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

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