MOTHICA Brings Emo Butterflies and Hard Truths to the Chin Up, Beautiful Tour, Phoenix, AZ 8/11/26

Last week, MOTHICA arrived in Phoenix, Arizona, for opening night of the Chin Up, Beautiful Tour as a supporting act for headliner, JUTES. By the time she walked offstage, she had done far more than warm up the room—she had turned a 30-minute set into an emotional journey of finding something worth staying for.

A self-made artist whose sound refuses to fit neatly into a single box, MOTHICA blends elements of rock, nu-metal, and dark pop into something distinctly her own. She has been producing music since her teenage years, reaching a massive audience in June 2020 when her breakout single "VICES" went viral. Since then, she has built a loyal fanbase around music that confronts difficult life experiences without softening their edges.

As the house lights dimmed, an introductory voice came over the speakers welcoming the audience and claiming them as her own before MOTHICA even stepped foot on stage. Launching straight into the second verse of "Somewhere in Between"—the title track off her recent EP—she made her entrance. Opening low and confident with the line, "Like a moth to the flame, heavy the rot in my veins," she instantly pulled the crowd into her nocturnal world without missing a beat.

"Phoenix, Arizona! This is one of my favorite cities to play," she announced, before breaking into the story of how the band almost didn't make it to the show at all.

The previous night, MOTHICA explained, her team had been stranded at an AutoZone for eight hours—until a random stranger pulled up to save the day. The mechanic had only one request in exchange for fixing the vehicle: could MOTHICA convince his wife he really was helping a band at an AutoZone?

The crowd erupted in laughter.

Their ordeal getting to the opening show wasn't over though, as they spent four hours driving through a 1:00 a.m. thunderstorm. "But that will not keep me from playing a show for all of you," MOTHICA declared to a roaring crowd. Admitting the series of events was "a bit of a buzzkill," she used the story as the perfect segue into her hit song of the same name.

MOTHICA encouraged fans to sing a long to the chorus of "BUZZKILL," turning it into one of the night's first major connection points. Capitalizing on the room's increasing energy, MOTHICA asked, "Are there any Bring Me the Horizon fans here?" Following an emphatic shout from the crowd, her cover of "Can You Feel My Heart" pushed the venue's momentum into high gear, giving attendees a familiar anthem to grab onto.

Shifting back to her original music, MOTHICA shouted out a fan in the front row who had been passionately screaming every lyric since the intro. She asked the room how many "MOTHICORP" employees were in attendance—a corporate-satire nickname she recently adopted for her fanbase ahead of her upcoming album. (The dedicated front-row fan was undoubtedly one, having picked up the exclusive MOTHICORP tote bag, notepad, and pen set available at the pre-show VIP session).

"This song is why I'm single," she joked as a lead-in to her next track. "This song is 'WEAPON.'"

"WEAPON" perfectly encapsulates MOTHICA’s hybrid sound, blending heavy rock riffs with gospel choir backing vocals. The live performance included the recording’s audio of a gun loading—a detail that somehow fits the track’s arrangement seamlessly and drew excited cheers from the crowd.

As the song ended, MOTHICA paused to interact with the venue once more, asking who had seen her perform before. Recognizing the small group of 15 fans she had met during VIP hours, she laughed before offering a "secret third option" for anyone who simply didn't know who the fuck she was.

Taking a moment to formally introduce herself, she explained the origin of her moniker, joking that she wasn't cool enough for it to be her real name. "I like moths because they're kind of like emo butterflies," she shared. "They're nocturnal, and they're attracted to the one thing that can kill them. And, uh... same."

The laughter that followed quickly gave way to something much heavier.

"When I was thirteen years old, I was diagnosed with clinical depression, anxiety, ADHD—"

She was cut off by a sudden wave of cheers from the crowd. To an outsider, the enthusiastic response to a list of diagnoses might have felt unexpected, but for her and headliner JUTES’ fans, the moment resonated deeply.

"—and, haha, we have some Zoloft enjoyers in here," she added with a chuckle, drawing more laughter and applause from the audience. "And from that age, I started thinking that something was wrong with me. So I started looking for things that made me feel different. I started drinking Fireball, smoking weed in Hot Topic parking lots, hurting myself, hurting my family—"

A heavy, respectful silence fell over the room as fans appeared to reflect on their own lives, with a few audience members softly shouting "no" as she paused.

"I would do fucking anything to not be born in the skin I was in, and I didn't know why.” she admitted, laying bare the trauma of her youth before holding back the specifics: "I went through things a kid should never go through..." 

The room had changed.

The previously energetic crowd became almost completely silent as she described reaching a point in her teenage years where she believed her life was already over before it had truly begun—she had attempted to take her own life. But, “Obviously I failed!” she said as the Phoenix crowd erupted in support. 

MOTHICA continued by describing the experiences she has had in the bonus time since then: traveling the world, playing Wembley Arena, adopting a dog, falling in love, getting “a few” tattoos, and—on this particular night—playing with JUTES in Phoenix.

Her speech recounted the feeling of being doomed and she announced “We have NEVER performed this song before.”

Speaking as someone who has leaned heavily on MOTHICA’s music—and who found a lifeline in her album Kissing Death right when I needed it—this night felt almost surreal. After three years of circumstances preventing me, I was convinced I was somehow doomed when it came to seeing her live.

That speech, followed immediately by the live debut of "Doomed," (off of Kissing Death) shattered any remaining distance, “punctured my skin, [and] pulled me apart”. Tears came fast as her words echoed through the venue.

She kept the room in that vulnerable space, pausing to speak directly to the handful of fans from the pre-show VIP session directly after. She dedicated her next song, an unreleased one, "Stay" to those fifteen people, specifically one VIP attendee who had admitted to her a suicide attempt just two weeks prior—only to decide, after hearing MOTHICA's own journey, "Fuck it, I'll stay."

"Stay" fits effortlessly alongside her recent work, carrying the pulse of the Somewhere in Between EP. If it's a preview of what's coming on her next album, fans are in for something truly special.

Bringing the room back up from the depths of her confessions, MOTHICA ended her set on a high-octane high note with "Evergreen Misery" and her breakout hit, "SENSITIVE."

In doing so, she accomplished what so few supporting acts manage to do: she didn't just play to the crowd; she unified them. Her honesty created a natural bridge into the ethos of the Chin Up Beautiful tour, turning an opening slot into a shared sanctuary of catharsis and humor. 

If you have tickets to an upcoming show, do yourself a favor and get there when doors open—you won't want to miss a second of this.

A disastrous road trip marked by thunderstorms, breakdowns, and raw chicken couldn't stop what happened in Phoenix. MOTHICA stepped onto that stage despite the chaos and ensured no one in attendance walked out feeling isolated. As she continues to chart her journey through healing, growth, and survival, PUNK PULSE MEDIA leaves her and her fans with a simple reminder:

Keep your chin up, little moth.