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Dec 16, 2021 By Andy Von Pip Photography by Andy Von Pip Web Exclusive

It’s fair to say that many people arriving to see NYC three piece Princess Goes To The Butterfly Museum are clearly fans of everybody’s favourite ethical chainsaw wielding serial killer, “The Bay Harbour Butcher,” Dexter Morgan (yup I too had my “Power Saw To The People” Dexter T-Shirt on under my coat.)

Acclaimed actor Michael C. Hall is currently starring in the latest series of Dexter New Blood after a gap of eight years when the original cult classic ended with Dexter faking his own death and escaping Miami. So perhaps the last place you’d expect him to turn up would be at a small grassroots music venue in Liverpool UK , but Hall also happens to be the singer/ songwriter of tonight’s headliner Princess Goes To The Butterfly Museum alongside his bandmates drummer Peter Yanowitz (The Wallflowers, Morningwood) and keyboardist Matt Katz-Bohen (Blondie.)

The evening kicks off with Essex born Liverpool based artist Beija Flo, and proves why she’s regarded as one of the most interesting and innovative artists in the North West Of England right now. She’s a natural performer, has a sense of the theoretical and the absurd and redefines what a one woman show can be, mixing poetry with music with performance art. She’s got the songs, she’s got the charisma and she wins over the audience from the get go , even if she has to reprimand a few particularly excitable and chatty punters , with “can you stop talking please as it’s distracting me from being brilliant at what I do.” And brilliant she is. Her latest single “Head or Tails”, has a gritter edge than her previous work and was written in her home town of Harlow in Essex, which she tells us was the most murderous town in England and Wales. It’s a fabulous set from a compelling young artist and she concludes it with a joyous version of her 2017 single “Mary” a song she’s previously said is “about ‘that mate, you know the one. She comes round, smokes all the weed, snogs your boyfriend and passes out in the bath. You can have her when I’m finished with her.”

Princess Goes To The Butterfly Museum arrives on the tiny stage and Hall acknowledges the applause with a simple “hello Liverpool” before launching into the Bowie-esque “Offering.” And throughout the set there is the odd flicker of the thin white duke , which is no surprise given the great man handpicked Hall to star in his “Lazarus” musical. Once you get over the fact that you’re standing literally two feet away from Dexter Morgan in a tiny Liverpool bar , you’re soon mesmerized by the music, which is sublime. Hall’s voice is astonishing, and sounds even better live than on the band’s critically acclaimed debut album “Thanks For Coming.” And the bulk of tonights set comes from said debut which traverses dark moody electronica , psychedelic rock and pulsating alt pop. There are hints of Depeche Mode and John Grant, and Hall is certainly an enthralling presence, totally lost in the music as he moves about the small confines of the stage in a state of agitated jerkiness resembling a rather more graceful David Byrne. The moody new wave thrash of “Angela Peacock” is one of the set’s highlights as is the shimmering atmospheric emotive beauty of “Tomorrow Screams” whilst “Airhead” sounds otherworldly and demonstrates Hall’s incredible vocal range. The band are so tight and in tune with each other that it’s hard to believe these are their first shows outside of New York City . The audience may have arrived as fans of Six feet Under and Dexter, but they will have left as fans of Princess Goes To the Butterfly Museum. Whichever way you look at it this was a “killer” set and hopefully they will return playing bigger venues as their star deservedly ascends further.