B
lauerosen is not usually covering live gigs in other countries unless they are special appearances or important festivals. This time it was Record Store Day that brought together the Dresden Dolls for a special one off live appearance at Rough Trade in Brooklyn and ‘patreon’ that made it possible for people outside America but also for those that couldn’t be present at Rough Trade, to participate in this event. But let’s take things from the beginning.
Crowdfunding and Art…a partnership that opens infinite possibilities
Until now, ‘going to a gig’ and having the experience of a live performance of an artist meant that a person had to be physically part of the audience. The alternative way for people who couldn’t be physically present the day and time of a live performance was to be patient until an official recording of a live performance was released and sold. On the other hand if until a few years ago gigs were the only way of having a more direct communication with an artist, then crowd funding platforms proved that we hadn’t seen anything yet and not all the options had been explored before. As a result of these crowd funding platforms even personal gigs at the privacy of one’s house have been made possible provided that a certain amount of money was donated to the artist through these platforms. If in the past, the popularity of an artist was a function of his/her advertisement by the media which depended on few acquaintances and loyal funders/investors, the crowd funding showed the other side of the same coin by putting all the financial ‘weight’ of the creation/production/distribution of a piece of art, to the public. In this way the supporters of an artist had the opportunity to promote and support financially the work of their favourite artists.
I was introduced to crowd funding platforms through Amanda Palmer’s Kickstarter campaign for the release of her album with The Grand Theft Orchestra entitled ‘Theatre Is Evil‘. The short video that accompanied this campaign couldn’t stress more successfully the fact that an artist can still create art even without investors with deep pockets and at the same time people who wished to support an artist directly, could do so by offering as little as £1, 1€ or $1. In return the artists always offer various combinations of goodies including the resulting piece of art in various formats. Now AFP has started a patreon campaign (it has already 4500 patreons) and a lengthy and very detailed text outlines the reasons behind the choice of this specific platform. It was mainly due to patreon’s ability to offer this service that supporters of AFP through this platform, received a password protected link and were able to watch a live streaming of the appearance of the Dresden Dolls at 6pm ECT on April 18th 2015 at Rough Trade in Brooklyn in High Definition. The close up viewpoint of the camera gave me automatically the impression that this was an important achievement that bypassed so many difficulties and made it possible for me to have the feeling that I was there among these people that waited impatiently for the band to appear on stage!
The Dresden Dolls, a punk cabaret tale for all the senses
Brian Viglione, wearing almost everyday clothes and a jokey cap and Amanda Fucking Palmer wearing a beige night gown underneath a blazer, appeared on stage at the announced stage time. I quickly overcame my emotions and felt a bit nervous as I expected a more theatrical appearance from both, based on their photographs and artwork of their albums. The live performance meant to show to all of us that this was about exposing and presenting the ‘bare bones’ of the Dresden Dolls, the essence of the band rather than rely on appearances. The initial nervousness of both musicians was expressed by the exchange of extremely intense looks during the first two songs (i.e. ‘Sex Changes‘ and ‘Ultima Esperanza‘). When both these songs ended, Dresden Dolls seemed to be more spontaneous, more relaxed towards each other and with the audience, their facial expressions softened and their body movements didn’t have the initial stiffness. Just before ‘Mandy Goes To Med School‘ Amanda Palmer said to us ‘I wasn’t going to remove this (showing the blazer) but it’s too hot in here so…you get the naked lady‘. Brian Viglione had already started his frenzy rhythms at the drums and he gave me the impression that his hands were mechanical as they moved so dexterously and so quickly that they seemed to lose every ‘human’ aspect. ‘Lonesome Organist Rapes Page Turner’ turned the page from the last albums by Dresden Dolls, namely ‘Yes, Virginia‘, ‘No,Virginia‘ and for the remaining 30’ the band covered the more melodic and theatrical songs from the album ‘Dresden Dolls’ and the EP ‘Girl Anachronism’. It is important to note that as part of the special releases for Record Store Day, the previously individually released ‘Yes, Virginia’ and ‘No, Virginia’ albums were released together in 3 12” LPs.
This live appearance focused on the very essence of the duo called ‘The Dresden Dolls’ and as the gig progressed, the musicians relaxed and AFP became more and more direct with us, more ‘inappropriate’, more ‘macho’ and more dynamic while speaking to us between the songs by altering both the volume and the tone of her voice. That is when it occurred to me that Dresden Dolls were not the equivalent but the opposite of an idealised/polished image of a perfect doll. This band was not theatrical in order to satisfy their vanity but because this has made the communication of their lyrics easier to the audience. The Dresden Dolls of 2015 are all about immediacy and about speaking hard truths just as their lyrics suggest . They have ‘taken off ‘the make up and the cute clothing and appear ‘unmasked’ and ‘brutal’ and not abiding by traditional roles and other established views. Besides, dolls look pretty and kind only when they are bought! So the band this time was very explicit so as we won’t be fooled by the word ‘dolls’ in their name, this band never supported falseness and masking. The lyrics of ‘Girl Anachronism‘ for example challenge this whole idea of ‘polishing’ in terms of appearance; this song is a celebration of rebellion against time and what is considered ‘contemporary’ and appropriate. ‘Half Jack‘ is a song that deals with existential questions and very serious thoughts about a person’s positive and negative sides. The vulgarity that the Dresden Dolls had during this live at Rough Trade, that was represented by a less polished stage appearance and very direct almost ‘brutal’ way of communication with us, was always present in their lyrics. If ‘girls wanna have fun’ as Cyndi Lauper so naturally put it in the 80s then the Dresden Dolls stand for girls that can shout and scream and bang a piano and speak dirty and this is what was emphasized in Rough Trade.
The performances of ‘Half Jack‘ and ‘Coin Operated Boy‘ were very emotional moments of this gig. In ‘Half Jack‘ Amanda was amazing in doing both the backing vocals and the lead vocals alternating with dexterity and skill between the two. It was great watching this song being performed live! ‘Coin Operated Boy‘ was a revelation as towards the end of the song, both Brian and Amanda literally in a blink of an eye, were transformed to a ‘coin operated boy’ and a ‘coin operated girl’ respectively, just by altering their facial expressions. The close up views from the camera to both their faces showed just how significant this transformation was. I had the impression that they were made of porcelain! It was formidable to see this being achieved without the help of special make up or special clothing. The last song of the official duration of the gig was ‘Sing’ but the audience’s warm applause meant that the band offered us one more last song and the ‘heretic’ ‘Girl Anachronism‘ couldn’t be a better choice. A pregnant Amanda Palmer gave her all on stage and together with Brian Viglione performed the song with explosive energy and passion! I couldn’t help but applaud them from home as I couldn’t help feeling grateful to be offered the opportunity to be a part of this sudden and so welcomed live appearance by one of my favourite bands of all times!The video of this special one off performance is expected to be released to the public in the next few days and a link will be provided to our website as well!
Amanda Palmer will begin a UK tour on May 28th starting with an already sold out event in London entitled after the recently released live album called ”An evening with Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer”. She will then start a solo tour from St George’s at Bristol and will perform live again in London’s Union Chapel on June 8th. You can purchase tickets for the performance at Union Chapel by following this link.
Blaue Rosen 