The DeadDollz Tour Breathes Life Into The Green Room

I've been able to see a lot of cool things since starting this blog. I totally understand that tickets are expensive and it's hard to justify taking a chance on something you know nothing about, but I'm in a position where I can do just that-- take a chance. Wednesday night was one of those chances. I was lured in by the phrase "metal-infused burlesque." I mean, come on, how cool does that sound? It even got a chuckle and a response of intrigue out of my mom's partner when I was explaining what I was driving to when on the phone with them Wednesday night. I didn't know what to expect, but I knew that I was in for something new and possibly a bit out of my comfort zone. I don't think I realized just how far out of my comfort zone this show would take me.

When the second opening act, Mimi Banks, took the Green Room stage, I knew I had entered a completely different world. Scratch that, a completely different universe. Mimi's look was intense with a long leather trench coat and bright orange-hued hair cut into one of the most extreme bobs I had ever seen. Her eyes were dark with copious amounts of makeup, and talons extended from her fingers. Everything about her look screamed to step back, but something about her made me want to step closer. Mimi performed her first song with her drummer. It was this cool blend of what she has dubbed "doom trap." Is that the right way to describe it? Maybe, maybe not. It was intense, don't get me wrong, but I felt like neither "doom" nor "trap" really described the sound to me. For me, it was more of just a highly emotional, super intense, almost Soundcloud rap style with the way she was screaming words over a track while the drums blasted away. Whatever you want to call her sound, there's no denying that she put heart into her performance, even though the audience seemed a bit hesitant to warm up to her.

That was the downfall of this set for me. After just a song or two, Mimi yelled at the crowd to move closer to the stage. It wasn't a typical plea from a stage; it felt a bit more threatening, and I feel like I got this sense of defeat and frustration from Mimi in the statement. At one point, Mimi's microphone went out. At the time, the sound tech was already trying to fix the kick drum microphone that refused to stay in place. This led to another moment of tension, which ended with Mimi leaving the stage and leaving just her drummer to play while tracks rang through the air. It took Mimi a couple of minutes to recover and come back to the stage. When she did, it felt like her mentality had changed a bit. It felt more like she had nothing to lose, everything to prove, but, for me, she had already proven something, and that something was that I didn't appreciate the way she treated the venue staff or the way she dealt with the situation. I felt like I had just seen her throw a childlike hissy fit, and although I love that she came back out and tried to redeem herself, the damage was already done for me. After a few more songs and a few more comments about the fluke in the set (naturally putting the blame on the venue and venue staff), Mimi left the stage and made room for GG Magree.

GG Magree is an Australian electronic music producer who looks super soft and sweet, but as soon as she gets going, you realize that this woman is a freak in all of the right ways. She warned the modest audience by telling them all that she was here to get the crowd ready for the main attraction and that she was going to get weird with it. She wasn't wrong. GG Magree's set started off like a normal DJ kind of set with swirling lights and her dancing behind the turntables that were set up on a small table towards the front of the stage, but it didn't stay normal. Eventually, the sounds coming through the speakers went from your standard club kind of sounds to something a bit more intense, a bit more metal. At one point, there was a mix that included everything from Disturbed to Nine Inch Nails. GG was right, she got weird with it, and the audience was right there with her throughout the entire set.

I've never been much for a DJ. I just don't quite get it and don't typically feel a sense of heart when seeing someone DJ, but there was something special about GG Magree. It was the way that she interacted with the audience that had me sold. She wasn't afraid to call out a beauty in the crowd and, eventually, come out to the floor and bow down to them for said beauty. I also loved the way that GG Magree danced around with the audience. I mean, obviously, this called into question how much work she was actually putting into the mix, as everything kept on going with her in the audience, but I loved the way that GG Magree's set brought a sense of energy to the room that was much needed to prepare us all for what was to come next.

Rock and metal-influenced burlesque-- I don't know that this is something that this world needs right now, but Little Miss Nasty, the headliners of Wednesday night at The Green Room, gave us just that and then some to close out this show. Created by Gina Katon back in 2012, Little Miss Nasty has done a little bit of everything from residencies in Las Vegas to, most recently, touring and music releases. This collective preaches words and thoughts of inclusivity and freedom of expression, which is something I can absolutely get behind and is one of the main reasons I was at this show, but this was not exactly what I had expected.

Let's go ahead and call out the elephant in my mind-- I didn't love this show. It honestly made me feel a bit more uncomfortable than wowed. Sure, go ahead and call me a bit of a prude, do what you want, but truthfully, I think I was expecting a bit more of a classy burlesque kind of influence, which is not what I got. What I did end up getting from this show felt a bit more "nasty". I was hoping for live music as the music portion of their description seemed so important, but instead, it was just the dancers performing along to tracks that were being pumped through the speakers. That one is on me. I should have done my research. That being said, the showing of athleticism, beauty, and talent was not lost on me as this troupe of truly stunning performers did everything from seductive dancing to aerial arts.

The choreography that these dancers were doing was not simple. I was completely in shock and awe of the way some of them could contort their bodies into some of the most beautiful yet painful-looking poses, all the while keeping a smile on their face and having this very sexy and sultry kind of demeanor about them. I was all eyes on the dancers for the beauty and talent of it all, and I was not alone. Although the audience was pretty much what I had expected-- primarily men who were lured in by the promise of scantily clad, gorgeous women dancing-- I was surprised to see how many "girls' night out" kind of groups I saw. This show wasn't just about the sexiness or the provocative-ness. It was about that aforementioned respect of inclusivity and freedom of expression, and although this definitely wasn't one of my favorite performances of the year, it was definitely one I respected, if only because of that strong and important message.