Strolling in with time to spare or so I thought only to see the show had already started! A headline act on by 8 of the o’clock, witchcraft I say, as it turned out this was really only the beginning of a uniquely individual show.

EMILIE AUTUMN and her troop of Bloody Crumpets take you willing or not through the insanity of the Asylum. Second song in ‘Opheliac’, its harpsichord intro purposefully put’s you off guard for the ear splitting chorus and harsh industrial dance percussion thrown together to assault the senses, while the stage is turned into a grand bizarre by the Bloody Crumpets.

In between each song there is plenty of time left for EA, as seems to be her preferred moniker, to whimsy about her plight whist being continually interrupted by her fellow sufferers. In places I have to admit I did get lost in the crowd banter, as it seems their are more than a few “in” jokes that won’t make much sense to the uninitiated. I guess I’ll go to my death bed never knowing what happened to Suffer the Bear I and II.

The crowd, I mean plague rats, were determined to become part of the show talking with EA at every opportunity between songs and singing along to every word of ‘Dead Is the New Alive’ and ‘Misery Loves Company’ with the latter leaving a few sore throats in the morning I’d wager.

An undercurrent of subtle and sometimes blatant sexual innuendo between EA and the naughty Veronica provides a constant source of gags to keep the crowd chuckling along, culminating in the bizarre phenomenon that is “The Rat Game”.

My ears did not deceive me as I heard the start to QUEEN’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, which just seems to fit perfectly with the show. EA gives the vocals her all and with her electric violin replacing Brian May’s guitar solo it made for memorable adaptation. Ending the night with ‘Thank god I’m pretty’, dripping with sarcasm and dark humour that typifies a EA show.

My final attempt to describe an EMILIE AUTUMN show would be to imagine the theatrical flair for the dramatic of ALICE COOPER crossed with the CRUXSHADOW’S energy of performance and the sheer lunacy of DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER and that still doesn’t do it justice. All I can say is I haven’t seen anything that is even close, too much to convey in two thousand words never mind a short review, the only way to truly understand is to enter the Asylum and see for yourself.

EMILIE AUTUMN Setlist: 4 O’ Clock / Opheliac / Art of Suicide / Shalott / Dominate / God Help Me / Unlaced / Dead Is the New Alive / Misery Loves Company / Bohemian Rhapsody / Thank God I’m Pretty

Review by Alex Shaw