In late January, cabaret punk duo The Dresden Dolls return for two New Zealand shows. They perform in Auckland on Friday 27th January at The Powerstation and Saturday 28th January in Wellington at The Opera House.
Led by the hyper-articulate Amanda Palmer and supported by drummer extraordinaire Brian Viglione, the two mine a rich seam of Brechtian punk cabaret combined with electrifying, highly personal songcraft.
Theatrical in the best sense of the word, the Dresden Dolls evoke the decadence of Weimar Berlin with punk attitude and bristle. Amandas often provocative lyrics and melodramatic piano stylings are the perfect foil for Brians picaresque humour. The duo are also well known for their idiosyncratic cover versions including War Pigs, Britneys Baby One More Time and our own Peter Jefferies sonorous Electricity
This will be their third visit since their sold out tours of 2004 and 2006.
Since the Dresden Dolls took a hiatus, Amanda Palmer has performed solo in New Zealand on a number of occasions. Earlier this year she was in Christchurch on Feb 22 when the BIG quake hit and unable to perform when the scheduled venue , Al’s Bar, was left in isolation.
Formed in hometown Boston in 2000, the Dresden Dolls have released three albums A Is For Accident (live) 2003, The Dresden Dolls 2003, and Yes Virginia in 2006.
According to Palmer the name came from a combination of references including the firebombing of Dresden, Germany and the porcelain dolls that were a hallmark of pre-war Dresden industry; an early song of the same name by The Fall; and a reference to the V. C. Andrews novel Flowers in the Attic, where the classically blond-haired and blue-eyed protagonists are called he Dresden dolls. The name also evokes Weimar Germany and its cabaret culture. Additionally, Palmer liked the parallel between Dresden (destruction) and Dolls (innocence, delicacy), because it is very much in keeping with the dynamics of the music, which sometimes goes from a childlike whisper to a banshee scream within a few seconds
www.dresdendolls.com
www.amandapalmer.net
Friday 27th January 2012 - Auckland – The Powerstation – tickets available from www.ticketmaster.co.nz
