Emilie Autumn @ The EsplanadeHotel, Melbourne (20/03/2010)

Sun 4th Apr, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Check out photos of Ms. Autumn from the night here

We were greeted at the Espy by a very long line, resembling a large crocodile, if it were dressed in an arrangement of corsetry, stripy socks and little hats. This motley mob were all trussed up and in costume, waiting to see their fashionable freakish queen, Emilie Autumn. I instantly develop total corset envy, a malady that is to stay with me all night.

You never quite know what to expect from an Emilie Autumn concert – but rest assured there was plenty of burlesque humour, vaudeville silliness, and saucy cabaret inclinations. Ms. Autumn is an Englishwoman who, a classically trained violinist since the age of four, found an interest in Victorian couture and inspiration from her dark exploits in drugs, sex, and her ‘asylum’, a world based on her stint in a mental institution, and on which she wrote a gothic novel. She also likes to dress in a range of lace corsetry and create outrageous stage shows, which are more in the realm of musical theatre than anything resembling your traditional gig-type format.

She hit the stage surrounded by a bevy of gorgeous ladies, eccentrics all. There was a pirate, a gun-freak, a lesbo-whore, and a ditzy little girl. These women were mostly employed in adding a level of vaudevillian glamour to the show, only rarely laying hands on an instrument. Emilie dabbled in both sides of the show however, playing keyboard and violin. Her music fluctuated between pretty gothic harpsichord-ridden pieces, to pumping industrial. She reveals the darker side of gender politics in Thank God I’m Pretty(her clothes may be Victorian, but her politics are firmly post-feminist). Then, Autumn shocks and entertains us towards the end with a stunning electric violin solo that leaves us all dumbfounded. I could have listened to another 2 hours of this, given a comfortable chair. She’d be quite something to see in concert, I’d imagine!

Songs were imbued with extra drama via a selection of circus-style acts and faux-burlesque comedy. Many of the skits and routines are pure cheeky sexy fun. The stage-set featured a shadow-play screen, topped by a bronzed rat with glowing eyes. There was tea-drinking from fine china for Four O’Clock, and a young woman’s girl-pashing virginity is stolen away by Veronica, Emilie’s sexy protege, in another. The height of this showmanship had to be during Dead is the New Alive, which was given an electrifying edge via the use of flaming hoops and fire sticks, twirled in the narrow confines of a crowded Gershwin stage.

Other such follies included umbrella-twirling, flowers, and plenty of water-spouting, and even cookie-spewing madness The show was a flurry of activity, which was a good thing because, at 2 ½ hours, there were many aching in their heels and borderline fainting in the stuffy heat. Perhaps the show was a little long. But you’ll never see anything like it this side of Gotham anytime soon.