2004-01-22 - 9:27 a.m.
so last night i went to the halogens residency at tt's to see amanda palmer from the dresden dolls (without the dolls' drummer). i have been meaning to check out the dolls for a long time now, but circumstances always got in the way. i made it a mission last night to go to the show solely to see miss palmer, and damn, that girl's good!
she walked onstage and it seemed to me that she wasn't doing the typical stage-makeupy version of the dresden dolls that is talked about round these parts. her hair was messily pinned on her head and she was wearing a brooklyn shirt with baseball sleeves over what appeared to be a fringey scarf for a skirt (this is important because when she plays she becomes erotically charged and sort of "loses control" of herself in that, everyone in the audience saw her panties the whole time because of the way she was sitting - legs spread - or moving her legs while playing. this is not a diss. it was hot and i think all part of "the show".)
so she started the first song, and i was disappointed, i looked at my friend and shrugged and she did the same. "tori amos", we whispered. boy were we wrong! the next song, "coin-operated boy" is my new favorite. she is all about the stage presence: the head tilts, the jerky piano playing, the wide-eyed doll-like expression, etc. after hearing the song, i certainly want to buy the dolls' album. then she played a cover of britney spears "baby one more time". oh my, this is how the song needs to be performed. it was dark and angry and highlighted just how creepy the stalkery/abuseish lyrics are. amanda was almost possessed, screaming "hit me hit me hit me". it was amazing.
the entire show i was trying to figure out who she reminds me of and the best i could do was come up with an amalgam:
*one part marianne faithfull aka a voice of smokes and whiskey
*one part patti smith, for her inclination towards poetry and lyric
*one part tori amos, for the whole "making love to the piano" thing
*one part bowie, and i'm not entirely sure why, i'm just sure
*one part pj harvey, for the darkness and the makeup and the theatrics
*one part that muppet from sesame street that screams "i'll never get it never!", for the power and strength with which she bangs on the piano keys.
towards the end of the show, the drummer came onstage to play guitar. at this point, amanda stripped off her tshirt to show that what i thought was scarf, was actually a very pretty dress. she didn't play piano for this second to last song, she sang and played tambourine and clapped. and got everyone in the audience clapping. and the weird thing is, i was moved. it was this oddly powerful moment and you knew she felt what she was doing and wasn't faking it to be dramatic. i am rarely moved to the point of welling up at a rock show, but last night my eyes brimmed a bit. [if anyone knows what song of theirs ends with handclaps, please let me know!]
the final song was a cover of neutral milk hotel's "two-headed boy", which just about got me welling again. what an utterly perfect cover for them to do, if i didn't know it was a neutral milk hotel song (off one of the greatest albums ever), i'd think it was their own. i'm tempted to print the lyrics here, because it's such a fucking beautiful song. anywho, so worth it, so incredible, everything everyone says about them is true, and i can't wait to see the actual dolls show with full-on makeup and theatrics and whatever. in this case, i totally believe the hype.
