Dresden Dolls

Fall 2010 Concert Insanity continues on.  This time it was The Dresden Dolls at the Buckhead Theater with Kurt, Dan, Mikey, Janis, Ian, and Jeremy.  We met early at Woofs for a few drinks and orders of disgustingly good fried food, then headed over to the theater, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite venues.  It used to be The Roxy and it was a grubby pit.  Now it is shiny and new looking, with a more open and inviting atmosphere.  Once we got to the theater, we realized the doors had not opened yet, and we had to walk to the end of the line, which happened to take us well out of our way.  I wasn't expecting them to draw that large of a crowd, considering they weren't even touring behind a new album.

We finally got in and had some more drinks before the show.  A local band Lille opened, but they were slightly on the sleepy side, so we spent the rest of their set either on the smoking balcony or in the lobby.  The crowd was an eclectic one, with lots of people in costumes and other get-ups.  I hate to admit that I hadn't heard any of Dresden Dolls' music prior to the show.  I had heard of them, basically as a band that Trent Reznor liked and had open for Nine Inch Nails on a prior tour.  I knew they were a cabaret-esque sort of act with piano and drums and a female singer.  That was the extent of my knowledge going into it.

And it's always fun to not really know much about a band and to be really excited about what you hear.  Same thing happened several times at Coachella when I saw Major Lazer and Bassnectar and was blown away by what I heard and saw.  The show started off with a simple acoustic number with the drummer Brian Viglione on guitar and Amanda Palmer on vocals.  Then they kicked it into high gear with Amanda on piano and vocals and Brian showing what an amazingly versatile drummer he is. 

The songs veered from upbeat (and frequently profane) singalongs to delicate ballads.  Dresden Dolls's sound brings to mind everyone from Kurt Weill, Marlene Dietrich, the movie and musical Cabaret, PJ Harvey, Tori Amos, and Siouxsie Sioux.  The crowd was really into the show and frequently overpowered Amanda's voice with their singing along.  Thankfully it was more endearing that annoying.  At one point, Amanda claimed she was having difficulty remembering the words to a song and brought a fan out from the audience to sing it.  And she sang it very well, even considering the lyrics were sung at breakneck pace.



One of the highlights was the fan favorite "Coin Operated Boy"



I was also able to find a clip of one of Brian's drum solos:



Both of them had such amazing energy and really kept the flow of the show going very well.  I barely even noticed that they played over 2 hours and that I enjoyed almost every song they played.  I can rarely say that at a show for a band I really like.

So needless to say, I really had a great time seeing them and enjoyed hanging out with the gang.  I even went home and downloaded everything by them I could find.  Unfortunately, the one song I liked the most ("Colorblind") is off an old EP that is apparently out of print so I haven't been able to find it.  If anyone can direct me to somewhere I can get it, it would be most appreciated.