Tribute to our Corporate Sponsors

I'm reviewing these two shows as a tribute to our generous and lovely 'corporate' sponsors. God bless them. This sponsorship lets us go to shows by bands we have not heard about and big name shows we wouldn't pay a republican cent to see. So a big shoutout to Thomas Lee LLC fine purveyor of disillusionment and doom and She Who's Name Shall Not Be Spoken.

Dresden Dolls (Great American Music Hall, 17 November 2004)

The Dresden Dolls falls under the category of never heard before the ticket was in my hand. Walking up to GAMH the crowd was a mixture of goths, metal heads, and theatre kids so my low expectations dived and I prepared to do some serious hating. Two songs later I knew a gem had been discovered and my withered heart heated a little. The duo of Amanda Palmer on piano and vocals and Brian Viglione as mime and drummer creates a lushness that's suprising coming from only two. They are self described as 'Brechtian Punk Cabaret' and with full makeup are visually a cross between dolls and 1920's German cinema actors. Brian put on a n energetic and theatrical performance with timely comic effects perfectly supplementing Amanda without ever upstaging her. Mrs. Palmer vocals were nothing short of mesmerizing during her high points; with a vocal range and discipline not often seen at concerts. I have a feeling she has a formal theatre background as the show often times seemed more like a musical.

The base of musicianship combined excellently with intelligent lyrics and dramatic stage presence. For a second I was reminded of Tori Amos but the surreal topics and sexually playful lyrics made clear this band did not take itself too seriously took them in a completely different direction.
Coin Operated Boy
Sitting on the shelf he is just a toy
But I turn him on and he comes to life
Automatic joy
Coin Operated Boy is one of their most beloved songs and you can check it out for free on the MySpace site. The low points came more frequently later in the show as they slipped into a heavier sound and Amanda's vocal's seemed a little tired. They pulled it off in the end with a rousing rendition of Jacques Brel's Port of Amsterdam a song that seems to be gaining in popularity. Overall this show was the best and freshest surprise I've had in a long time.

Beer Rating: 4 Beers

Green Day (Bill Graham, 24 November 2004)

Green Day oh Green Day. I must say that I carry mixed emotions to this "influential" band. Their music is mostly lacking but they do have a number of good songs and quite a few pieces that have been drilled into our heads so unmercifully that they are sure to provide a certain kind of nostalgia. I again went in prepared to hate but this time the band fully obliged my inclinations.

The music was crisp clear and the effects were grand and expertly applied, the budget for this show did not skimp on the details. The high point was toward the middle as twenty foot towers of flame erupted out of the stage. I've seen this on footage from the glory days of heavy metal and it was just as great as I imagined it would be. Inherent in a tower of flame is a promise and a duty to fucking rock and Green Day was seriously derelict in delivering.

First off, Billie Joe would not shut up he found it appropriate to speak to the audience more than sing he felt he needed to perform Green Day's songs. Second, crowd involvement is good but we came to see you perform. At one point they picked three members of the audience to perform one of their songs and they performed really well, maybe too well cause it made one wonder. This debacle took a lengthy amount of time. Usually, Green Day is described as Pop Punk to my understanding a punk song is usually under three minutes and a pop song is under five. For attention span reasons this is a formula that seems to work and they should have stuck with it. Thirdly, a cover of We Are the Champions combined with Billy Joe's constant crowd exhortations made me seriously question if I was at a rock concert or a Special Camp.

It was not pretty until a strong showing on Minority towards the end made me question if I was hating irrationally. This question was left open until I had my Itunes on shuffle later in the evening(there is a weird sort of super-natural intelligence built into this software). Anyway, it played Anarchy in the U.K. Here is a lyrics comparison.

I want to be the minority
I don't need your authority
Down with the moral majority
Cause I want to be the minority

I am an antichrist
I am an anarchist
Don't know what I want
But I know how to get it

There was a little outrage but no fire, no braggadocio, none of the swagger that would have made an entertaining show.

Beer Rating: 10 Beers.

So once again let us thank our sponsors. And we'd like to remind any readers that you too can be a 'corporate' sponsor. All you have to do is get us into shows. In return we'll give you a shoutout and depending on your generosity maybe some 'extras'.