Emilie Autumn - Bristol 02 Academy - Sunday 11th March 2012

An Emilie Autumn show is nothing like any other show you will ever experience, and in many ways, it is simply impossible to put into words what it is exactly that she does, along with her backing troupe of The Bloody Crumpets, over the course of a two hour spectacle.

Her tour last year was incredible, and yet again, her show here in Bristol was a spectacle like no other, as she leads her group in a number of theatrical macabre performances, interspersing baroque influences, with spoken word, role play, and a carnival atmosphere along with her music, where simply anything is indeed possible.

This year she tones back the classical violin playing which used to be her bread and butter (keeping it down to a sole brief interlude of her incendiary playing abilities) and puts this on the backburner to allow more time for her storybook to unfold, amidst great performances from her able stage hands.

She is here to promote her latest album Fight Like A Girl, which to the ear, sounds like something of a departure to her earlier sound, while still sounding very much like an Emilie Autumn composition. Whether it is theatrical role playing, the songs she performs, or the well choreographed routines, she keeps the crowd in the palm of her hands for the duration.

The songs come thick and fast, balanced by speeches, poems and role play, which is certainly something you wouldn't see at a Slayer show.

 It is immaculately performed, and although the lack of Dead Is The New Alive (arguably her best track) is missed, the show does not suffer too much for its removal from the set.

Whether it is the infamous tea party (which sees breast dipped cupcakes and chocolate digestives flung into the crowd along with the customary tea shower), the fire dripping hoopla being spun around, or the Rat Game (which incites lesbianism between unsuspecting crowd members and the "saucy Crumpet" Vanessa), there really is no show in the world like this.

The music may be veering further and further away from the rock spectrum, but Emilie Autumn is pure rock and roll in her approach, immensely unique, and captivating, bringing her book The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls to life in this two hour show, accompanied by her musical creations. Losing the violin is a bad move, but shackle free, Emilie is free to do whatever the fuck she wants, and that is the pure essence of rock and roll, and an Emilie Autumn show.

Nobody leaves disappointed, and her diehard fans, many wearing fashion inspired by the Queen Plegrat herself, are in their element for the duration. Yet another success for Ms Autumn, and still the strangest show around.

Pure, unadulterated entertainment.

Setlist - Best Safety Lies in Fear / 4 O'Clock /Dr.Stockhill (speech) / Fight Like A Girl /Time For Tea / The Art Of Suicide /Take The Pill / How To Break A Heart Poem (Speech) / Liar /God Help Me / Dominant / Girls! Girls! Girls! / Rat Game / Gears (Sound Effect) / We Want Them Young / Gaslight / One Foot /Mad Girl / Thank God I'm Pretty