Dorian Electra is an artist bursting with charisma.
But we already knew that. Last month’s debut album Flamboyant is a playful piece of electropop that has seen Electra fly straight to the top of the genre, and it’s been coming for years.
It’s not their first time in London either, Electra has been cutting their teeth alongside like-minded creators ever since debuting in 2016 and even before. In fact, it’s been just over a year since the singer hopped on stage at Charli XCX‘s Village Underground Pop 2 show to whip fans into a sweaty ‘Femmebot’ fantasy.
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Come November, Electra will take to the same 1,000 capacity venue on their worlwide tour and it’s set to be a full cycle moment that underlines the remarkable 16 months that Dorian Electra has made for themselves.
For now, it’s two sold out nights at Highbury’s 150 capacity Thousand Island. And for those who have managed to score tickets, all of whom Electra greets as they enter the venue, you can be sure they’ll be making the same trip come November.
Opening on ‘Flamboyant‘, pop music’s queer anthem of the year, even the star’s warrior get-up couldn’t have prepared them for the wall of sound waiting – that’s credit to Mood Killer and GFOTY’s sizzling warm up sets too.
As they rattle through Flamboyant, some of whose tracks have been out for less than a month, Electra keeps the Londoners’ energy at a ten. “Hey Mood?”, Electra calls down their microphone at one point searching for Mood Killer in the crowd, “can you get up here and take some videos?”, they manage to communicate across the crowd’s cheers. At points, the fans’ reaction even has Electra holding back tears.
In an hour of frivolous electropop, highlights are all too hard to pick. ‘Guyliner’ was born for spaces like this and is up there. ‘Live By The Sword’ takes fans to some sort of medieval metalworks and Electra has barely uttered the rallying cry of “jump” before the crowd are close to breaking through the floor and falling into Counterfeit’s set downstairs in The Garage during ‘VIP’.
Omg I love hearing British ppl singing my lyrics – during Mr. To You , y'all b like "MistAH, MistAH, it's MistAH to you" – so cute???
— Dorian Electra (@DORIANELECTRA) August 16, 2019
What endears Electra to so many is their ability to bring tracks alive with their visuals. During their live set, Electra plucks the characters out of their music videos and shifts from one to another in the blink of an eye. Pinpoint choreography alongside Kaine Ruddach and Eloise Gledhill helps too, as does Weston Allen’s constant creative presence from the sound booth.
As time comes to close, ‘Career Boy’ sends fans home with a final flurry of headbanging. As they pile out through Thousand Island’s tiny door and onto the street, there’s only one thing on their minds; doing it all again at Village Underground in November.
Were you at any of Dorian Electra’s London shows? Are you going to the Village Underground in November? Let us know @CelebMix on Twitter.