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Archive for the 'Music' Category
Last night I decided to be a good girl and actually cross something off my list. I wanted to do laundry, but my neighbors apparently had the same idea. So instead I rallied my spirits tolerably and did my taxes! I am getting a whole $36 back from the feds. WOOT! That is so much better than owing. It’s only enough to eat out at a moderately priced restaurant, and that’s only if I don’t spring for drinks or dessert, but still! And since I’m incapable of truly focusing, I simultaneously wrote a list of reasons I love the 80s, listened to Regina Spektor, and tried to decipher what she was saying in Russian. Well, I don’t technically speak Russian, but I did watch La Femme Nikita this weekend so I thought maybe I learned some through osmosis. Heh.
The 80s are awesome for a lot of reasons. Based on the Pink Fairy’s recent viewing of Pretty in Pink, I think at least she agrees too! Here are a few of my reasons for every year:
- 1980: Fame, the movie musical, was released. I grew up dancing so how could I have accessorized properly without legwarmers?
- 1981: The year of my birth and the same year all my totally rad friends were born.
- 1982: Cheers popularized the neighborhood bar as a suitable place for a cast of characters to hangout.
- 1983: Flashdance hit the screen and made all welding ballerinas feel like they had a place in the world. It was Hollywood’s answer to women doing a traditionally male job–Adrian Lyne had to make her a girlie dancer. Also, Michael Jackson’s Thriller was released. When I was a kid my parents had to buy two copies because I wore out their first tape.
- 1984: Torvill and Dean won the gold medal at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Games. My brother was also born this year, thus marking the beginning of our lifelong rivalry.
- 1985: The Sure Thing and Desperately Seeking Susan came out. These are two of my all time favorite movies. The Sure Thing was filmed at my mom’s university and it was cool to take a little walking tour of it after seeing it. Desperately Seeking Susan, by Susan Seidelman, is notably one of the first female directed independent films. It’s a female buddy movie, and that’s still a seriously lacking genre.
- 1986: New Kids on the Block hit the street…It was an embarrassing time for us all. Enough said.
- 1987: My Two Dadswas on TV and influenced me to beg my mom for a transparent Guess phone with a hot pink neon triangle.
- 1988: Roxette’s Look Sharp! came out. I remember seeing them on MTV and I got my little second-grade allowance and bought my very first tape.
- 1989: Madonna’s Like a Prayer album hit the charts. The song and video, rife with religiosity, was probably the first time I could put the First Amendment in any sort of context.
Last night The BF, Lucky 10-Key, and I went to the much pined over Dresden Dolls concert. It was at Bimbo’s 365 in San Francisco. The venue was perfect—intimate, yet large enough that I still had to crane my neck. The club opened in 1931 and it has the feel of another era, and that’s probably why The Dresden Dolls fit in there so well. They’re music is described as Brechtian Punk Cabaret, whatever that means. It’s the kind of music that is raw, raunchy, quirky, dark, catchy, disturbing, and lovely all at once. But don’t take my word for it. You can listen to and even download a few of their songs for free at their site.
Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione are captivating and gracious performers. I was thoroughly impressed by this piano and drums duo. They rock as hard as any full band out there. They are worth the thousand mile trips I’ve taken now twice. I have fully forgiven them for canceling the show in July (it wasn’t their fault to begin with, but when you’ve taken vacation time and driven as far as we did, you’d be peeved, too). I will gladly see them again wherever they’re playing in the sate.
When we got back to Lucky 10-Key’s place last night, I sat down and tried to remember the set list. It’s not perfectly in order in the middle, but the first three and the last three songs are accurate! I can never remember the lyrics to the cover songs! I tried Googling, but no luck as of yet. I’ll stalk some forums and hopefully I’ll find out the names of the cover songs.
October 13, 2006 Set List and Girl Friday’s commentary on choice material:
Cover
Sex Changes
Gravity: Wow. This song makes me want to be a way better piano player.
Coin-Operated Boy: A crowd favorite. It’s fun to see Amanda and Brian play off one another and go wild.
Modern Moonlight
Bad Habit
The Jeep Song: Apparently they don’t play this song live because it needs backing vocals and Amanda can’t sing back up to herself. They played with the stipulation that the audience had to participate. They invited some lucky bitches on stage and they sang, but so did the crowd. It was rad.
Mandy Goes to Med School
Cover
Mrs. O
Delilah: OMG. I was crossing my fingers that they’d play this song. Amanda invited a special guest to come out and sing with her. It was amazing. There were also “dancers” who didn’t so much as dance as just pose. They sort of acted out the story of the song. They had great costumes and gave me something to look at when the biotch in front of our table kept swaying and covering up Amanda and Brian.
Good Day: One of my favorite songs to sing along with in the car. I was so impressed that the Dolls can keep their energy up through the constant switching of fast and slow songs.
The Kill: This is an older song not on any of the albums I have. I loved it instantly and will now scavenge the internet for it.
Sing: The “last song.” It was really amazing because every act came on stage and sang back up for the chorus. The song’s message is really inspirational without being cheesy.
Me & the Minibar: The first encore. Amanda performed this song solo. She has a way of making a rowdy audience completely silent for just a few moments. That’s how powerful she is on stage.
Half Jack: The second encore. Brian came back out and the pair played an awesomely long intro with just piano and drums and their intense looks at one another. You know it’s just them playing beats, one following the other, until Amanda starts belting the lyrics. Rad.
Girl Anachronism: The final encore. I love this song and no matter how many times I listen to it, I can’t sing along that well. It’s so fast. They performed it even faster live. An astounding feat, really.
And this concludes my Dresden Dolls fangirling moment.