LIVE REVIEW: Suicide Girls – Blackheart Burlesque, Perth, 19 Mar 2014

Shane | 11 April 2014 | Reply

LIVE REVIEW: Suicide Girls – Blackheart Burlesque, Perth, 19 Mar 2014
The Astor Theatre, Perth, Western Australia – 19 March 2014
Review & photography by Maree King

On March 19, 2014 the reigning queens of alternate pin up models, punk infused, tattooed and erotically clad Suicide Girls return to Australia for their second Blackheart Burlesque Tour. This time Sydney born Vorpal Girl has the highly regarded hosting duties for the punk style burlesque and strip tease show that satirises mainstream pop culture iconography like, Kill Bill, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Game of Thrones and the Avengers.

The Suicide Girls is a fast growing online community that is challenging the normal paradigms around feminine beauty and the expression of alternate an indie cultures. Featuring on the site are pin up models, performers and women from punk, indie, goth and alternate cultures in way that allows them to express, celebrate and embrace their individual beauty and create a sense of community and belonging that binds these women together. This forum allows them to express themselves freely and without judgement and also challenges the mainstream notion of beauty within our society.

The local support act Emberville started the night off in post hardcore fashion, with their pop punk style act, guitar driven riffs and catchy lyrics its hard to pin down the genre to put them into. They emerged from the southern suburbs of Perth in 2010 and have been playing all over Western Australia, supporting bands like Buried in Verona and opening for Hyperfest 2011, their star is definitely on the rise. Set to launch their first single from the album ” Hi, I’m Grim” and playing countless gigs they kick off the night with a hectic and hardcore live show, definitely a band to watch for the future.

[Show picture list]

Followed by the art-sleaze phenomenon that is the Suicide Girls choreographed by Manwe Sauls-Addison who has worked with the likes of Lady GaGa and Beyonce this show features a number of solo and group routines that sway from mildly amusing to outrageous and quite frankly a little absurd. The purpose of burlesque is paradoxical and outrageous, so I guess they achieved that purpose, however Suicide Girls motivation is to challenge mainstream ideology and iconography and to broaden the our idea of beauty but somehow this message gets a little lost, and comes across at times, nothing more than a cheap strip show. Although some of the girls are not trained dancers or performers this is evident and shows in the overall delivery, but as they grow and working along side choreographers like Manwe, I’m sure the show will only improve.

The costume and design lacks overall, and misses the mark on a few occasion, the transition from the solo act to the group routines is disjointed and the sporadic hosting and dialogue is clearly interjected in order for the girls to have a break and set up costumes for the next segments. The problem being that the show doesn’t really have a flow and the interrelated themes are lost, however the group routines save the show on a whole and appear to have a more structure and humour in them. The Avengers and the Games of Thrones are standout routines for me and fit well with the strong feminine theme.

Audience participation is encouraged and the instagram and social media competition they run during the show to get audience member to take a photo and upload to their site, and social media pages and they choose a favourite to win a paid membership to the Suicide Girls which is handed out on stage, is a clever marketing strategy to increase their online exposure and ensure more hits to their online profiles. The gratuitous male from the audience segment could be left out or at least re-worked for audience of 2014 I think we deserve more.

On whole the show is still relatively good value for money, and I’m sure as the community grows and performance work and training increases the show has the potential to rise further. The idea of the Suicide Girls is one that I think is permeating mainstream culture and allowing women to define all kinds of beauty and build the confidence of women all over the world, for that they should be commended.