Review & Photos: Karen Fader McBride

This is not your average band, not your average music, not your average look, in fact the word average can be tossed out the window all together. A little bit of metal and a lot of cabaret, some lace and lipstick and a touch of humour on the side. Emilie Autumn and her Bloody Crumpets  took over Toronto’s Opera House and turned it upside down. The show started unusually late; doors opened at 9 and the show seemed to have a few false starts until finally things got rolling close to 10:30pm. Enter the stage 5 lovely ladies dolled up in corsets, adorned with feathers and frills. Strutting around in boots any Goth girl would kill for, they burst into song and dance flanked by a light show just as colourful as their attire. Emilie herself appeared onstage at donning a mask. She soon joined the rest of her crew center stage, including Naughty Veronica, Captain Maggot, The Blessed Contessa and Aprella. Each with their own unique look and talent of some sort, they seemed to keep the crowd entranced through most of the 2 + hour long show. There were the few pockets of dead air, but being this was the first stop of their North American tour we can expect such things as they get into the mode of things.

So what can one expect at such a show? Girls kissing girls, cookies for everyone, a pirate on stilts, a sip of tea and the meanest harpsichord and electric violins solos your ears have every heard. Although Emilie’s style of music is not something I would choose to listen to on my own time, I have to give these girls credit; they are highly skilled and extremely talented. The show was a lot more stunning visually for me than musically. There was a lot of contact between the band and the audience, plenty of interaction going on from the beginning to the set; moments when the band got right into the crowd or invited someone onstage. Emilie Autumn will be on tour throughout North America until early Dec, be sure to check these gals out.

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