Emilie Autumn @ The Factory Theatre, Sydney (30/03/2013)
You never know what to expect from an Emilie Autumn concert until you’ve been to one. But even the title is misleading: it’s not a concert but a performance. And not only does she perform; she entertains as well.
Emilie emits this steampunk Victorian vibe. She mixed indulgence and sexiness with elegance and beauty – this was the would-be world of Dorian Grey. It seriously felt like I was in some other dimension and I loved every minute of it.
There are props on the stage, weird music, and something pretty much for everyone. Emilie is very much for the “femme fatale” for the ladies, showing that sexiness comes in confidence and elegance. Most of the songs are directed in that angle as well as her book that doubles as the name of her fan base: the Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls. And for the men? There was a lot of teasing going on, namely girl-on-girl action, which was so tantalizingly hot I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of audience members turned lesbian for the night.
Her show was visually mesmerizing. It went from playful to sexy to sad to dark to triumphant and pretty much everything in between. At one point there was a giant dark “thing” on stilts equipped with a venetian-style cross black plague mask. At another, one of her dancers treated the audience to a flirtatious and rather artistic dance with ostrich feathers. This, for me, was the very essence of Emilie Autumn. You had beauty and sinisterness back to back: a reflection of Emilie’s own battle with bipolar disorder.
The main lady herself was nothing short of amazing. She constantly reached out to the audience as if needing to touch them. You could see her love and affection that she had for her audience in her body language and the crowd loved her back just as much. Her imperfect personality made it impossible to be distracted; it was somewhat inspiring to see her finally embrace her “diseased mind”, as she put it.
Artful, beautiful, entertaining. Three words that don’t even begin to touch on the delight that was Emilie Autumn’s return to Australia.
Olivia Fusca
Emilie emits this steampunk Victorian vibe. She mixed indulgence and sexiness with elegance and beauty – this was the would-be world of Dorian Grey. It seriously felt like I was in some other dimension and I loved every minute of it.
There are props on the stage, weird music, and something pretty much for everyone. Emilie is very much for the “femme fatale” for the ladies, showing that sexiness comes in confidence and elegance. Most of the songs are directed in that angle as well as her book that doubles as the name of her fan base: the Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls. And for the men? There was a lot of teasing going on, namely girl-on-girl action, which was so tantalizingly hot I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of audience members turned lesbian for the night.
Her show was visually mesmerizing. It went from playful to sexy to sad to dark to triumphant and pretty much everything in between. At one point there was a giant dark “thing” on stilts equipped with a venetian-style cross black plague mask. At another, one of her dancers treated the audience to a flirtatious and rather artistic dance with ostrich feathers. This, for me, was the very essence of Emilie Autumn. You had beauty and sinisterness back to back: a reflection of Emilie’s own battle with bipolar disorder.
The main lady herself was nothing short of amazing. She constantly reached out to the audience as if needing to touch them. You could see her love and affection that she had for her audience in her body language and the crowd loved her back just as much. Her imperfect personality made it impossible to be distracted; it was somewhat inspiring to see her finally embrace her “diseased mind”, as she put it.
Artful, beautiful, entertaining. Three words that don’t even begin to touch on the delight that was Emilie Autumn’s return to Australia.
Olivia Fusca