Didn't get to Celebrate Brooklyn? Free mp3s!

For those of you fans of the Celebrate Brooklyn Concert series, click here for 16 free mp3s from various artists who've played this summer: The Luminescent Orchestrii, Los Amigos Invisibles, Deer Tick, Dr. Dog, and more!

Amanda Palmer with the Boston Pops

On Friday I took a road trip up to Boston to see Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls play with the Boston Pops Symphony Orchestra. It was an amazing show, and as a former violinist/orchestra dork myself, I absolutely loved seeing Amanda play with a full orchestra behind her. My one regret: I did not bring my camera because I assumed photography would not be allowed. And I had good seats too. I could've gotten some great pictures!

The first half of the show was the Boston Pops without Amanda. They played four movements of Gustav Holst's The Planets, which was very dramatic. Fittingly enough, it very much seemed like something that could be the score to a great space-themed adventure film, even though it was written in the early 1900s, before space-themed adventure films existed. I love watching full orchestras, and it's been a while since I have, so I enjoyed it immensely.

After the intermission, Amanda made her entrance. And it was quite the entrance. The orchestra started playing Missed Me (which is one of my favorite Dresden Dolls songs, so I recognized it immediately) and then she came in one of the side doors and through the audience. Then another door would open with a bright light and a tamborine player came out, then a violin player, then a trombone player in the balcony. And they were all playing kind of a game of cat and mouse. It was a lot of fun. Amanda was wearing a very pretty/sexy burlesque-type frilly skirt, corset, and jacket (which she promptly stripped off, inspiring the conductor to do so, as well).

She played a great variety of songs - songs from her upcoming solo album (produced by Ben Folds); a few Dresden Dolls classics such as Coin-Operated Boy, where she switched places with the conductor for a bit and they played off of each other a lot, which was awesome; a Ben Folds cover (Brick); a cover of What A Wonderful World; and a few showtunes, where she got up from her piano and performed Brechtian Punk Cabaret-style. The two showtunes were I Can't Say No from "Oklahoma" and Don't Tell Mama from "Cabaret." Both were hilariously well done and perfectly campy. The musical theater geek in me ate this up. She also pulled out all the stops with guest performers/back up singers/dancers, and Brian Viglione (drummer and the other half of the Dresden Dolls) came out for a few numbers, including the finale - another DD favorite of mine - Sing. All in all it was a very fun show, though I have to say that all of the songs she played off her new album were incredibly dark, particularly one about the Columbine shootings, which made me get a little teary-eyed.

After the show, The Dresden Dolls' friends The Luminescent Orchestrii played in one of the other rooms in Symphony Hall and it was a lot of fun. Everyone was merry and dancing and clapping. The Luminescent Orchestrii was full of energy as usual. A very small intimate space, but a perfect after party for a great concert.

Amanda and Brian were also outside after the show signing autographs and talking to fans, which was amazing. I tried not to be too "fan girl"-ish when I talked to them, but I'm sure I cam off sounding like a giddy high schooler. And they signed my program! Yay! (See the picture above.)

All in all, a spectacular evening. It was great fun getting dressed up and going out. It was also neat spending some time in Boston, as I've only ever really passed through before. If you ever go, I highly recommend you do a whale watching cruise. It was a-MAZ-ing! And I'll be writing a little more about my trip tomorrow for Minnesota Monday because I ran into a great Minneapolis band in Cambridge.

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Happy Birthday Sxip Shirey!

Friday night was Sxip Shirey's birthday, and the Luminescent Orchestrii played at Drom - a chic but pricey nightclub/restaurant in the East Village - in celebration. Also playing that night: The Wiyos and Feloche.

The Wiyos were up first. They're a four-man band from Brooklyn, though there were only three of them on Friday night. They were folky, country, bluegrassy, ragtimey, bluesy and kind of vaudevillian - by vaudevillian I mean they were hilarious, theatrical, animated and sometimes silly. They had the most energy during their humorous songs, so those were by most fun to watch. Plus I love bands who can play funny music that is also good quality. Apparently this was their first ever show without a washboard (I'm guessing that would be the missing 4th member), which is kind of sad. I would've liked to have seen that.

