The Tiger Lillies
Tweet

Tiger Lillies play Queer Contact

The Grammy-nominated Godfathers of alternative cabaret are returning to Manchester this February with a brand new show. Performing as part of Queer Contact, Contact’s festival celebrating the best in LGBT culture, The Tiger Lillies will be performing an eclectic set of music and drama.

Described as the forefathers of Brechtian Punk Cabaret, The Tiger Lillies, were founded in 1989 and 21 years later their sound remains one of the most unique and original things one could come across. The Tiger Lillies stood out immediately for their distinct sound and style and worked their way up from  London pubs to the Piccadilly Theatre and buskers’ benches to the Sydney Opera House.

Soon The Tiger Lillies were touring the world giving concerts and participating in various art and theatre projects. A couple of the many highlights in their career was the Olivier Award they won for the cult hit musical Shockheaded Peter and the Grammy nomination for their album "The Gorey End". In 21 years The Tiger Lillies have released 27 albums, participated in numerous shows and toured most of the world, never seizing to surprise, shock and entertain their audience with their inimitably deviant musical style.

The Tiger Lillies were founded by Martyn Jaques who spent most of his twenties in a flat above a brothel in London‘s Soho, peeping through his window at the buzz of Soho’s lowlife. It took Jaques a good ten years to turn that strange world into art, while training as a singer and songwriter. In 1989 he got his first accordion and The Tiger Lillies were formed shortly after.

In the early 90s The Tiger Lillies could be found in London pubs, Edinburgh Fringe venues, bars in the Czech Republic and salad bars in Switzerland, as well as busking in the streets of noumerous towns all over Europe. When asked about their peculiar musical style, their founder, Martyn Jaques would call it Brechtian Punk Cabaret, a term that 20 years later has become widely acceptable to the point of The Tiger Lillies defying it.

The Tiger Lillies play Contact, Manchester as part of Queer Contact on 11 February, 2012.

- by Glenn Meads

Related Content

Reader Comments