Why Emilie Autumn Should Be the Next Big Rock Star
Liz Ohanesian Emilie Autumn
In 1996, I saw The Cure at The Forum, where the band played for three hours and offered no opening band. It was phenomenal, mostly because it was The Cure, a band that was celebrating its twentieth anniversary and had accumulated a mountain of (mostly) amazing albums. I thought then that no one else could sustain a set like that, and, until last weekend, I had never seen anyone attempt a similar feat. Then I saw Emilie Autumn.
Liz Ohanesian The Bloody Crumpets
Sunday night, Autumn played the Key Club with no opening band. Joined by her group of corseted gals, The Bloody Crumpets, she played for two-and-a-half hours. The difference here, though, is that Autumn is a relatively new artist, with only a small handful of releases to her name and her US debut wasn't even on the market at the time of the show. (Opheliac is released through label The End today.) That she would dare to put together such a monstrous show is brave. That she kept the audience rapt throughout the night has to be a sign that Autumn should be the next big rock star.
Liz Ohanesian
Autumn doesn't put forth a typical rock show. The only instruments you'll see on the stage are a harpsichord and a fiddle. The drum programming and synth sounds stem from somewhere behind the curtain. The performance is based conceptually around the idea of a Victorian asylum, and the stage is designed to reflect that. Each one of The Bloody Crumpets has a distinct personality-- a cannibal, a pirate, a kissing bandit and a gunslinger-- which come into play with their interaction with Autumn and the audience.
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