Cup performed at the Fox Theater on June 7th, and they brought the house down, period.
Diva Cup brought several opening acts with them to the Fox, including their long-time friends and collaborators Priority Queue and Citrus as well as Plastic Forearm. This was actually Priority Queue’s last show as two of the four band members had recently graduated and are moving on to different ventures. All bands were strong in their own rights, but were often juxtaposed with the sound of Diva Cup in their differing genres.
Guitarist Maxx Goodman goes along with the band’s “silly” stage presence
After the opening acts had concluded, Diva Cup played around 12 songs, including their most popular song, according to Spotify, Public Venmo Porn Girls. They also played Playground Biter, which had recently been rewritten for the Fox Theater performance. Each song had either a humorous or deeply personal meaning to it, sending the audience through the motions of the band members’ experiences. At one point, the band asked the audience if anyone used their namesake menstrual product, the Diva Cup, which they responded to with a thunderous cheer. The band also pointed out that the drummer of the band, Maggie, had her parents in the audience, which made the song about hating the person you were sleeping with more difficult to perform due to a sense of awkwardness, but they persevered just fine.
Maggie Kempen creates a red glow with her hair playing the drums
The Fox was an excellent venue for Diva Cup’s show; it’s intimate without being claustrophobic and manages to harness that down to earth punk feeling without being obnoxiously corporate about it.
Polly Catharine looks out at the Fox crowd mid-breath
All and all, Diva Cup’s show at the Fox showed that the band has a bright future in the punk genre, seeing as they were both able to land such an iconic Boulder venue and play a dynamite set full of charisma and character. It is a shame, though, that more of their music isn’t on Spotify. Their song 10.63, for example, feels like it was made for a streaming audience as everyone can relate to it. Diva Cup’s powerful performance could only lead to more packed house-shows and venues through the front range.
Uploaded 9:30pm, June 12 — Updated 2:14pm, June 13