Rescheduled (All Tickets for 10/31 Will Be Honored)
$18 adv - $21 day of
Doors: 7PM / Show: 8PM-10PM
All Ages
We've been promoting Emilie Autumn's Metro appearance for months, before and after her Halloween show was postponed. But today is finally the day! Click here for some of our past coverage.
World-class violinist. Fashion icon. Famously bipolar. The list goes on,
but one thing is certain: We're talking about Emilie Autumn. With world
tours, glossy magazine covers, and guest spots on the albums of such
artists as Courtney Love (with whom she performed on Leno and
Letterman), Otep, Billy Corgan, and TV's 'Metalocalypse' under her
corset strings, Emilie Autumn's devilishly dark lyrics, metal-shredding
violin solos, pink-glittered pasties, and industrial-strength voice
reinvent "gothic" for the masses, and goths have never had so much fun.
More akin to a Broadway musical than a standard rock performance, the
Los Angeles-born starlet's highly theatrical stage show is a sexy circus
of glam-rock burlesque, backed by a scantily-clad girl band known to
EA's devoted fans as the Bloody Crumpets.
Featuring EA's signature
electric violin pyrotechnics, heartbreakingly lush orchestrations,
hard-core beats, and menacing lyrics growled with enough intensity to
make your hair stand on end, the resulting noise is a harpsichord-heavy
romp through Victorian asylums where screaming is allowed and girls
always get revenge.
Under the Gaslight, Aloft's student show on February 25th, was truly impressive. Check out our original show shots above. It's exciting to see aerial acts within a larger story line or plot, rather than just an exhibition of skills. We were especially excited that they chose to explore the subjective elements of mental illness.
Gaslighting, by definition, is a term for psychological abuse where the victim is led to doubt their own memory and perception. Here's the Wikipedia definition:
Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse in which false information is presented with the intent of making a victim doubt his or her own memory and perception. It may simply be the denial
by an abuser that previous abusive incidents ever occurred, or it could
be the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim.
The term "gaslighting" comes from the play Gas Light
and its film adaptations. In those works a character uses a variety of
tricks to convince his spouse that she is crazy, so that she won't be
believed when she reports strange things that are genuinely occuring,
including the dimming of the gas lamps
in the house (which happens when her husband turns on the normally
unused gas lamps in the attic to conduct clandestine activities there).
Since then, it has become a colloquial expression that is now also used in clinical and research literature.
Earlier that night, I was shooting Emilie Autumn's amazing show at The House of Blues. It was an eerily appropriate pairing, as Emilie's concerts are a music/ performance art hybrid that take place in a Victorian era asylum! She even performed a song entitled...you guessed it, Gaslight! Our photo filled recap is coming soon.
Here's Aloft's show premise:
Under the Gaslight
The Aloft Loft Chicago, IL
The Aloft Student Ensemble Performance group presents a full length
contemporary circus show exploring the line between sane and "crazy".
Aloft's signature style of using traditional circus apparatus in new and
surprising ways, and spinning clear narrative through movement and risk
come alive again through this group of 10 up-coming acrobats, studying
at the Aloft Loft, the Midwest's premiere contemporary circus school.
Trained by some of the top instructors in the country, and directed by
Aloft's Artistic Director, Shayna Swanson, the performers have created a
show based in consensus building which questions weather mental illness
is just one tragedy away from everyone.
All proceeds from the seat reservation fee for this show will go into a new scholarship fund to assist current Aloft Loft students who lose their incomes due to the economy in continuing their acrobatic training. Some money will also be
directed into mirco-grants to help professional artists-in-residence at
the Aloft Loft develop new work.
We were back there tonight to shoot El Circo Cheapo and celebrate Du-Jay's 11th birthday with family. They've been doing the show for 3 years and sell out every show! Some of their talented performers also work as teachers at CircEsteem, so the kids were extra stoked to see folks they know perform. We caught El Circo Cheapo back at Brilliant Corners Fest and were thoroughly entertained. They run a fabulous, monthly circus at Aloft's space, on the first Saturday of every month for just $10 floor seats & $15 for a chair. Tickets tend to be in high demand and sell out, so plan ahead. Check out Aloft's main site here for more details.
El Circo Cheapo!
“The only thing cheap is the admission!”-Santa Fe Reporter
Like circus? Like awesome things that are crazy cheap? Then have we
got just the thing for you. El Circo Cheapo Cabaret is an amazing circus
show like nothing you have ever seen. An ever changing cast of some of
the world’s most talented circus performers, as well as other
performance artists, ensures no two shows are ever the same…and seat
reservation fees are low!
Make your seat reservation for El Circo Cheapo Cabaret now by heading here.
*The 7 PM show is family friendly. The 10 PM is 18+. Both are BYOB.
Here are ChiIL Live Shows' original shots of Emilie Autumn's unique show at House of Blues last month on 2/25/2012. We were delighted by the demented, daring world of a Victorian Era Asylum and the colorful characters who dwell within. Emilie Autumn and her Bloody Crumpets put on a memorable live show and were a joy to photograph. The music, set, costumes and underlying social commentary were impressive.
The audience was great, too. We saw many familiar freaks from the Chicago steampunk, Renaissance Faire, and Comic Con crowds, most of whom live for an excuse to dress up. We were enamored with the creativity, talent and passion that went into this show, and Emilie and company truly seemed to enjoy themselves and the audience just as much as the audience adored them.
