Photo Gallery: Perfume Genius • The Vic Theatre • Chicago
Perfume Genius
Vic Theatre
Chicago, IL
June 17th, 2025
Recaps and photos by Curt Baran
Micheal Alden Hadreas is his own best stage prop. Performing under the moniker Perfume Genius, his wirey frame, accentuated by pronounced sinew, seems to completely inhabit the music he makes.
All of these attributes where on display Tuesday night at The Vic Theatre.
Hadreas commanded a stage with minimal ornamentation, specifically a metal chair, copious amounts of extension cord wire and, inexplicably, an oversized exercise ball. But he turned it all into aesthetic poetry, complimenting his songs with almost ballet worthy moves one moment and “Flashdance” stripper moves the next. The two forms that should have seemingly contradicted each other were somehow perfectly in concert.
His catalog has always addressed deeply personal issues (sexuality and the dangers STILL facing gay men, personal relationships and even some of his physical maladies) and his performance investigated every corner of those multitudes.
At times, his directness was almost unnerving, as if you were privy to a vulnerability that should have occurred in private. In other words, high Art set to music that left the audience emotionally intoxicated.
Category: IE Photo Gallery
