X-Factor

Allie Hughes has been kicking around Toronto's music scene for a while, but her move to L.A. and transformation into a Lady Gaga-esque Allie X has brought much more attention to her music. On Saturday, she was a musical guest for the Flaunt Festival at Harbourfront.

Supremely tall on gangly boots and legs, this was essentially a reprise of her show at the Drake. But given her synth-dance (with weirdo touches) style, a tightly choreographed set is to be expected. Her dance moves were more (deliberately) animatronic/cyborg than Beyonce athleticism. With only a few songs released on the CollXTion I EP, she played the songs in order. But this was also a choice with the narrative that she was telling. Despite the seemingly pop nature of her music, she showed off her big pipes every now and then, as well as an "accidental" demonstration. During prolonged technical difficulties by her band before starting Prime, she decided to play the first verse by herself in an "operatic manner" accompanied by her classically-trained piano playing. The old people behind me could be heard expressing their amazement.

But the advantage of playing for fogeys at public venues instead of hipsters at underground trendy clubs is that they buy merchandise. So unlike her lonely table at the Drake show, there was a line-up afterwards for CDs and t-shirts. The other contingent is a small vocal fan-base comprising of young, queer kids. They cheered and danced during the show and stayed for photos and autographs. Her new music and outsider attitude seemed to have struck a chord, as a few fans were moved to tears talking to her.