Gig Review - Michelle Xen And The Neon Wild

Michelle Xen And The Neon Wild

Live @ The Edge (19/10/2013)
Words and pics by Nayt Housman

Last Saturday night Brisbane’s electro pop Queen, Michelle Xen and her band The Neon Wild, previewed the visuals for their soon to be released single My Cells at The Edge on Brisbane’s Southbank which included a kind of 'sound exhibition' featuring several other sound artists/engineers who all put together pieces to form an interactive sound experience. After the initial introductions of the other artists we were treated to the preview of the deliriously alien, and intensely beautiful visuals for the My Cells single.


The video features animations of Michelle Xen’s physical cells that were extracted and cultured in a lab (yes her real cells were used) by Brisbane bio artist Svenja Kratz, which are then incorporated into the clip like a kaleidoscope of moving cell colonies. Then in stages Michelle’s glamorous face appears, first ghostly, then in negative, then like an explosion of stars her face becomes a glitter party and continues the hypnotic quality proving this artist has electricity running through her creative veins.

Perhaps the best part of the night was being treated to a live performance featuring singles such as L.O.V.E, On For You, Electro Comb, My Cells and perhaps most unexpected was a cover of Kendrick Lamar’s Swimming Pools which to be honest is a song I never really liked, however is there anything Michelle Xen can’t do? She smashed Lamar’s version OUT OF THE STADIUM!


I’ve said it before, watching Michelle Xen And The Neon Wild perform is like watching a band that has been performing for years as they bring a huge amount of energy and excitement to the stage. Their costumes are like something out of the glam rock era and their persona’s match, ramped up to full throttle. Also featured as part of their costumes were LED light panels that responded to sound (made by Michelle herself) whilst the one of the earlier artists manipulated a light display behind the band with his own analogue synthesisers, making for a complete visual and aural feast.


Michelle Xen has a new EP titled On For You, on the way and you can help the project along by pre-ordering from Pozible (you’ll be rewarded nicely according to how much you donate toward the project) and you can also catch a lil sneak peak at a few of the singles on the way too. I’ve already made my donation because I WANT THIS EP ALREADY!