the Dresden Dolls are the future of music performance

I have to think about it, but the Dresden Dolls show at Avalon last night may have been the best concert I have ever attended. It wasn't a concert though, it was an experience. I almost hesitate to try to describe it, because I can't do the night justice.



The experience began outside on Landsdowne Street. Halloween, and the freaks were out in full force. Fairies, butterflies, goth outfits of all shapes and sizes, and lots and lots of makeup. Heather and I felt like we barely escaped notice as way too normal with our all-black outfits and my creepy eye makeup. Not any Rainbow Brite costumes at this show, that's for sure. I can't believe I forgot my camera.

The Dresden Dolls employ a circus of performance artists and they were scattered throughout the crowd: the eerie all-purple butterfly creeping around slowly and pawing at you as you went by, scantily clad goth men and women, not necessarily dressing their gender, stationing themselves here and there and not moving a muscle, the bloody and drugged-out bride holding up a "long live the bride" sign.

Opening acts included a 3 piece klesmer style band, two acrobats who flung themselves around the dance floor in a huge metal ring, a weirdo acoustic guitar lady who should stick to her day job reading tarot cards and not freaking people out at concerts with her strange antics, Lexington High School interpretive dance troupe, and Devotchka, who were dressed as Halloween mariachi and won the crowd over with their style of gypsy rock. There were no breaks between bands, as every spare minute was filled with some sort of odd entertainment or weirdness.

Boston's own Dresden Dolls are often described as "punk cabaret"; their show is a blend of sight, sound, and performance art. Their music is a rock/punk/piano/drums/emo mix, and it was executed to perfection last night as Amanda belted out her emotional and personal songs, one leg resting up on an amplifier, barely keeping herself in her chair, a truly ass-kicking frontwoman. Brian may be the best rock drummer I've seen live. Arms flailing and often jumping out of his seat, his drumming was pounding and propulsive, always creatively filling the space between Amanda's keyboard and vocals. They are definitely way tighter since I saw them last about a year ago; I'm sure their recent stint opening for Nine Inch Nails was a huge boost.

Their makeup amplified every emotion as they interacted with each other and the crowd, and the visuals weren't limited to the two of them. During their show they had frequent visits from their rotating cast of freaks, all dressed up exquisitely and adding eerie atmospherics.

Only four songs in Amanda jumped on drums and Brian picked up an electric guitar and they tore into Joan Jett's "I Love Rock n Roll". In the hands of a lesser band, this risk could have killed momentum and lost the crowd. The Dolls nailed it, and the emotion and crowd energy went over the top. They opened their encore set dressed as the White Stripes and played that damn doorbell song. Hilarious, and by the way, I like the Dolls version better. Other covers included Bright Eyes and the finale, "Let the Sun Shine", with all the night's participants together on stage.

The Dresden Dolls were transcendent last night. If their songwriting can maintain, expect to hear lots more from them in the future...