The 3rd and 4th of November saw Camden Town, famous for its alternative lifestyle and music, play host at the Roundhouse to the carnival antics of Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione, know collectively as the Dresden Dolls. And there's fun and antics from all involved.
Supported by various performers, art students and other insanities, the show was more than just the performance of two musicians promoting their new album,
Yes, Virginia. More like a spectacle of the macabre, the bizarre and the down-right silly, as the dolls were supported by members of their brigade and street teams, producing more of a mini festival of their self styled Punk Caberet rather than a concert.
Being a fan of the dolls for some years, and an avid concert goer, nothing could have prepared me for the antics of the Camden show on the 4th of November. The doors to the unique Roundhouse venue opened earlier than the 7:00pm stated time in order to allow for the various and many supporting performers. These included a number of bizarre acts and performance art like Zen Zen Zo, Future Cinema, Emilie Bera and Bang on! These performances were dotted around a central audience pit, giving a unique circus feel, yet we were the animals with the performers looking in. Many of the performers wandered through the audience and interacted with them.
The main stage musicians included performances from Sxip Shirley, Reggie Watts, Baby Dee, The Red Paintings, Jason Webley and the
legendary Edward Ka-Spel and The Silverman - compered by Margaret Cho, who had her own performance of a striptease. All provided their own blend of strange and different performances, that highlights the number of fantastic and different talent that will never be allowed to perform on the x-factor
, and I'm sure, the world is a better place because of it. It is the perversive and abnormal nature of these acts that make them important, the mainstream would dilute the importance of their uniqueness.
You'd have thought that by the time the dolls took to the stage, the audience would have been more than entertained, meaning the dolls would have less work to do. However, eager to push themselves to the limit, the dolls set out on a mamoth set of over two hours performing.
An issue I personally have found with previous performances were many omissions from the set list of fantastic songs, some I've not heard live since the first performance I saw in the Life Cafe in Manchester. Many of these songs require backing vocals or participation of a choir of singers - of which a fully established performer would rely on the audience for these vocals. However, the dolls are not fully able to rely on their UK audience to fulfill this role and steer clear of these in favour of more streamlined, faster songs and covers of classics, such as the Sabbath classic 'War Pigs'.
With performers aplenty surrounding the Roundhouse, the dolls could take their pick of people willing to interact. Many songs included support from previous performers, such as Edward Ka-Spel's inclusion on the classic song of
young love, 'Missed Me', and Lene Lovich providing the title character's vocals on the song 'Delilah' - a favourite of mine since hearing it performed by Whitney with the dolls at the Life Cafe. Many of the performers took to the stage for songs such as 'Sing' and 'The Jeep Song'
Many of the Brigade mambers also provided performance on-stage with many of the songs, such as an aerial performer during the song 'Gravity', providing a granduer to the performance. Similar performances appearing during many of the songs. The overall feel of fun and action was fantastic and really added to the beautiful music performed by Amanda and Brian. Surely the best way to see the Dresden Dolls.
The entire night was also recorded by various cameras dotted around the Roundhouse, so hopefully a DVD will follow. If so I recommend it to everyone. That is, if you can't get to a live show.
The Complete Setlist
Sex Changes
Missed Me
Gravity
Modern Moonlight
Mrs O
Backstabber
Coin Operated Boy
Two Headed Boy
Mandy Goes to Med School
Lonesome Organist Rapes Page Turner
Slide
The Jeep Song
Dirty Business
Delilah
Shores of California
Sing
----encore----
Mein Herr
Madworld
Girl Anachronism
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The Dresden Dolls - Camden Town, Roundhouse
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