Let the record show

♫ Altaria – Ravenwing

Beware, my dear readers, I will shower you with photos I took of Emilie Autumn's show on Friday. I'll let the photos talk about the actual show and what happened in it, and I won't go into set list details or anything. It was nice to have a better camera on a gig for once, though it was still difficult to take photos; I had to raise my hands up high quite often; thus, the strange cropping in most photos. That's not exactly the right position for a photographer and works particularly badly in darkness. My arms were still bloody sore after the workout, which probably added to the trembling and resulted in many blurry photos after all. But still better than what my compact camera or cell phone would have managed!

I'm quite a cynical EA fan, I'm afraid – or at least a friend said so, and I'm not sure what to say about the concert... Oh well. I think Emilie is a true musical and lyrical genius. However, I cannot swallow the whole concept of what Emilie Autumn represents, and what being a wayward Victorian girl really is all about. But I cannot deny it; she's made quite a successful product of herself.

I saw her and the Bloody Crumpets live in 2009, and I must say... Friday's show was pretty much a déjà vu. Of course it wasn't identical; she had new songs to perform after all, but most of the elements that contributed to the visual part of the show were something I really had seen before. A huge illuminated canvas, a Venetian beak, a wheelchair, tea spitting, Rat Game... Trademarks or worn patterns? I think she's fallen into a rut. Especially with her mind-blowing release pace, she really hadn't renewed the show enough. I know the line between trademarks and, well, let's say those worn patterns is very fine. I also understand very well that her fans are looking forward to certain things – such as the infamous Rat Game – and it's fine, it's fun. However, trademarks can be incorporated into the show in new and creative ways. I mean, come on – three years since the last show, and I felt like I had already seen it.

I'm not saying I didn't like it. It was entertaining, and I liked hearing her new songs although I generally prefer hearing familiar songs played live. However, I didn't get to see anything new, and considering how big part of her show is based on visual aesthetics, I do think it's a pity. This is something I would be preaching to our clients (as I'm working in an advertising agency) – if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got.

But I will leave that issue for now. Onto the photos, with a bit of my club outfit at the very end! Enjoy. All photos are naturally © yours truly.

Captain Maggot came crowd-surfing at one point. I would have liked to take photos only, but I actually had to participate as otherwise I would have got a pirate boot in my face. :|

"Ratty ratty..."

The Rat Game

"Is it the hair?"

My outfit bonus: I had trouble deciding what to wear. I thought Emilie's concert would be about the best opportunity for me to put on the freakiest pieces of my wardrobe – I had been planning something like this ever since I heard of the concert last year. I had thought I could wear something light and nice, it would be April after all! However, the extreme late frost ruined my plans. I still considered putting on some hotpants, but in the end I didn't; the first pair I considered turned out to have approximately six holes in the crotch while the other pair just made me feel too... indecent. Seriously, I wouldn't have thought I could feel like that about pants. I considered stripey black and white thighs, I considered mismatched socks... And eventually got a feeling I've grown out of all that stuff. :/ And thus, I ended up with this;

The outfit is pretty much the definition of "lazy". Or "comfortable". I opted for my dearest pinstripe corset – because it is comfortable while my other corsets can truly hurt. I opted for such shoes which don't have the highest heels – just because the club was at the opposite end of the city center and I knew the roads would be slippery, and it'd be the most amusing way back home at night wearing something else. And I would have liked to try doing something nice to my hair, such as Victory rolls, but uh-oh... Too sore arms, couldn't have held them up long enough to complete a complicated hairdo. (And they hurt like hell still.)

So long!

P.S: That club is the worst concert venue I know, seriously. I've always hated it. The architecture is horrible, there are huge pillars very close to the stage and although we were standing pretty much in the middle, we couldn't see everything! The pillars are actually blocking most people's view in most directions. D'oh. They might not be so troublesome in the first row, but everywhere else, yeah. And I've seen quite many bands live there. Even Emilie made fun of this feature, introducing one pole close to the stage after introducing the Bloody Crumpets.