Low Down

The Dresden Doll’s twisted chanteuse combines music, cabaret and performance art in the boho surroundings of the Spiegeltent.

Review

Question: Why is Amanda Palmer, a musician, being reviewed on a theatre website? Answer: If there is one band that has blurred between music, theatre and performance art then it is hers, The Dresden Dolls, who from their beginnings dauntingly described their style as “Brechtian Punk Cabaret”. There was no shortage of theatrics in Palmer’s electrifying live show during which she was accompanied by the cast of C Venues’, ‘6 Women Against a White Wall’, as well as a number of white-faced performance artists stalking thorough the audience. 

Palmer, clad in a Basque, stockings and suspenders, had a feral energy as she pounded the piano keys to within an inch of their lives. Her voice was deep, husky and direct without any unnecessary warbling, there was no doubt she meant business. Yet between songs Palmer bantered with the audience, behind her formidable onstage persona there seemed to be real humour and warmth. 

In the midst of some surprising cover versions and crowd pleasers, ‘Coin Operated Boy’ getting a particularly enthusiastic response, Palmer debuted a number of new songs from her first solo album, produced by American college rock staple Ben Folds. These songs, while more personal and confessional in tone, retained the percussive power of her work with The Dresden Dolls. The quieter moments in the set also yielded highpoints, especially memorable was the whispered ode to the American high school and college shootings of the last 10 years.

Simply put, don’t miss Amanda Palmer’s master class in performance.

Reviewed by DS 11/08/07

Website : http://www.myspace.com/whokilledamandapalmer