Yunyu’s live performance in Melbourne
One Friday night in June we saw Yunyu in concert. In my interviews with Yunyu (in 2011 and 2012) I mispronounced her name AGAIN and she doesn’t correct me -_- I discovered on Friday that the correct pronunciation is like ‘yoohoo’ but with an N and Y in the middle, so Yoonyoo.
Having cleared that up, the minion and I chatted a bit to Yunyu who is very personable, not at all creepy like her stories. When Yunyu went to get ready, we settled down to watch the acts. It was a packed performance schedule with DJ Chiara, Aleeoop and Amanaska appearing before Yunyu.
I should probably point out here that I don’t know enough about the music scene to comment on the music intelligently, so I’m not going to try except to say I enjoyed all the performances.
Aleeoop was a duo, one guy singing and another guy playing the trumpet sometimes and sometimes appeared to be playing the laptop although he could have been playing an instrument behind the laptop. I enjoyed the singing although some of the instrumental sounds were a tad high for me – just personal preference. I tend to flinch in certain registers.
After another break with the DJ helping us relax, Amaneska was up next. Amaneska is a trio, although they don’t always play with the full set.
When the woman joined them, her husband (the singer) commented that she is pregnant as if excusing her or something. There was a dissatisfied rumble through the audience at this, with one brave soul expressing our concern: ‘SO??’ The explanation was given that she can be a little clumsy and she was having the didgeridoo moved so she didn’t trip on it.
During performances with Amaneska and Yunyu, a cut-out was used as a projection screen.
After another DJ break, Yunyu came on stage, singing both old and new songs, all of which seem to be twisted retellings of fairytales. Seriously, Once Upon a Time, Snow White and the Huntsman – you’ve missed the boat and missed the point. The little match girl becomes a sex worker, Dorothy is a cosmonaut, Blue Beard is a priest who abuses women and children and more. Yunyu’s stories are short and pointed, sung with great expression, counterpointed with anime-inspired video.
Yunyu’s tee-shirt has scan-able symbols to enable access to extras online. Even the stamp that marks your entry at the door scans in for extras before midnight. For more information, go to Yunyu’s website.
