Ryan Murray | Co-Owner | Chief Editor | Contributor | Photographer

r.m.music84@gmail.com

There are certain bands whose journey you find yourself following a little more closely than others. For me, PLUSH is one of those bands. I’ve been following their rise for quite some time, watching them grow from an exciting young hard rock act into one of the most formidable forces in modern rock. I first had the opportunity to cover PLUSH in 2023, when they opened for Evanescence, and getting the chance to photograph them again several years later at The Ellis in Newburgh gave me an opportunity to see just how much they’ve evolved.

They’ve evolved. A LOT.

I was especially excited for this show because of that history, but there was another band on the bill I had been looking forward to seeing for a different reason. I first discovered Major Moment on social media late last year and had been following their music ever since, so finally getting the opportunity to experience them live was something I was genuinely excited about. With local-area cover band Misfit Toys and the dark, atmospheric Mama Doom rounding out the bill, the night offered four very different interpretations of rock and metal before PLUSH ultimately took the stage and dominated the room.

MISFIT TOYS — MAKING THE FAMILIAR THEIR OWN

Opening the night was Misfit Toys, a cover band from the local Newburgh area. I’ve seen plenty of cover bands over the years, and one thing that can sometimes be missing is a recognizable identity of their own. There’s a fine line between honoring the original material and simply attempting to recreate it note for note, and I’ve always found the bands that put their own personality into the songs far more interesting.

Misfit Toys immediately fell into that latter category.

Their setlist covered an impressive amount of ground, moving from Hole’s “Celebrity Skin” and Tracy Bonham’s “Mother Mother” to Jane’s Addiction’s “Mountain Song,” Van Halen’s “Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love,” Heart’s “Magic Man,” and Soundgarden’s “Slaves and Bulldozers.” That is an eclectic collection of material, but rather than changing their entire identity to match each artist, Misfit Toys maintained a consistency throughout their set that made the songs feel like their own interpretations.

That was one of the first things I noticed from the photo pit. There was a natural chemistry between the members, and they seemed genuinely comfortable playing together. Their performance had enough looseness to feel spontaneous while remaining musically tight, and that allowed their personalities to come through.

For me, that is what separates a memorable cover band from one that simply performs recognizable songs. You should be able to hear where the songs came from while still hearing the band performing them. Misfit Toys accomplished that, and they were a fun way to get the evening underway.

MAMA DOOM — CREATING THEIR OWN WORLD

Following Misfit Toys was Mama Doom, a three-piece that brought an entirely different atmosphere into The Ellis.

Calling Mama Doom simply a doom band doesn’t really capture what makes them interesting. There is certainly weight and darkness in their music, but there is also an oddly infectious quality running underneath it. Their sound incorporates a hypnotic, almost psychedelic quality that makes the heaviness feel immersive rather than simply crushing.

The aesthetic is an important part of that experience. Mama Doom have created a world around their music, and their visual presentation, stage presence, and interaction with one another all contribute to that feeling. Watching them perform felt less like watching a band simply move through a setlist and more like stepping into a space they had constructed specifically for the audience.

Their set included Ring the Bell, Blood Moon, Bleeding Garden, Nightshade, and Woven Linen, among others, with each song contributing another layer to the atmosphere. I found myself particularly drawn to the chemistry between the three members and the way they were able to create such a full sound with a relatively small lineup.

There was something strangely inviting about the darkness of Mama Doom’s performance. The music was heavy, but it was never monotonous, and the combination of groove, atmosphere, and their distinctive aesthetic made them one of the more memorable openers I’ve photographed recently.

MAJOR MOMENT — A BAND READY FOR THE NEXT LEVEL

Then came Major Moment, the band I had been looking forward to seeing almost as much as PLUSH.

I first discovered them on social media late last year, and since then I’ve watched them continue to build an impressive catalog and audience. Their current numbers are a pretty good indication of the momentum behind them, with the band averaging more than 118,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and accumulating millions of streams across digital platforms. Promises has surpassed 1.3 million Spotify streams, The Flood has passed 1.9 million, and Not That Broken has already amassed more than 406,000 streams in just five months.