Feloche was up next and I immediately fell in love with this quirky French trio. I have been listening to their music pretty much non-stop since Friday night. Their music is eclectic and unique, which is always a big plus for me - their are traces of funk, Cajun, electronica, pop, blues and more. Lead singer, Feloche, was a ball of energy. He made some pretty hysterical facial expressions, but it looked like he was having a blast, which is the most important part. Upright bass player, Christophe, was a little more laid back. Lea Bulle, who did anything and everything that wasn't upright bass and guitar - keyboards, percussion (everything from electronic drums to various hand-held instruments and a computer), horn, I think harmonica at one point and sang a little. She has a very instrumental voice, so I thought it fit well with her overall role in the group. She also had really fun hair.

And last but most definitely not least was the Luminescent Orchestrii. They were fabulous once again and they brought on a battery of guest performers to play with them for the last few songs, including drummer Mathias Kunzli from the last time I saw them perform on New Year's Eve. It seemed to me that they didn't play too many of the songs that they played when I last saw them, which was nice because I got to hear a lot of stuff I hadn't heard before but I must admit I did miss a few of my favorites (particularly Knockin'). They played at least one brand new song, never been played before - I know because they said so - and I really liked it. It was a "punk rock" song, with Luminescent Orchestrii flavor of course. I love the variety of musical styles that they utilize. And they once again had a great energy.

As always I took an exorbitant amount of pictures, which can be viewed here:

View Album

Get your own

And some mp3s for you to sample:

Dying Crapshooters Blues [mp3] - The Wiyos (Live)
Emilie [mp3] - Feloche - "La Vie Cajun"
Knockin' [mp3] - Luminescent Orchestrii - "Too Hot To Sleep"

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Slideshow

Not to obsess over The Dresden Dolls concert, but I realized today that I could make a slideshow of my photos. oooooooooohhhhhhhhhh... aaaaaaaahhhhhh....

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The Best New Year's Ever - part 2

On to part 2 of the Dresden Dolls fabulous New Year's Eve concert - the actual Dresden Dolls performance and the midnight celebration and whatnot. If you need to refresh yourself about the first half (or slightly more than half) of the concert, please read the previous post: "The Best New Year's Ever - part 1".

Percussionist Brian Viglione and pianist Amanda Palmer came on stage decked out in what looked to me like old-fashioned military garb or something similar, plus they had hats and masks. My friend who was with me at the show made a comment that at first you couldn't tell who was who, and he was right (they both have similar-length dark hair and that was really all you could see with the masks and that hats). You couldn't really from afar. But then they went to their respective corners - Amanda on keyboard and Brian on drums - and our questions were quickly resolved. The costumes, which must've been hot, came off rather quickly too and by the end of the second song Brian was shirtless, wearing just shorts and fishnets, and Amanda was wearing a dress (which eventually came off too, leaving just cabaret-reminiscent frilly underwear), a t-shirt, and awesome combat boots.

They played my favorite song (Girl Anachronism) as the 2nd song, which was almost kind of disappointing that they played it so early, but oh well. Other favorites of mine that they played: Coin-Operated Boy, Missed Me and Mandy Goes to Med School. It was really interesting because they didn't seem to follow a set list much. Every now and then they'd look at each other like "what should we play now?" They even played a song or two that they hadn't rehearsed. I certainly wouldn't have known they hadn't rehearsed it if they hadn't said so. They were so spectacular.

It was so entertaining to watch them because they are both total hams and their performances were very theatrical. Whenever Brian wasn't playing the drums (or even sometimes when he was) he would stand up and make very grand, dramatic gestures and faces. And Amanda is just so intense. She had some great dramatic gestures and faces too. Some highlights: when Meow Meow's pianist came out and did a duet with Amanda (they looked like they were having so much fun goofing around) and when Brian played guitar and drums at the same time (now that is skill). Also they played a song off of an album Amanda recorded (but has not yet released) with Ben Folds, which is pretty cool. They are definitely two of the most talented pianists I know of so their collaboration should be awesome.

At midnight (or 3 minutes after because they were running a few minutes behind schedule), the rest of everyone - meaning Meow Meow, the circus performer, The Luminescent Orchestrii, and a few miscellaneous crew people - came out and everyone counted down and there was confetti and it was all very grand. Then they all did a cover of The Beastie Boys' (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party) and We Are the Champions by Queen. Amanda and Meow Meow crowd-surfed during one of the songs, though I forget which one. Amanda landed right on my friend and I and the two people in front of us, which was startling but kind of awesome. Fortunately, my friend is a lot taller than me, so I couldn't/didn't have to really support much of her weight (I lack upper body strength... Plus I was holding my camera in one hand.)

