| The Dresden Dolls - The Corner Hotel, 17/11/06 |
[Sep. 18th, 2006|12:25 pm]
David Witteveen
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Waiting in line to get in, I found a Dresden dolls ticket lying on the footpath.
Someone must have dropped it. I gave it to the bouncer. Which just proves how nice I am. Because it would have been easy to scalp. The gig was sold out, the queue stretched around the corner and up the street. Inside, the Corner was packed.
First support was Jason Webley. Sort of like Tom Waits, if he was a street busker and dressed like a stoner.
Second support were the Red Paintings. Art rockers wearing kabuki robes. Insectile guitars over cello and violin. Some of their stuff was awesome. Some of thier stuff was like fingernails down a blackboard. Like I said -- art rock.
Between sets we had an MC doing a camp German accent. There was a hula-hoop girl and a sword swallower. Then Jason Webley came back to sing a drinking song.
And finally, the Dresden Dolls.
Amanda wore frilly knickers and a Pixies t-shirt. Brian wore a sleeveless tee and a bowler hat. They opened with 'Sex Changes'. The crowd roared.
And Amanda's electric piano cut out.
The whole gig was plagued with technical difficulties. Something was wrong with Brian's drumkit. The foldback was ringing in their ears. Amanda punched and cursed her hired piano. They kept stopping and restarting songs. Twice, during their cover of 'War Pigs'. The band were jet-lagged and clearly pissed off.
And that's what made the gig.
Because it was raw. Because it was live. Because it was unique. All those problems meant there was no way they could have played a by-the-numbers show. Lesser bands might have crumpled at the challenge. But the Dolls... the Dolls were ferocious. They snarled and screamed and pounded the crap out of their instruments. It was punk rock. It was magnificent.
For a two-piece, their sound was colossal. Just a piano and drumkit and Amand's torn up voice. But they were bigger and heavier than many hard rock bands. And Brian is a phenomenal drummer. Razor-sharp timing, and heavier than fuck.
I'm sure the Dolls hated last night's show. They were jet-lagged. It was plagued by trouble. We only got a shortened setlist. But it was like watching an epic battle: technical difficulties versus talent and ferocity.
And talent and ferocity kicked arse.
SETLIST
(order may be wrong in the middle)
Sex Changes
Missed Me
Backstabber
Mrs O.
Coin Operated boy
War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)
Amsterdam (Jaques Brel cover)
Mein Herr (from Cabaret)
Good Day
Glass Slipper
Half Jack (instrumental intro was practically a song in itself)
Me & Minibar
Living on Prayer (Bon Jovi cover, with Jason Webley)
Girl Anachronism
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