Perfume Genius Brings Glory to the Vic Theatre in Chicago

Steve Sym
3 minutes ago
2 min read

Touring in support of his latest album Glory, Perfume Genius (Mike Hadreas) transformed the Vic Theatre into a sacred space of sound and sensation. The performance was theatrical, mesmerizing, and emotionally raw—an embodiment of everything Glory represents: vulnerability, strength, and transcendence.

On record, Glory is pristine on the surface, yet simmering with tension and emotional complexity just beneath. It’s Hadreas’ seventh album and perhaps his most fully realized—a muscular, collaborative effort that draws energy from his longtime partner and creative co-conspirator Alan Wyffels, as well as producer Blake Mills and a fearsome new band lineup. Guitarists Meg Duffy and Greg Uhlmann, drummers Tim Carr and Jim Keltner, and bassist Pat Kelly create a sonic framework that allows Hadreas to explore a wide range of textures and tones—from haunted ballads to shimmering anthems.

There’s an elemental push and pull throughout Glory: the internal versus the external, the solitary artist versus the public figure, the desire to retreat versus the compulsion to be seen. Hadreas, long celebrated for his intimate and sometimes confrontational songwriting, finds a new sense of openness here. For the first time, he allowed his compositions to evolve collaboratively—making space for the band to shape the final form. The result is a record that feels expansive and alive, yet deeply personal.

Live, that dynamic unfolds in full force. The band doesn't just support Hadreas—they amplify him. Each song felt like a carefully choreographed ritual: fierce, sensual, and cathartic. Tracks from Glory soared in the Vic’s echoing hall, their emotional weight made tangible by Hadreas’ dramatic physicality and elastic voice. He performed as though channeling something divine and dangerous, twisting his body into impossible shapes, never once breaking the trance.

As Hadreas noted in discussing the album, Glory is more collaborative, more accessible—and more vulnerable. That vulnerability was palpable on stage. What we witnessed wasn’t just a performance. It was a revelation.