If three days of back-to-back performances was taking its toll on Amanda Palmer and company, it was hard to tell. From the extended introduction to Do It With a Rockstar, with Palmer barreling through the audience with a megaphone, to the crowd singalong of Massachusetts Avenue, the new tracks came alive tonight. In particular, The Killing Type packed a wicked punch and is my hands down favorite from the live performances.

The sound was better than on Tuesday night and you could hear the difference especially in the two songs supported the string quartet Trout Heart Replica and The Bed Song. The strings vibrated throughout the room and it brought the emotional force of the compositions to full tilt. There was a moment during Astronaut where the melody is carried just on the weight of Chad Raines’ guitar and it carried crisply out to the audience and completely blew me away.

Though the setlist was similar to Tuesday night’s performance, when it veered off, it went in great directions. Hearing a live version of Idioteque (one of a few Radiohead songs covered by Amanda Palmer) was completely amazing, even if the song was more frenetic than even the studio version. The band pulled out a cover of The Motel’s Total Control that slipped easily in their set and bracketed by a conversation about the band performing with the Muppets. During Bottomfeeder, Palmer tossed herself into the crowd and surfed while singing the chorus.

You can tell the band is having a good time with one another. The chemistry shines through (Raines headbutting bassist Jherek Bischoff and standing on Michael McQuilken’s drumkit and McQuilken’s dead on impersonation of Elmo. Palmer’s take on Janice was pretty funny too). They closed the show by bringing everyone onstage for a jam of Leeds United and, as if not to be outdone, Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra took one last song to the house, a Dresden Dolls classic Girl Anachronism that left the crowd winded and ecstatic.

Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra setlist
Do It With a Rockstar
Missed Me
The Killing Type
Astronaut
Trout Heart Replica
The Bed Song
Idioteque
Lost
How Awesome is My Band/Scene Change Music
Total Control
Bottomfeeder
Want It Back
Massachusetts Avenue
Berlin
Olly Olly Oxen Free
Encore
Leeds United (with Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys and Jaggery)
Girl Anachronism

I’m not sure I can adequately describe how much I loved watching Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys perform. The music hints at some kind darkly lit industrial folk tale ala the real Brothers Grimm’ The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids where the wolf eats all but one. But their songs are backlit with a perverse joy and it comes out sparkling and LOUD during their live performance. You have band members weaving through the audience playing their instruments. You have funky costumes – some ironic, some wayward – and as a band, they wander the stage like a traveling circus. Through it all, Walter Sickert anchors the performance pounding out strong melodies and baying these fierce, fuming lyrics and damn if it doesn’t come off as revelry.

The songs during the thirty-minute set were taken from SteamShipKillers released in 2010. Although Sea Song was their ode to love and opposition to hatred and bigotry, it was Feathers, (with the gorgeous vocals of Jaggery’s Mali Sastri) that really struck home to me. It was a haunting and visceral performance. They closed the set with a fantastic call and answer Off With Her Head. Half the audience shouts “Off” and the other half shouts “Head” and behind the cacophony, the band plays on. Utterly brilliant. Utterly captivating.

Walter Sickert & the Army of Broken Toys setlist
No Room
A Friend in Goddamn
Sea Song/Love and Marriage
Feathers (with Mali Sastri)
Off With Her Head

Amanda Palmer’s transformation into a balls out rockstar is complete. If her live show is any indication, the new album Theatre Is Evil (out in September) is going to be thunderous. There have always been hints of it in her past material (Leeds United which transformed itself tonight into a foot-stomping-dance-party-encore and the Dresden Dolls’ frequent cover of War Pigs) but we’re entering into new territory.

Leading the show with a raucous version of Do It With A Rockstar that brought down the house, the four piece band (including Chad Raines who opened with the Simple Pleasure, bassist Jherek Bischoff and drummer Michael McQuilken) then accelerated into a theatrical, jaw-dropping version of Missed Me. It was so audacious in its execution, I don’t actually want to tell you what they did just in case you get the opportunity to see it for yourself. The setlist was heavy on new material some of which the audience had never heard before and at least one Berlin that had been only played live one other time. There were some old favorites including the frenzied Girl Anachronism which fit right in among the new tracks and a scuzzy, grimy version (meant in the nicest way) of Astronaut launched to another planet by Raines’ guitar riff.

The four string quartet played during Trout Heart Replica and The Bed Song (arranged by Bischoff). Palmer introduced Trout as the saddest song ever, but it’s not. The Bed Song, however, is a strong contender. Arranged with the strings, the song catches in your throat. I hope the band records a version with strings and releases it for our consumption. A horn section was recruited for the tail end of the show. Olly Olly Oxen Free closed out the main set and I think once the song is better known, it will maintain its rightful place as a show closing singalong. Palmer dragged everyone on stage for one last time on Leeds United so we could party with a true rockstar.

Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra setlist
Do It With a Rockstar
Missed Me
The Killing Type
Lost
Astronaut
Trout Heart Replica
The Bed Song
Bottomfeeder
Girl Anachronism
Want It Back
Enter Sandman (partial)
Massachusetts Avenue
Berlin
Olly Olly Oxen Free
Encore
Leeds United

[Portland, OR] I didn’t want to like this guy because he had a stereotypical tall hat on – very Portland. And because he sounded like Tom Waits, whom I really really dislike. And because he passed out a card proclaiming himself as a steampunk Professor Gall: alternative just like all the other alternative kids. But I liked him in the end. He demonstrated why average singer/songwriters are so mind-numbingly boring. His voice was dynamic and interesting, as was his music. He played a guitar and stomped on a mic’ed box. His lyrics were also smart and interesting. He confirmed the winning of the crowd by leaping on the bar and stalking back and forth for his last song – I felt sort of sorry for him that he felt he had to work that hard to grab the interest of the people. Interestingly, the guy next to us at the bar was a friend of his from many years back – they’d roomed together in Portland but bar guy now lived in Denver. They were metalheads back then

The Dresden Dolls announced two shows at the Wilbur Theatre, one for each of their major label releases. The second night was dedicated completely to Yes, Virginia, released in early 2006.

The Dolls opened with back to back banging versions of Sex Changes and Backstabber. Playing the album in order, there wasn’t really that much surprise to be had tonight. Instead, the night became a kind of lovefest between singer and keyboardist Amanda Palmer and drummer/guitarist Brian Viglione and the audience. In addition to offering some backstory on how the album was made, the duo played off each other as if 2006 were merely yesterday.

The best of the night was a gorgeous rendition of Delilah with Georgia from Bitter Ruin adding some harmonious textures. There was also a extended, rousing version of Mandy Goes to Med School that pitched the audience into a frenzy. There was definitely a shift in the energy level, one that rocketed up and up and didn’t drop again until the house lights came up. Amanda Palmer did a short solo take on Me & the Mini Bar that somehow, even in its quiet aspirations, kept the momentum rolling into the end of the show. They closed with an encore that included Amanda Palmer racing through the mezzanine, and a run through of their iconic single Coin-Operated Boy. Their rendition of War Pigs (a Black Sabbath cover that’s been in their setlist before) was everything fans have come to know and love about the Dresden Dolls. It included an extended duel between Brian’s drums and Amanda’s keyboards, interplay that clearly displayed their affection for music, the fans and each other. It was an awesome, otherworldly display that – because the Dresden Dolls are shortchanged as an oddball indie act – not enough people have witnessed in the last ten years.

Though ostensibly the Dresden Dolls are no longer recording new music together (both have released other projects) here’s hoping they come together once in a while and remind us of just how great they are. They can play whatever they damn well feel like, and I would come back for more.

Dresden Dolls setlist
Sex Changes
Backstabber
Modern Moonlight
My Alcoholic Friends
Delilah (with Georgia Train)
Dirty Business
First Orgasm
Mrs. O
Shores of California
Necessary Evil
Mandy Goes to Med School
Me & The Minibar
Sing
Encore
Mein Herr
Coin-Operated Boy
War Pigs

Bitter Ruin is the reason I go to concerts. To have a musical duo blow you off your feet from the first note and keep you suspended in time until the last strum of the guitar is why I go to live shows. To do that as complete unknowns is a minor miracle.

From the heavenly harmonies between Ben Richards and Georgia Train to the haunting melodies, their songs transcend the music two people should seem capable of achieving. Even with a certain amount of theatricality, songs like Relief and Soldier shone in their right. The best of the night was the simple A Brand New Me which had the strength of stirring musical number and kept the audience hushed until Georgia sang the last note.

Referred to somewhat obliquely as just Georgia and Ben, the former has a voice that is out of this world, the latter is a pretty stellar vocalist and guitarist. Together, they make an outstanding duo. Georgia is the kind of person that could sing the ingredients on a shampoo bottle and people would perk up. But the fact is that Ben kept up with his harmonies all the while turning his guitar into a one man serenade. The opening act was a rare one that felt like their time on stage was too short.

Side bar, however Amanda Palmer keeps finding these exquisite musical acts to open her shows, she needs to keep it going forever and ever. In fact, she should start a circus and invite all her former opening acts to take part.

Vermillion Lies, billed as sister cabaret, opened for Amanda Palmer. The two sisters harmonized and clapped and played a ragtag of makeshift instruments to great effect. The opened with a little ditty about cutting open Grandfather, then sang the song of the two sisters with Long Red Hair. The songs smacked of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, definitely not the happily ever after kind. They harmonized beautifully, kept up the chatter in between songs.