After that, Amanda and Brian did more songs. They played until almost 1:30am. And for the grand finale, everyone came back out on stage, including random people who were working at the show and dressed up in costumes (like the painted hula hoop people) and they did a fun cover of Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by The Eurythmics. There were lots of hilarious antics going on between Meow Meow and Amanda - who were both now wearing big poofy dresses. The night ended with another favorite Dresden Dolls tune of mine (which they hadn't rehearsed as a whole group but pulled off well with improvisation): Sing, which was the perfect way to end the show because it's about singing no matter who tries to get in your way.

My favorite parts about The Dresden Dolls performance was when they interacted with each other. They were so far away from each other when they were at their piano and drums and even though they still kind of interacted from across the stage, there was just so much space between them. But sometimes Brian would play the guitar or Amanda would get out from behind the keyboard and their interactions were really fun. It's great to see that they're both multi-talented individuals (Amanda was playing drums during one song in which Brian was playing guitar). You can tell that they really loved what they were doing and really like each other. The same goes for everyone who performed that night. A lot of times you go to concerts and one act goes on and then the next and then the next, and they don't really collaborate or ever cross paths on stage. Maybe one person from one band will guest on a song by another band. But at this concert, all of the different acts incorporated people from the other acts quite frequently. It was really great. They were like one big happy family. And I have to say Amanda and Brian were a lot less dark than I expected them to be. It was great to see them smile and goof around. I wasn't sure if they were going to be super angry-like the whole time or what as I'd never seen them perform before and all of their music is relatively dark. But it was so great how much fun they were having and that made the audience have fun.

There were only two things I didn't like about the concert: 1. They didn't play 4 of my favorite Dresden Dolls songs (The Jeep Song, Gravity, Shores of California, and My Alcoholic Friends) and the security at the place was irritating when we were all trying to pick up our coats from the coat check afterwards and it was chaos with no system and people everywhere. But overall, these two small factors really had no affect on my night. I left feeling like I definitely got my money's worth and wishing that Amanda and Brian could be my new best friends. Amanda kept calling it the "best new year's eve ever!" And I would have to agree with her.

And lots more pictures (of which I took over 200... I know, I am sick):

Brian being theatrical

Amanda being theatrical

Amanda playing the drums all bad-ass like

Amanda playing the piano all bad-ass like

Brian playing the guitar all bad-ass like

The countdown to 2008

Amanda crowd-surfing

Brian playing the guitar and drums at the same time

Meow Meow's pianist doing a duet with Amanda

They look like circus performers in this pose

Amanda and Brian bowing before the grand finale when everyone came back onstage

Lots of silly antics with Amanda and Meow Meow

The final farewell

To see the rest of my pictures (and yes there are a lot of them...) click here. And some mp3s for you to sample:

Girl Anachronism [mp3]
Sing [mp3]

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The Best New Year's Ever - part 1

So I'm back. Sorry I've been away for so long, but shit happens. Hope everyone had happy holiday(s)! Anyway, on to the music.

I was extremely fortunate to spend New Year's Eve with a band I've been wanting to see for a long time: The Dresden Dolls. The Dresden Dolls are a duo from Boston, MA composed of piano goddess Amanda Palmer and percussionist extraordinaire Brian Viglione. Now, if you have been reading this blog for a while, you may have caught on to my love of them already. But I'd never seen them perform and they had been doing mostly solo tours for a while, and I wanted to see them together before I saw them perform separately. Normally I spend New Year's Eve in Minnesota, but when I heard that The Dresden Dolls were playing in New York, I knew I had to go so I came back to New York three days early. That's how excited I was for this show.

The tickets were a bit on the pricey side (for me at least, with student loans to pay off and whatnot) but man were they worth every penny. The show was at The Grand Ballroom in the Manhattan Center (and grand it was... the prefect place for toasting the New Year with champagne). The Dresden Dolls crammed the night with entertainment, adding an extra band and a circus performer to their line-up, who they collected money from the audience to pay. And the concert went from a little after 8:30pm to almost 1:30am - one of the longest non-festival shows I think I've ever been to. In fact, the concert was so long and so full of entertainment that I think I'm going to have to write about it in two posts.

