Mannequin Pussy and Show Pony - Live In Winnipeg, MB
Winnipeg finally got its first taste of Mannequin Pussy on September 13, 2026, when the Philadelphia punk outfit made their long-awaited city debut at the Burton Cummings Theatre. The show came on an unusual off day from the band's Western Canadian run supporting Foo Fighters—a tour that otherwise skipped Winnipeg entirely—giving local fans a chance to catch one of punk's most exciting modern acts in a much more intimate setting and more songs than they'd have heard on an opening set.
Show Pony. All photos by Samuel Stevens.
Opening the night was Winnipeg's own Show Pony, who wasted little time establishing the evening's energetic tone. Their set moved comfortably between sharp-edged punk, melodic rock, and emotionally charged songwriting, making for a fitting introduction to what would become an increasingly raucous night.
The band opened with "Dead and Gone" before moving through "Charlie" and "Bleed." "Makes No Difference" and "Lightning" kept the momentum moving, while "On One" provided another opportunity for the band to show off its ability to balance immediacy with melody. "Superstar" and "You Just Know" rounded out the set, leaving the audience warmed up and ready for the headliners. Then came Mannequin Pussy, and for a band playing Winnipeg for the first time, there was no sense of hesitation. From the opening notes of "Softly," the group immediately commanded the Burton Cummings Theatre, delivering the kind of visceral performance that makes punk and hardcore so compelling in a live environment.
"Drunk II" and "Control" pushed the energy higher, while "Sometimes" and "Nothing Like" demonstrated the band's knack for shifting between vulnerability and explosive intensity without losing the audience along the way. The contrast became one of the defining characteristics of the performance: moments of melody and emotional openness could give way to sheer volume and aggression in an instant.
"Split Me Open" and "I Don't Know You" kept the set moving at a relentless pace before "I Got Heaven" arrived as one of the night's major highlights. The song's mixture of ferocity, melody, and catharsis translated particularly well to the live setting, with the audience responding in kind.
Mannequin Pussy. All photos by Samuel Stevens.
The band continued through tracks "Cream," "Material Gains," and "Everything," maintaining an impressive balance between older material and songs from the band's more recent catalogue. "Kiss" and "Of Her" brought another change in emotional texture before "Aching" once again turned the room into an outlet for catharsis.
By the time "OK? OK! OK? OK!" arrived, the performance had become an all-out celebration of everything that makes Mannequin Pussy work: punk's immediacy, indie rock's physicality, and the emotional honesty of a band that isn't afraid to let its songs become messy, loud and deeply personal.
"Pigs Is Pigs" and "Romantic" kept the intensity high as the set approached its conclusion. The band closed with "Loud Bark," sending the Burton Cummings Theatre out on a suitably explosive note.
What made the evening particularly memorable wasn't simply that Mannequin Pussy played Winnipeg for the first time. It was the circumstances surrounding the performance. A band passing through Western Canada with one of the world's biggest rock acts could have easily left Winnipeg off the itinerary, especially with no Foo Fighters date scheduled here. Instead, the off-day performance gave Winnipeg fans an opportunity that would otherwise have been missing entirely.
The result was a show that felt less like a stop on a massive stadium tour and more like a proper punk gig: loud, immediate, unpredictable, and intensely communal.
For their first Winnipeg appearance, Mannequin Pussy didn't need a massive production or a huge stadium-sized stage to make an impression. They simply needed a room full of people ready to get loud—and on September 13, the Burton Cummings Theatre provided exactly that.
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