The Dresden Dolls Please Fanatics Dolled Up In Chi-town

Cabaret piano and drums duo wow awestruck fans in Chicago.

by Chad Grischow

October 24, 2006 - How does a piano and drums cabaret duo get such a following fanatical enough to show up dressed as them? Can you really call a concert with only piano and drums a rock concert? According to Chicago based music critic Chad Grischow, absolutely.

Headliner: The Dresden Dolls
Opening Act: The Red Paintings / Sxip Shirey / Lord of the Yum Yum / Seventeen
When: 7pm, Friday, October 20th 2006
Where: The Vic Theatre, Chicago, IL
Ticket Price: $23.50

Chad Grischow

With only a drum kit and keyboard on stage, it did not appear the near-capacity crowd at The Vic was in store for a rock show. That was before Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione took the stage. The Boston-based duo eased into the hour and forty minute set with the placid break-up tune, "Truce". Palmer's vocals were gorgeous and tender as ever on the opening tune, but as fans know, they would not remain so. Throughout the set, Palmer and Viglione pour themselves into their music completely, resulting in tattered and worn vocals by night's end. Between the fragile entrance and ragged close, the duo put on a staggeringly good show.

Through the evening fanatical crowd (with many dressed to match their favorite piano and drums pair) would roar to life as Palmer started slamming the keys to open fan favorites like "Coin-Operated Boy", but the duo captivated them to the point of entrancement during the songs. For the majority of the evening, despite the rapid-fire pace of songs like "Modern Moonlight", the crowd stood motionless, gazing at Palmer and Viglione as though in disbelief that they were actually on stage. Based on the incredibly energized drumming of Viglione on songs like "Sex Changes", some disbelief was in order. Some may scoff at the notion of a piano and drums duo putting on a powerful show. Any naysayer would have had a bit of crow shoved in their gaped mouth after the killer metal-edged intro to set closer, "Half Jack".

Talking about a Dresden Dolls show without mentioning their theatrical nature would be a disservice. Yes, they take the stage wearing white-faced make-up that may cause some fans to pause at whether to take them seriously or not. The novelty of their appearance fades fast, as incredible songwriting skill and passion for the live performance takes center-stage. Their dramatic facial expressions during songs like the sinister "Missed Me" are half the fun of the vengeful tune about a blackmailing too-young mistress.

Taking a good chunk out of their two-album catalog, the duo's only slight misstep came from placing two gorgeous ballads back to back on the set list. Three members of opening performance-art troupe Seventeen assisted in playing out the heart wrenching "Delilah". The trio did not add much to the song about a hopeless woman in a self-destructive abusive relationship, although Palmer's brutally honest lyrics set the bar rather high. The two followed up the startling ballad with another in "Mrs. O". Placing the two soft ballads after each other did nothing to wake the lackadaisical crowd.

The fire the duo brings to the stage was not without victims; namely, Viglione's splintered drumstick on the hard-pounding "Backstabber" and Palmer's ragged vocals by the time "Half Jack" erupted to a close. After a much-needed break, Palmer returned to the stage announcing she would be trying a new, unfinished, song. The soaring tune was unique in its lack of cynical tongue and biting lyrics, with Palmer sounding happily in love. The song's lack of lyrical fangs did nothing to detract from the beauty of the well-received tune.

The evening exploded to a close with an acoustic cover of Tears For Fears' "Mad World", with Trash McSweeney of The Red Paintings on guitar and vocals, and the fierce "Girl Anachronism". The show only ended with Viglione seemingly exhausted and Palmer's vocals about to disappear. The duo, and its faithful fans, would not have had it any other way.

Set List:

"Truce"
"Sex Changes"
"Missed Me"
"Backstabber"
"Modern Moonlight"
"Coin-Operated Boy"
"Mein Herr" - Cabaret cover
"Delilah"
"Mrs. O"
"Bad Habit"
"First Orgasm"
"Mandy Goes To Med School"
"Half Jack"

Encore:

"My Lovely Astronaut"*
"Mad World" - Tears For Fears cover
"Girl Anachronism"

*new song, title unconfirmed