Those numbers are impressive, but the real test is always what happens when the band steps onto a stage.

Major Moment passed that test with flying colors.

The band occupies a compelling space between alternative metal, modern hard rock, and pop-metal, combining heavy guitars and drums with enormous melodies and an impressive balance between clean and harsh vocals. At the center of that sound are Sasha and Andrey, whose chemistry was immediately apparent.

Their vocal interplay is one of Major Moment’s greatest strengths. Sasha’s clean vocals can soar above the music before Andrey’s harsher delivery comes crashing in, creating a dramatic contrast that gives the songs a tremendous amount of dynamic range. The guitars and drums then fill out the rest of the sound, turning what could potentially be a relatively straightforward arrangement into something considerably larger live.

With Owen on touring guitar and Spencer filling in on touring drums, the entire lineup was locked together. Both touring members sounded completely at home alongside Sasha and Andrey, and the additional instrumentation made an already heavy band sound even bigger.

Their set included Toxic, Overcome, Lunacy, Blame the Fate, You’ll Never Know, Victim, The Flood, Dead, Promises, and Not That Broken.

One of my favorite moments came when Sasha decided the stage simply wasn’t enough space for her. She came down into the crowd during the set, singing while interacting directly with fans. What made the moment particularly effective was that it didn’t feel forced or like a predetermined piece of stage choreography. It felt completely natural, as though she genuinely wanted to be in the middle of the people who had come out to see the band.

As someone who spends a lot of time photographing live performances, those are the moments I love most. When an artist forgets about the camera, forgets about what they’re supposed to be doing, and simply becomes immersed in the performance, you can feel the difference.

Major Moment have the songs, the musicianship, the chemistry, and the stage presence to make a significant jump to larger venues. After finally seeing them live, I understand why their audience is growing so quickly. If you’re sleeping on Major Moment, it’s time to wake up.

PLUSH — A BAND THAT HAS GROWN INTO ITS POWER

By the time the lights went down for PLUSH, the room was ready. For me, this was the moment I had been anticipating most. Having covered the band when they opened for Evanescence in 2023, I was genuinely excited to see them again and find out what several years of growth, touring, songwriting, and experience had done to their live performance.

The answer became obvious almost immediately.

PLUSH sounded enormous.

Now consisting of Moriah Formica on guitar and vocals, Ashley Suppa on bass, and Faith Powell on drums, the band has developed into an incredibly powerful three-piece. Their history of touring alongside artists such as Evanescence, Disturbed, The Offspring, and other major acts has clearly helped them develop the confidence and command necessary to headline a room of their own. What struck me most was how naturally that experience translated to The Ellis. They weren’t performing like a band that had simply graduated from opening slots; they carried themselves like a headliner who knew exactly how to command the room.

Moriah’s voice is one of the band’s defining characteristics. Live, her vocals have a power that is difficult to fully appreciate until you experience them in person. Her piercing highs, powerful belts, aggressive delivery, and unmistakable grit give PLUSH a vocal identity that cuts through the rest of the instrumentation. There’s also a remarkable amount of control behind that aggression. She can move from soaring melodic passages into a gritty, forceful delivery without losing the emotional character of the performance, and that contrast becomes particularly effective when the band shifts into its heavier material.

Faith Powell is equally commanding behind the kit. Since joining PLUSH in 2022, she has become an integral part of the band’s sound and identity, and watching her perform live makes it easy to understand why. Her playing carries an enormous amount of physical energy, and that energy translates directly into the room. Even in a relatively intimate venue like The Ellis, Faith performed with the kind of intensity that feels built for much larger stages. There’s an unmistakable physicality to the way she plays, and you can see that energy ripple through the rest of the band.

