Live And In The Flesh
The Dresden Dolls - January 4, 2008
2008 was off to a quick start with live music! Only a few short days into the new year, we made our way to Toronto to catch The Dresden Dolls live at The Phoenix! Three years earlier I had caught them opening up my very first Nine Inch Nails show at the Kool Haus in Toronto, and they had impressed me enough to make my way out to see them again. They had released their second studio album, Yes, Virginia, since seeing them last, and I was interested to see how they had evolved over the past few years.
The Dresden Dolls brought in two locals to open up for them during their stop in Toronto; Die Mannequin and Friendly Rich & the Lollipop People. Friendly Rich actually caught me off guard with their performance and how amazing it was. With every instrument you could think of up on stage (including a kazoo solo), made it seem so surreal what they were pulling off. I always love when an opening act is able to blow you away before the main headliner has even hit the stage. I was glad that The Dresden Dolls had chosen them to open up that night to help set the tone to their night of cabaret.
This was my first show at The Phoenix Concert Theatre and it wasn't long before I would make my way back down to the venue, as we had tickets to catch The Mars Volta later on that very same month. This was a great introductory show for the 1350 person capacity venue as they really made use of the theatre-style setup of the stage. There was even a guy rolling around inside of a hulla hoop throughout intermission between sets. It was a unique experience all around, and to top it all off it was a sold out show!
The lights finally dimmed down and The Dresden Dolls took to the stage. The duo from Boston consisted of Amanda Palmer on lead vocals and piano, with the occasional ukulele performance, and Brian Vigilone on drums and percussion with the occasional guitar or bass thrown into the mix, not to forget covering backup vocals. It seemed that these two had all of their bases covered, and were a well-oiled machine after seeing them only a few short years prior.
They started their set off with a Pink Floyd cover, In the Flesh. I couldn't believe that they would start everything up with that of all songs! Girl Anachronism, a track from their debut self-titled album came next which really had everyone fired up. They bounced back and fourth between newer and older songs throughout the first half of their set; Sex Changes, Missed Me, Glass Slipper and A Night at the Roses had all of their albums covered. The Dresden Dolls even surprised us with yet another amazing cover of the Beastie Boys' (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)! I think the Beastie Boys would have been pretty proud of the way they fought for their right that night. Amanda Palmer followed it up with a song from one of her solo albums, Astronaut (A Short History of Nearly Nothing), before diving into another classic from The Dresden Dolls, Coin-Operated Boy. Mandy Goes to Med School and Half Jack wrapped their regular set up before they left the stage to the cheers of the audience.
It wasn't long before the duo would take back the stage and treat us all to a four song encore. The Dresden Dolls started their grand finale off with a couple classics from their debut album, Bad Habit, and Gravity. They began to wind things down with Mein Herr from Kander and Ebb's "Cabaret". To top their incredible fifteen song setlist off, they treated us with yet another cover, this time of Neutral Milk Hotel's Two-Headed Boy. It was an amazing ending to their performance. Their whole style truly made it feel like a night out at the cabaret with The Dresden Dolls that Friday night in Toronto. It was a fantastic way to begin 2008 off with a show to remember.