Concert Review: Dresden Dolls

Bostonist had the opportunity to attend the Dresden Dolls show at the Orpheum Friday evening. It was quite the spectacle - a local act returning home after hitting the big-time.

We arrived a little too late for the initial opening-act, Porsches on the Autobahn. Sadly, we can't say we were thrilled with the sideshow-acts that started the evening - a sword-swallower, hula-hoop-striptease, and a not-very-funny comedy piece or two. However, these didn't last very long (it just felt that way.)

The concert began in earnest with an opening band called Humanwine. The sound system didn't do them justice, but we could tell that they have a lot of potential. We thought the singer, Holly, had a pretty great voice. Some lyrics need work, and she looked a bit odd and uncomfortable on stage, seeming like she might not really like dancing in public. We had a chance to check them out online later, and their recordings show a lot of promise - they have a bit of a goth-klezmer-gypsy vibe (including a glockenspiel, trombone and trumpet) that Bostonist found quite appealing.

Finally, the Dresden Dolls themselves appeared onstage, and this is where it all became worth it. Hearing the material from the new album interspersed with older material made it all feel very consistent, and they are really powerful performers - Amanda’s voice filled the entire enormous space, and Brian’s energy on the drums was pretty amazing to see.

Interspersed amongst old and new material (favorites like "Missed Me" and "Coin Operated Boy" were played early in the set) were a few covers and other unusual moments. About halfway through the set Brian stepped out from behind the drums and picked up a guitar, and they both came towards the front of the stage to sing two covers (Jacques Brel and T Rex) - a bit later they performed a Leonard Cohen cover, as a gift for a friend’s wedding. This was beautiful for several reasons. The first was that they hadn’t really rehearsed it too much, so they had two false starts which they handled with grace and candor, but when they finally got it right, it was just so beautiful, all the more because it was clear that the song was a little rough around the edges for them and that it really was a heartfelt gesture for their friend. Our favorite cover, however, was "Pierre" from Maurice Sendak and Carol King's "Really Rosie."

Early in the evening, we had noticed some eerily young girls in feather boas in the crowd. Amanda made an introduction saying that they had discovered an amazing new band when they were recording the new album, and then she brought six little girls (maybe 10-year-olds) from a band called "Girl Authority" onstage for a rousing performance of “I love rock and roll” with Brian on guitar and Amanda on drums. The crowd went nuts, which we hope was a good experience for the kids. (Though we couldn’t get the image of “Sparkle Motion” from Donnie Darko out of my head watching them perform.)

Towards the end of the evening, Amanda stopped briefly to talk about what it was like to be a hometown kid finally playing in the Orpheum. We found this really quite moving - it was pretty clear that she really meant it, and it was nice to see someone on stage showing real feeling and not just playing the part of a rock star.

The set closed with a new song called "Sing" - with performers from the opening acts and the little girls from "Girl Authority" returning to the stage.