Perfume Genius hit the Wiltern in Koreatown, Los Angeles last Sunday and played a show as exciting, raw, and mind-blowing as his discography would suggest.
Perfume Genius is the solo project of Mike Hadreas. The 40-year-old from Des Moines first gained popularity with his 2010 release Learning. The delicate, devastating songs that fill up the tracklist on Learning paint an intimate portrait of trauma, acceptance, abuse, and, often, fear. Consistent in Hadreas’ instrumentals is his innate ear for melody. Yes, you’re hearing a devastating tale from his childhood, but it’s backed by a warm, inviting melody that demands listen after listen after listen.
Since Learning, Hadreas has released four more fabulous albums. The dark, but uplifting Put Your Back N 2 It; the incredible, wiry, anthemic Too Bright; the romantic, lush No Shape; and finally, his most recent, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, which brilliantly combines all these characteristics into one cohesive statement.
The show on Sunday featured songs from every album. From Learning, we got a beautiful duet of the title track with his partner Alan. From Put Your Back N 2 It we were treated to “Normal Song” and “Hood”, the latter being one of many climaxes in the show. From No Shape, Hadreas reworked many of the song’s foundations, transforming them into full on driving ragers. His most recent album contains some of his most accessible sounds, and the crowd reacted in step.
The tracks Hadreas played from Too Bright, though, really tore the stage down. He finished with three straight off the record, one before the encore and two after. The skulking, sinister “My Body” explodes and transforms midway through. Hadreas danced and sang along as if he was being ripped apart. After the encore came “Grid” – another track that dares you to look away. The high-pitched screams and almost horrific chanting were so loud and confrontational most of the audience just stood in appreciative shock. Finally came “Queen”. He has so many great tracks but this is the one. A middle finger to bigots threatened by his mere existence. I go to a lot of shows and the soaring highs of this moment aren’t something I’ll soon forget.
A few days after the show, Hadreas announced a new album called Ugly Season out June 17th. Surely it’ll be another transformation. On March 20th , we had him as he is now, though: one of our finest modern artists at the peak of his creativity and showmanship. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Photos by Andrew Ameter | Exclusively for Music, Why Not!