#(2010)

[witchrealms]

(x)

[mikeywayarchive]

Hammersmith Apollo, London, England // Oct 23rd 2010 // Sarah Tye

[pam3pr]

{𓇗}

[vivziepoparchives]

Addison and Damian having teatime posted to Viv's deviantart October 25, 2010.

[source]

[eviedecay]

Bibian Blue ~ Fall/Winter 2010 RTW

[webdiggerxxx]

ೃ༄ੈ✩‧₊˚

[poniehooves]

abosolute cinema (yes i draw rouxls kaard with a nose)

[feraltwinkseb]

October 9, 2010 - Suzuka, Japan

[dozydawn]

[shefightslikeagirl]

Stages Through the Ages - Part II

An Asylum History post by @shefightslikeagirl

Go back...

2008: The Asylum Grows

The Plague Tour kicked off in Spring of 2008. The stage design didn't change much, but it did evolve. More props, new costumes, and new set dressings started to appear. The concerts were drawing more people and, notably, two concerts were professionally filmed for a never-to-be-released DVD.

Two new pieces of scenic debuted this tour, the most notable of the two being an "Asylum Clock." It was a handmade clock that hung centerstage, equipped with black-and-white drapery and forever pointing at 4 o'clock. Depending on the venue, it was either flown (hung from the catwalks/lighting rafters) or hung up on the back wall. Occasionally, if there truly wasn't any room, it would end up on floor.

Nachtelben, 2008

Bristol, 2008

The second piece of scenic was a familiar one: a second shadowscreen! This was the only tour where there were two screens on stage, both of them adorned with a crown of gears and clocks. You can see two screens and a flown clock in the video below, from the La Locomotive show in Paris.

The "full" stage set up from The Plague Tour was, by far, the most complicated stage EA ever had. A full setup consisted of two shadowscreens, a flown clock, the keyboard drapery and props, a props table with chairs, fabric all over the stage, and a space for Joo Hee and her cello. This was probably best shown at the (filmed) Islington concert.

Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of great recordings or photos of the full setup. However, there are some great shots of the stage details--including the shadowscreen topper--from EA's book readings at Wave Gotik Treffen.

WGT, 2008

2008: Keep Calm and Carry On

The Gate Tour was next. Now, if you were in the fandom at the time, you might remember some of the drama that surrounded this tour: Vecona leaving, EA's relationship with Trisol imploding, Joo Hee dropping off the face of the earth, and so on. There was a lot of change happening in the Asylum, but the show aesthetic staged largely the same.

The first half of The Gate didn't see many changes. Some scenic was given a facelift, including the keyboard, which was redesigned with a red-and-white drape. But everything still felt the same, even with Vecona gone.

Utrecht, 2008

We went back to having only one shadowscreen, which moved centerstage instead of being off to the side. (I have a sinking suspicion that this one may be larger than on other tours, but that could just be because the photos are better...)

Utrecht, 2008

EA had a handful of dates in North America during this tour, which was her first time performing outside of Europe since 2006. Because her set was mostly small items, fabrics, and easy-to-travel props, her stage remained largely the same. It appears they didn't travel with the shadowscreen, as it was missing from the New York and Ontario dates.

2009: Gears and Glitter

In 2009, the Gate II Tour began and our first significant design change took place. The fabric shadowscreen was replaced with a new version: a gear-lined, industrial themed shadowscreen (v2). It stood centerstage and acted as the focal point for the set, with everything else set up around it.

For those of you who might not know, this was a true upgrade. EA went from a handmade, pop-up screen to professional scrim. I can only assume that it was mounted to an aluminum frame, which would have kept better tension. The gears and decorative facing to hide the frame would have been made by EA (and friends).

In addition to the new clock, some empty antique-looking frames were suspended from the rig and both new and old props were scattered about the stage. But! A new icon debuted:

Wheelie!

Amsterdam, 2009

Allegedly inspired by the wheelchair from Wicked, Wheelie became a permanent fixture in EA's concerts all the way through 2014. She would be redesigned and replaced a few times, but she always returned.

EA was still touring almost exclusively in Europe, but after she split with Trisol, all that would change...

2009-2010: Tick Tock

After a significant amount of drama surrounding two cancelled North American dates, EA announced a brand new North American tour: The Key. The stage design changed again, this time pulling back a little on the number of props and small items onstage.

Emilie and Basil prepping for tour, Twitter, 2009

The biggest change was the combination of two different set pieces: the Asylum Clock and the shadowscreen.

Introducing: The Asylum Clock.

It was v3 of the shadowscreen, thematically taking the place of the clock that had once hung over the stage. It appeared in two different forms: the full face, which you see above, and what I'll call the skeletal version, below.

Brooklyn, 2009

This is a beefy set of truss, which EA loved to climb on when it was in its skeletal form.

In addition, the keyboard was given new drapery and the stage props were "neatly" placed on some new tea tables. An antique frame or a lamp-post chandelier might get hung up if the venue allowed. Wheelie lost some of its gears and jewels, which can be seen a bit farther down in this post.

Pomona, 2009

For EA's one-off Mexico date, the set was scaled back slightly.

Mexico City, 2009

Not much changed with this design through early 2010. Between the North American leg of The Key Tour and the European leg, the keyboard drapes changed again and the skeletal version of The Asylum Clock became the go-to.

Effenaar, 2010

When EA traveled to South America during The Door Tour in 2010, the set was stripped down entirely. There were no set dressings and no decorative frame for the shadowscreen, likely as a cost-saving measure. The focus was on the costumes, whatever stunt equipment they brought, and the few props they could shove in their bags.

2011: The End of an Era

The Door Tour was the last Opheliac tour. Again, as had become the trend between tours, the stage was scaled back. Most props were cleared away and it was rare to see anything hung from the rafters. Gone were the hand-painted gears and numbers from The Asylum Clock. It's newest iteration (v4) was a simple screen-printed truss cover, with a few props hung near the top.

Los Angeles, 2011

The keyboard decorations were massively simplified. Gone were the heaps of props, replaced with some electric candles ontop of a screen-printed Asylum logo. The props for the tea tables were scaled back, though that never stopped Maggot from spitting tea on the audience. The lack of aesthetic clutter didn't take away from the show, exactly, but it did detract from the vibe.

There's more to say and a few tours to left to talk about, but I'm running out of image space.

Part 3, anyone?

[digitalmemoriez]

✫･ﾟ*.2010･ﾟ✫*.

[witchrealms]

(x)

[onthisdayts]

The Eras Tour

February 10, 2010 - Melbourne, Australia

[larryyyy1d]

One direction X factor era

[vivziepoparchives]

An old tutorial on poses posted to Viv's deviantart May 23, 2010.

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