Froge.tour

Froge.tour is a nine-date tour by English drum and bass group Piri & Tommy. The tour began on 2 November 2022 at Belgrave Music Hall and ended on 19 November 2022 at The Warehouse Project. Released to promote their mixtape Froge.mp3, the tour was performed to mixed critical reception.

Background
Piri met Tommy Villiers in 2020; at the time, Piri was in a phase of drawing frogs and toads, and they started calling each other 'froge' as a nickname. She released a solo single produced by Villiers in 2021, "Soft Spot", which went viral on TikTok and Spotify, prompting EMI to sign the pair, and re-release "Soft Spot" under the name "Piri & Tommy Villiers" and release "Beachin" and "Words" as Piri & Tommy. Polydor Records later signed them and released "On & On". On 21 September 2022, it was announced that they would release their début album Froge.mp3, which they promoted with a nine-date tour.

Repertoire, tour personnel and equipment
Gigwise's review of their Scala gig noted that "[Piri & Tommy we]re dressed exactly how you’d expect a Gen Z raver couple to dress: Piri’s come out on an orange halter top, short pink skirt, and chunky black trainers[, ...] Tommy’s in a white shirt, white cargo pants, and appropriately frog-green sunglasses", and that "Scala's stage [wa]s replete with potted plants, a small Persian rug, [...] giant mushrooms[, ...] and a stripper pole for Piri"; Piri had learned pole dancing while studying chemistry at Lancaster University. Their performances also contained beach balls and green frogs, the latter of which were stolen after their Leeds gig. In addition, their Scala gig featured a guest spot from Parthenope, their Bodega gig featured Maisi as a support act, and their Komedia gig featured Coupdekat as a support act.

Their Komedia gig lasted for 52 minutes; The Guardian's review of said gig noted that "[a]t the front of the stage, the crowd [we]re word-perfect and vociferous enough to occasionally drown the duo out". The tour was directed by musical director Charlie Deakin Davies. On-stage, Piri used a TC Helicon vocal effects processor, Tommy used two guitars, and the tour featured a live drummer.

Set list
Sets included "Soft Spot", "Beachin", "Words", "On & On", album tracks "Slowly But Surely", "Silver Lining", "Settle", and "Say It", cover versions of Chic's "Everybody Dance" and Crystal Waters' "Gypsy Woman", future singles "Updown" and "Nice 2 Me", and "See Saw".

Critical reception
Reviews for the tour were mixed. Reviewing the Scala gig, Gigwise described the setup as "evocative of your mate's cozy living room", and that "Piri’s pole dancing [...] is pretty decent, and elicits a wild cheer from the crowd – it’s 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". LeftLion, on the other hand, noted that their Bodega "set simultaneously contained a feeling of relaxed, playful spontaneity while at the same time maintaining a sense of polish and cohesivity that you wouldn't expect two so early in their careers to have cracked". The Guardian described their Komedia gig as "appealingly wonky, homespun fun", but noted that "there are moments when it can all feel a little too toothsome for its own good"; it also described the pair's cover of "Gypsy Woman" as "fluffy", but noted that "a distinct shard of toughness [wa]s lost in the shift from Waters’ hard-edged vocal to [Piri]’s soft coo". Brighton and Hove News complimented their cover of "Everybody Dance", noting that it "[wa]s truly amazing to hear the young crowd singing along to a tune their mums would have danced to decades ago".