Friday night Owen and I went to the Astoria to see those lovable Brechtian punk cabaret ragamuffins THE DRESDEN DOLLS. We first became aware of them last year through the Patti Smith-curated Meltdown with their appearance in the STAND BRAVELY BROTHERS Brecht evening. After it they did a small set in the foyer of the Royal Festival Hall and we got Amanda to sign copies of their CD which was cleverly on sale. Owen is happy to point out to anyone who will listen that she did an extra squiggle under her name so it's definitely love.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect as this was a proper gig, I certainly wasn't prepared for their obvious huge fan following. There were many different Amanda and Brians of varying size and look-a-likeyness among the general goth-y types. It was fun though with a dance troupe in the circle bar doing a synchronized swimming routine and a gymnast who made interesting shapes while hanging from 2 strips of red material from the top of the stage. We arrived just as the support act Dvotchka was coming to the end of it's set - just in time to see Amanda Dresden Doll totter out to duet on - I think - Rufus Wainwright's "Oh What A World".

The Dresden Dolls are a strange band, Amanda on piano and Brian on drums, but somehow they manage to fill the stage with sound, enough to satisfy any metal fan. Amanda is of course the focal point being both writer and singer but Brian is such an inventive drummer he is a pleasure to watch too with his sneaky little asides on the hi-hat or snare. Amanda's extraordinary to watch - squirming and dancing seated at the piano like a chicken on a hot plate. Her peculiar songs of vengeful sadness and askew optimism are best heard in the privy of one's own home where her caustic lyrics can be heard and savored but in concert they are belted out with such venom they are probably still traveling when they hit the back wall!

From their first album we were treated to GOOD DAY, GIRL ANACHRONISM, MISSED ME, HALF JACK, THE PERFECT FIT and of course COIN-OPERATED BOY which when I first heard in the Festival Hall foyer made me practically self-immolate with joy! Off the new CD YES, VIRGINIA we had SEX CHANGES, BACKSTABBER, MODERN MOONLIGHT and MRS O. Throw in a lovely cover of T.Rex's COSMIC DANCER, a swaggering take-no-prisoners version of Brel's AMSTERDAM (oh and he was Belgian Amanda..not French) and her own solo, highly-emotional interpretation of Leonard Cohen's HALLELUJAH and it made for a great evening.

Oddly enough they didn't do SING which is allegedly the first single released off the new CD and also there was no merchandise available - and one look at their website shows that this is one group who knows how to market themselves! Owen probably rightly guessed that this was due to the fact that the house had to be out by 10.20 so they could get the Astoria ready for the bright, shiny gayboys and their sympathisers who frequent G.A.Y. Bloody homosexualists... they do so put a dampner on a Brechtian punk cabaret t-shirt buying opportunity.