“What’s in the box?” we were prompted to ask before Blue (complete with a marionette performance). The Astronomer was a dirty song “the solar system really turns me on
I’m floating through your galaxy your milky ways are all over me”. They closed with two romps through Circus Fish and wildly entertaining Global Warming, which got the crowd pumped and chanting along to the refrain:

global warming – it\”s hot!
global warming – it\”s not cool!
global warming
it\”s too cool for school

Cover act cross between the Andrew Sisters and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. Got a earful of Crazy in Love (Beyonce), Heart of Glass (Blondie) and their finale was Walk Like an Egyptian (Bangles). Also did Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. Nice voices, 40′s style dresses but my attention wandered two songs in. The crowd was into it more than I.

the fantasmous band, all hoppy and Charlestony with the 7 foot man in short pants as their lead singer, they\”re not meant to play outside – better in an old bar with wooden floors!

so good that I was in continuous state of body prickles and it wasn’t only because of the horror of the previous band, one of the most charming and engaging bands I have seen in a long time, in large part due to the charismatic lead singer – a pug girl with a shock of blonde hair and a puppy dog enthusiasm and energy, she sang in an old-timey cutesy voice – kind of playful but high high quality, she verged on insane – jaw bracing, eyes darting – and I kept waiting to see a dark side but she maintained this tremendous aura of joy and quirkiness before, during and after her set, she also played guitar, the violinist was fantastic – a wispy near-severe former gothic woman in a red satin dress and ripped arms – purportedly one of the best in town, the positive interaction between the lead singer and the upright bass player when leaning in to share the microphone also built the appeal of a band that enjoys each other and enjoys what they’re doing, mostly old-timey swinging jazz and country songs, cute lyrics, one Spanish guitar song, one more modern-sounding song that reminded me of CocoRosie, the girl has it is my point

The Dresden Dolls came out for the Winter Tour to close out 2007 (and on New Year’s Eve in NYC). Their Boston date was supported by Meow Meow and Luminescent Orchestrii, as well as an art house performance by members of the Lexington High School Drama Troupe. Opening with a back-to-back raucous versions of “Girl Anachronism” and “Missed Me,” the songs set the tone for a wild romp through mostly early tunes. The Dresden Dolls are never dull but there was something surprisingly normal about the whole affair. Mostly lacking the “cabaret” aspect of their performance, this was a straight rock ‘n’ roll concert.

That didn’t stop the audience or the duo of Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione from enjoying a frisky race through some well-worn hits like “Coin-Operated Boy,” and some lesser played tunes like the gorgeous “Ultima Esperanza” and “Boston.” They invited Sxip Shirey to play a searing cover of “You Gotta Fight for Your Right To Party!” and closed out the show with the entire Luminescent Orchestrii on a cover of the iconic Eurythmics hit “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This.”

Despite having a cold which caused Amanda to have problems with some the notes, there wasn’t a dull moment in the set. Amanda even spent some quality time in each corner of the house, moving through the audience and Brian spent a chunk of time handling guitar and drums at the same time and also took lead vocals on “Fight For Your Right” with Amanda on his drum kit.

Meow Meow opened the show in the audience, making her way in full winter gear (with luggage) to the front of the stage, taking an assist from the house crew to get on to stage. She then proceeded to introduce herself and undress, one piece at a time, with the help of men from the front row. Sitting almost dead center, I was asked first to help her out of her winter coat while she talked to the audience holding her mic. It was challenging because she was wearing mittens and I was trying a) to not touch her inappropriately and b) not pull her mittens off with her coat.

After depositing her jacket on the stage, she asked me to help her out of her pants. Yeah, I admit, I thought she was kidding. She bent over in front of me and then turned and asked, “Have you ever undressed a woman before?” Then she bent over with her head around her ankles. I grabbed the zipper, without ever touching her body, and then was urged to pull down on both sides of her pants to bring them down around her ankles.

At which point, she continued to struggle out of items of clothing with other people in the front row. “The male dancers usually do this,” she told the crowd while wrestling out of a vest.

She asked on lady to be her mic stand. Then, she got not one, but two members of the audience to snuggle with her on stage while she performed. She later corralled a third person out of the audience after he shouted at her about something. She said something to the effect of “It’s really easy to be shouting out when you’re in the dark” before she got them to raise the house lights. So three people draped around her (and she continually moved their hands around so they were touching her rather intimately.)

Her entire set was only one song. She was accompanied by keyboard player Lance Horne (an accomplished musician in his own right.) It was cabaret and opera, mostly in French. She wailed and belted and crowed and engaged the audience without ever missing a beat. When she wanted the help of someone in the audience, she would admonish them “Quickly!” and even once switched to German, “Schnell!”

Finally, calling out to Horne, she asked how much time she had left. “I have to get through one song. It’s on my contract.” After determining there was 5 minutes left in her set, she decided she had enough time to crowd surf. She started out on the other side of the stage but decided that half the audience wasn’t a good bet and came over to our side.

I’ll admit, I still thought she was joking. Even after helping her out of her knickers, I guess I should have known better. She made a grand show of it, even asking to young men in the third row to fill in a gap so that she could make it passed the first few rows. Then she leaned out and “floated” (term used loosely) her way to the back of the house, all the while, gabbing with the audience and finishing the tune.

As remarkable as that fact was alone, even more unbelievable was that for most of her crowd surfing, she was sitting straight up with her legs split. The crowd supported her (mostly) all the way back to the stage where she collected her things and departed.