Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Saturday September 14, 2013 :
Supported by Jherek Bischoff and the wonderfully watchable Die Roten Punkte, Amanda Palmer brought her showcase of a third-evolution to the Enmore Theatre in Sydney. Unlike the white porcelain-faced days of the Dresden Dolls, Amanda took to the stage with striking black eye makeup, both distancing herself from her roots, yet still referencing them through the contrasting effects of the stage lighting.
The band itself has developed considerably since the synth focused experiments I witnessed in London’s Heaven nightclub two-years ago, which may be expected from the record, Theatre is Evil, although consistency remained with a solid performance put in on both occasions.
Amanda’s performance was less consistent: in previous evolutions touring as 50% of the Dresden Dolls and on her solo work, her performances were necessarily keyboard centric, containing Amanda usually to one stage location. With the addition of a band she took advantage of the freedom to move and express herself in other ways, leading to a much more physical expression of her music. This certainly added to the performance, particularly when turning the audience into a sea of white whilst crowd surfing wearing a train with enough fabric to build a marquee, during ‘Bottom Feeder’.
However, this emphasis seemed to be at the expense of Amanda’s vocals, which, for the first half of the show, were the least in key of any Sydney gig to date. This did seem to improve significantly by the second half of the show following a solo version of ‘The Bed Song’, which notably moved the entire venue. After this number, most songs seemed to fall much better into place.
With a combination of the recent album, Amanda’s solo and Dresden Dolls material and a generous splattering of cover songs, there was a little something for everyone, although those expecting the Brechtian punk cabaret of old may have been a little disappointed. Amanda in her various guises is renowned for her “Art Show” style performances – overall I cannot say that I walked away from this gig with the same impression. Amanda Palmer with the Grand Theft Orchestra seems to have traded “Art Show” for “Rock Show”, although not necessarily to its detriment. And whilst a different show to that which I was expecting, it aimed to cater to new and old fans alike. Overall it was a performance that I would definitely recommend seeing when she is back next time.
Reviewer: Topher Walker
Photographer: Clare Hawley
[nggallery id=148]