Emilie Autumn and The Birthday Massacre at the Agora Theatre

I’m going to start out by saying I didn’t know anything about either artist before going to the show. A friend needed someone to tag along and I didn’t have any idea what I was getting myself into. It was also my first out of town show, so I was completely out of my element.

The show started with the co-headliner The Birthday Massacre. I had a general idea that they were a gothic punk new wave group beforehand. They were fun and full of energy. Fans were excited and sang along with the words of every song. Even some candy and a bunny dolls were thrown on stage. Certain times it was hard to hear the lead singer, Chibi’s voice from some tech issues. Because of Emilie Autumn’s set up, which I will talk about in a moment, some of their space was limited. Namely, the bassist Nate Manor whom I was standing right in front of came a bit too close to my face with his instrument a few too many times.

The other half of the show was Emilie Autumn. She’s interesting, I will say that. Her work and her performance is kind of Amanda Palmer with a Lady Gaga flair. Before the show we were treated with the VIP package, so we had a meet and greet with her and she read two excerpts of her book “The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls.” I was sitting at one of the side balcony with all of theses other people who were clearly dedicated fans who were following along in their own copy and most of them dressed as her characters. I really felt like an outsider and I walked into a new world I didn’t belong to. I was so lost about what was happening but I appreciated it afterward as it set me up of what was to come.

So, if you haven’t been to an Emilie Autumn show, should probably know that it’s not really a concert but more of an off-Broadway show, (which is fitting because it’s now moving to Broadway). The show was her and her costars performing almost the entirety of their latest album Fight Like A Girl which is a story about the asylum and its horrid treatment of its patients looking for freedom. We weren’t able to get the full experience of the Asylum with the stage being small so some set pieces where left off. The set was a mix of an asylum cage and a fancy tea party. We were also missing one of her costars, also called the Bloody Crumpets. Between some songs they do burlesque style performances, like fan and ribbon dancing. The other thing you should know is that even though it’s very beautiful, it’s very depressing. With this sort of subject matter there will be times you’ll get uncomfortable. Most of the show Emile looks like she is about to cry and has a complete loss of any hope. It’s matched however with humorous moments in the middle. They performed a bit of slash fan fiction found online and also they played The Rat Game where Veronica defiles you, and by that I mean she kisses a female member of the audience. Even the song “Girls Girls Girls” which comes on around that time is a black comical satire. The show goes back to being dark but it does end on a hopeful note.

I would highly recommend checking out these live performances. There are some video of it up on YouTube but it’s not the same as the real thing. She announced at the end after a long thank you and appreciating of the fans that the show is going to Broadway so if you have the chance to go to that, I would highly recommend it.