“Like watching a live Edward Gorey Musical.”
“Like watching a live Edward Gorey Musical.”
An Evening with The Dresden Dolls was like a dark Germanic, Weimar-style burlesque show hosted by Amanda Palmer (voice and piano) and Brian Viglione (drums). Or like watching a live Edward Gorey Musical, which is easier to explain.
Lead Singer Amanda Palmer had a hypnotic and uncouth manor of playing her piano. You couldn’t take your eyes off of her and what pelvic thrust moves she was going to try next. I was quite impressed with her loose style of playing… I could easily picture her at age 12, seated at her piano, a pointy long fingered teacher seated next to her slapping her fingers with a ruler correcting her “bad form”.
Song highlights include Missed Me, a song written in the Kurt Weill style with wandering voice with piano sounds, which seem to mirror each other as the controversial Lolita story unfolded. Also, Coin Operated Boy, a very satirical cabaret number about, “love without complications galore”. In the middle of the song they staged three or four skips of a record before the song goes off on an epic rant. Finally the song recollects itself, returning to the simplistic and lighthearted beginning.
For the cover of Jacque Brel song “In The Port of Amsterdam,” Brian Viglione grabbed an acoustic guitar and joined Palmer at the front of the stage to sing this French classic in English (as David Bowie did). When she sang the first line, “In the Port of Amsterdam,” an audience member called out “En Francais!” and she stopped the song with a the laugh and began to interact with the whole audience, leading them in a democratic vote. Palmer stated, “I forgot we are in a real democracy”, mocking her native homeland of the US. The discussion ended after only about 6 people raised up there hands to the question of speaking French, but she promised that they would play the song after the show on the street “En Francais” for them.
For the encore, they came out and played “Hit Me Baby One More Time” making me realize that this song is actually quite good. A few other bands have covered it, but this was unexpected. What it made clear was that this was an act with a dramatic dark side as a well as delightful humorous side.
The intimacy of the small room at the Paard van Troje also had a great deal to do with the success of the show. The crowd was extremely amused. It was my first time seeing/hearing this band, but I had the feeling that there were a bunch of fans present in the audience. The others, including myself, were amazed at the musical range and charm of this duo from Boston Massachusetts, The Dresden Dolls.
Words and Photographs : Zoe Gottehrer