Live: Amanda Palmer – Corner Hotel
By Tessa McKenna • Mar 17th, 2009 • Section: Music, Reviews
Amanda Plamer
Corner Hotel
March 3, 2008
A year on from my last adventure with Ms Amanda Palmer, I found myself at the Corner Hotel in Richmond – a stark contrast to the Spiegeltent where I was last inspired by her performace – waiting eagerly for my next taste. The Corner seemed too small a venue – the sold out crowd, packed to the rafters, also served as a reminder.
For the uninitiated, Palmer is the song-writing half of the US punk-cabaret outfit, the Dresden Dolls. She is also quite likely clinically insane and has no eyebrows. But beneath her eccentric exterior lies a brilliant song writer and pianist. She has developed a cult following, for good reason, and the energy of her live performances is truly something to behold.
A dramatic entrance – involving the announcement of her death – was unfortunately tainted by the first of a few technical issues with her keyboard, which she handled well, laughing the situation off and chatting casually. Once the equipment was serviced, she opened with ‘Astronaut’ from her self-titled solo debut. It’s one of the stand out tracks from her back catalogue, and a great way to kick off the show.
She covered all the best parts of the latest album Who Killed Amanda Palmer, most notably ‘Guitar Hero’ (which was mimed, oddly enough), also delving into the background stories of each song. A few new songs were showcased, as well: ‘Trout Heart Replica’, ‘Australia’ and a cover of Neil Gaiman’s ‘I Google You’.
The performance was peppered with Dolls hits, too – ‘Girl Anachronism’, ‘Coin Operated Boy’ and ‘Half Jack’ all made an appearance. Strangely enough, these songs – already stripped right back in their original form – seemed more fitting for the solo treatment than much of Palmer’s most recent individual efforts, which sometimes felt as if they were lacking without the orchestral elements heard on the album.
At the apex of the performance, Palmer, fed up with the technical issues that had marred her set, decided to take matters into her own hands. She marked her exit with the repeated beating of her keyboard with a stool. Rock and roll.
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