last night, i went to my third tiger lilies concert. they were…beyond words! as usual.
upon entering the world of the tiger lilies, one needs to leave all prejudice and politically correctness behind.
the public came prepared for the heady mix of deliciously blasphemous lyrics and simple but spot-on theatrics. for the schizoid flow of contrasting voices and concepts, for martyn jacques’ unforgettable falsetto and range of alter egos, adrian huge’s enormously entertaining minimal acting and use of numerous props as drum sticks and for adrian stout’s playing saw, bass and mimicking the long fall down to hell by using the theremin. for the unique show featuring death, bestiality, whores, arson, death, deicide, blowjobs and, of course, death. oh, and kicking babies down the stairs.
the shows are limited amounts of time when the lilies agree to allow us to jump head first into that profanity-laced chaos that is their universe, where sex is not cute or sanitized or marketable and, more often than not, it involves prostitutes. where the outlook can be tongue-in-cheek but also heartwrenchingingly sad. where martyn craftily juggles his stage personas, each as recognizable and distinct as the next: we’re left mind-blown to watch him turning from an intently evil murderer to the sad clown or to the eerie, lamenting opera singer.
they’re alternating the insane underworld with dense sadness to get the full effect of the contrast of uttering enormities with a cute voice or of melting words into each other by saying them very fast into a growing crescendo nailed by silence and a final short burst.
martyn goes to the darkest places that we avoid in our minds, collects our worst fears and enjoys using them to build that gory stage kaleidoscope. i’m guessing that, after exorcising all demons on such a regular basis, he’s a very pleasant person in real life.
they may be not for the faint of heart. or for bigots. they may be outrageous and sacrilegious but they are also heartbreakingly devastating and the show is complex and exhilarating. your hands will hurt from so much applauding. mine do.
photo credits: google search
6 comments
Yaroslav says:
Nov 18, 2011
!!!
LILAESTHETE’S GOT MAIL! « little-aesthete's Blog says:
May 14, 2012
[…] the weirdest thing the blog made me do? i wrote the tiger lilies review during the concert and re-wrote it completely the next day before posting. it may sound like i […]
THE TIGER LILLIES SHARED AND RETWEETED MY STUFF « little-aesthete's Blog says:
Nov 15, 2012
[…] morning, my review of last year’s concert was shared once again on the official tiger lillies facebook wall and […]
THE UNREPEATABLE MARTYN JACQUES FROM THE TIGER LILLIES « little-aesthete's Blog says:
Dec 10, 2012
[…] i possibly top last year’s tiger lillies review? i just had to find something to do […]
James says:
Jan 7, 2016
… still one of the best show reviews that i came across until now. Maybe because I have a weakness for The Tiger Lilies, but also the wording is strong and consistent. Excellent writing skills!
little aesthete says:
Jan 11, 2016
thank you very much, james! the lillies were kind enough to share my review at the time: love came full circle! :)