Here is your mind

But The Dresden Dolls are the shit.

I know I’m not allowed to dislike a band because of their fans. It isn’t fair, and should be avoided. That being said, so help me god the fans of the Dresden Dolls make it difficult. I’ve been a fan of them, and indeed Amanda Palmer’s solo work to a lesser extent for some time. Most of my girlfriends in my teenage years were rabid fans and as such I endured countless hours of cutesy renditions “Missed Me”.  Upon closer inspection though, I grew to enjoy them.

Chanting this mantra internally, I rocked up to the Tivoli not expecting a great deal. The Jane Austen Argument met expectations, but not in the good way. Talented vocalist though the young man is, his efforts would be better suited in pop music. The actual songs were my major beef, laden with tired clichés that made me groan audibly and rushed melodies that didn’t really seem to have anywhere to go. Apparently close friends of Palmer herself the whole set seemed more a homage to Ms Palmer than an actual act of their own.

Actually I’ve heard worse than this.

Think to yourself, “how deep can I go” with the whole “ironic hipster” shtick. Bedroom Philosopher, clearly posed himself this question and went several steps further. Self proclaimed as a “hipster singing hipster songs to hipsters… ironically”, this pseudo comedian/songwriter plays on topical humor that was… pretty ok? I don’t know, I guess what we can take away from this is that he’s 100% forgettable. His fans seemed to like him though, but he is kind of pretty and I wouldn’t credit that crowd with an abundance discriminatory taste.

Wait, nevermind, he blows

Apparently Amanda Palmer loves Australia. She’s been back once a year, every year for the past few doing solo shows. The format is also very cool, as she’ll do one major ticketed concert in each town, but also several “Ninja Gigs” for free at various places of cultural significance, announced mere hours before via her Twitter feed. It really brings her busking background into sharp reality, and frankly… it is pretty impressive. The ninja gigs are a super fun format that I’d love to see undertaken by more artists.

As for their actual set, despite being completely ready for disappointment I was surprised by the energy displayed by both Palmer and Viglione. It dawned on me exactly why these bands that strive to imitate The Dresden Dolls fail so hideously. No goddamn balls. They took “punk cabaret”, and forgot the punk bit. Viglione on percussion is a fucking revelation. Not just loud drum lines, but exceptionally well written and performed. They accentuated the perfect notes and petered out at the perfect moment. Without a doubt he was the highlight of this evening and, in my opinion, Palmer would be foolish to let go of this asset again.

For the most part they (wisely) stuck with their hits, though did sneek in a few cheeky obscure tracks which made 16 year old Thomas gasp in delight. I never saw them the first time round, but I like to think the second time was just as good. Do check them out if you can.