Ashley Suppa provides the foundation that allows the other pieces to hit as hard as they do. Her bass work gives the trio the weight necessary to create such a massive sound with only three musicians, while her chemistry with Moriah and Faith reinforces just how cohesive this current lineup has become. That chemistry is something I also noticed during our interview before the show; there’s a genuine sense of friendship and familiarity between the three that carries over naturally into their performance.

And, of course, we had plenty of fun with that chemistry during the interview. When I asked the band who their biggest chaos agent was, Moriah and Faith didn’t even hesitate before throwing Ashley completely under the bus. 😂 It was one of those moments that perfectly captured the personalities behind the performance, and it became one of my favorite parts of the conversation.

But beneath the laughs, our conversation also gave me a much better understanding of what PLUSH are doing with their upcoming album, Mass Hysteria.

The band has been leaning further into the more aggressive emotional side of their songwriting, taking built-up emotions and turning them into something much heavier and more visceral. Rather than simply making the new material heavier for the sake of heaviness, there’s a sense that the aggression is being used as an outlet for frustration, anger, vulnerability, and everything that can build up beneath the surface.

That emotional evolution was evident throughout the set.

PLUSH opened with Champion before moving through Athena, Left Behind, Hope It Hurts, Run, Found a Way, Why Do I Even Try, Why, Sober, Kill the Noise, Bring Me Down, Walk Away, and Better Off Alone. The pacing allowed the band to move between some of their more established material and the newer songs without making the performance feel like a showcase for the upcoming album.

Instead, the new material was woven naturally into the set.

Mass Hysteria made its live debut later in the performance, giving the Newburgh crowd an early taste of the title track and the heavier direction of the forthcoming record. After that, the band continued through Where Is My Mind before eventually bringing out Severance. The latter was particularly significant because it was written by Ashley and gives her the opportunity to take lead vocals. Hearing Ashley step into that role on a song she wrote herself added another dimension to the performance and showcased a side of PLUSH that audiences may not have experienced as prominently before.

The band then continued through I Don’t Care and Will Not Win before eventually reaching another major moment with the live debut of Animalistic. Rather than presenting all of the new material together, PLUSH strategically worked the newer songs throughout the set, allowing each one to stand on its own while still giving the audience a sense of how Mass Hysteria fits into the broader evolution of the band.

And Animalistic, in particular, feels like an appropriate representation of that evolution. There’s an intensity to the song that reflects the emotional explosion the band has been describing when discussing the new record. It feels like tension finally reaching its breaking point, and hearing it performed live gave me an even clearer sense of why PLUSH have described this chapter as heavier and more aggressive.

The complete setlist included Champion, Athena, Left Behind, Hope It Hurts, Run, Found a Way, Why Do I Even Try, Why, Sober, Kill the Noise, Bring Me Down, Walk Away, Better Off Alone, Mass Hysteria (live debut), Where Is My Mind, Severance, I Don’t Care, Will Not Win, and Animalistic (live debut), before the band returned for an encore of Hate.

With Mass Hysteria and Animalistic making their live debuts at The Ellis, alongside the newer Where Is My Mind and Ashley’s lead-vocal performance on Severance, the set felt like more than a look back at PLUSH’s catalog. It was a glimpse into where the band is heading next.

What impressed me most was that the heavier direction doesn’t come at the expense of what already makes PLUSH work. The melodies are still there. The vocal hooks are still there. The enormous choruses are still there. But there’s a greater sense of urgency underneath everything, and that makes the new material feel like a natural progression rather than a complete departure.

Watching PLUSH again after three years also gave me a unique perspective on just how much they’ve grown. When I photographed them opening for Evanescence in 2023, the potential was obvious. At The Ellis, that potential felt much closer to being fully realized.

They have the songs, the musicianship, the chemistry, and now the experience to command a room on their own terms. Moriah, Ashley, and Faith have developed into a remarkably cohesive three-piece, and if Mass Hysteria delivers on the promise of what I heard live, this could be the record that pushes PLUSH into an even bigger chapter of their career.