Wednesday 04 February 2009

Support:
Detektivbyrån 

I really love seeing Amanda Palmer and the Dresden Dolls live. They take the idea of punk cabaret and really run with it, producing shows where you can never quite predict what is going to happen. This was especially true of Amanda’s solo show at the Electric Ballroom and you could tell you were going to be in for something different right from the start when the Dirty Business Brigade (or the Amanda Fucking Palmer parade?) appeared, dressed in costume, and kept the queue entertained with free sweets, playing cards, magnetic letters, roses and other odd trinkets. Once inside, the support act were a Swedish band who played twee instrumental music on a variety of instruments including a glockenspiel, an accordian and some scissors, and who made their own costumes especially for the tour. Next was a comedian/compere, who spent a good 15-20 minutes warming up the crowd with his banter before Amanda took to the stage. 

 
Amanda’s set itself consisted of a dance troupe that had flown from Australia for nothing and relied on audience donations, an auction of a naked portrait, a marriage proposal, a ‘photo opportunity’ set to Girls on Film, as well as a 15 song setlist comprising of old, new, solo, Dresden Dolls and even a few cover songs. Her banter between songs was as relaxed and easy as a chat between old friends and she discussed everything from politics, radio 1’s refusal to play her new song, her habit of fiddling with equipment unnecessarily, to the people she was staying with in Camden and her amazement at London’s standstill due to the snow. We got treated to a slow, serious version of Oasis, a brass-backed version of Leeds United, Coin-operated boy with some questionable props, and a mimed version of I Kissed A Girl complete with a molested Katy Perry-alike.

 
Amanda had a violinist accompany her for a few songs, but most of the time it was just her and a piano, and it’s astonishing to hear the range of music she can create. From the tongue-in-cheek twinklings of I Want You and Coin-Operated Boy, to the dramatic thundering of Astronaut and the menacing Slide, it proves that her songs don’t play second fiddle to the theatrics. Amanda’s shows are definately a unique experience, and one that needs to be seen and heard to be fully appreciated.

The Assistant
Backstabber
I Want You, But I Don’t Need You
Astronaut
Slide
Guitar Hero
Oasis
Coin-Operated Boy
Bad Habit
Heart Trout Replica
My Favourite Things
Runs In The Family
Like O Like H
Have To Drive
——————–
Leeds United
I Kissed A Girl
——————–
‘Photo Opportunity’