So, part 1:

Even waiting in line for the show was entertaining. So many audience members showed up wearing costumes and masks - not to mention the people that were working the show and wearing costumes who wandered outside a bit amongst the line. I kind of wish I had taken more pictures outside but it was very very cold and so I decided to keep my camera (and my fingers) safe and warm. I did however snap a picture of these painted hula-hoopers inside before the show (see right).

When the show started, Amanda (of The Dresden Dolls) came out all glammed up to introduce us to the master of ceremonies for the night, Sxip Shirey of The Luminscent Orchestrii. Then a band that wasn't on the playbill was announced - whose name I could not for the life of me understand no matter how many times their name was said (see left). But they were a folky band complete with a yodeler and soft shoe dancer. My favorite song of theirs was probably their cover of "Putting on the Ritz." They seemed nice and the girl was a very talented singer/yodeler (that's a rarity these days...). Apparently Amanda first saw them busking in Washington Square Park and then saw them again some time later and decided they simply had to play with them. And thus they were there on New Year's.

Next up was Meow Meow (see right). I had never heard of Meow Meow so I didn't really know what to expect, but with a name like Meow Meow I expected I wouldn't be disappointed. Her entrance was... a new one, at least in my concert-going experiences. She came in through the audience pretending to be late. Then she had audience members near the stage undress her until she was in her first costume. One audience member got called up on stage and then he brought his boyfriend up and they started making out (in between helping her undress and much witty banter). She kept telling them to just stand there with their arms around her and love her. She had really awesome sparkly red lipstick. She actually did very little singing in her whole performance - it was more a cabaret/comedy routing. She brought another audience member up on stage, and they all helped her change into her next costume (in front of the audience, whom she told to close our eyes) - a sparkly blue corsety dress. Then she called Amanda on stage to be her back-up singer and they did some rather silly singing. All in all it was lots of fun.

After Meow Meow was another performer not on the playbill - a circus performer from Montreal, whose name I also didn't catch unfortunately. He came on for a bit and defied gravity in this giant spinning ring (see left). That was fun to watch and it was very fitting with the feel of the night. Apparently he's a good friend of The Dresden Dolls' and from the sounds of it he used to be a documentarian until he decided to go to circus school. It looked like he was having so much fun on stage that it made me want to quit film and go to circus school too (haha, not really, but you get my point.

Last up before The Dresden Dolls was The Luminescent Orchestrii. Like their myspace says, they are "gypsy tango klezmer punk" and, as they said at the show (and then demonstrated), they throw a little hip hop and other things in too. They were a lot of fun. Usually consisting of four members - violin, viola, guitar and upright bass, they also had a guest percussionist for the whole show (see right) and a guest clarinetist for a song or two. They also had a very cabaret feel - partially because of their costumes, which I don't think are entirely their custom but were for the sake of this show. They were a lot of fun and they seemed like they were having a lot of fun. Their music was mostly upbeat - they kept saying "since we're a dance band..." At one point Meow Meow and the circus performer came on and tangoed (kinda) and they had a belly dancer for one number. Brian Viglione also joined them for a number or two on the drums. I was very glad to be introduced to this lovely band.

So that's part one for today. Here are some more pictures of the first half of the show:

Amanda all dressed up

The soft-shoe dancer and the first band whose name I couldn't hear

Random audience members undressing Meow Meow shortly after she arrived on stage.

The two guys who about to make out on stage, during which Meow Meow asked them if they could kiss a little to the right...

Amanda singing backup while the random audience members helped Meow Meow change her costume and then embraced her and loved her.

Meow Meow crowd surfing through the light-up hula hoops of the painted hula dancers

The guest clarinetist with The Luminescent Orchestrii, with violist Rima Fand and violinist Sarah Alden

The bass player of the Luminescent Orchestrii, Benji Fox-Rosen

Sxip Shirey and the viola player, Rima Fand

The belly dancer

Meow Meow and the circus performer tangoing to a Luminescent Orchestrii song

Brian Viglione guest drumming with the guest drummer (whose name I don't know) toward the end of the Luminescent Orchestrii set.

And some mp3s to sample of The Luminescent Orchestrii:

Tarif Hijacked [mp3]
Warsaw [mp3]

P.S. They do have vocals in a some of their songs. I just happened to pick two songs without.

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