Life's A Cabaret
Faun Fables/Devotchka/The Dresden Dolls//Webster Hall//10/28/05
Yeah, the ticket was $20 and yeah the show was at Webster Hell, but The Dresden Dolls' Brechtian punk cabaret is perfect for kicking off Holloweekend. Thankfully the weather wasn't that bad so it wasn't treacherous to stand outside the venue from work until doors, just boring. I picked up an extra copy of the Voice's 50th anniversary issue with the intent of actually reading it, not just adding it to the stack of Voices with interesting articles to read when I have time but I don't so I just chuck 'em. Halloween Adventure across the street had a bigger line than Webster Hall. Seriously, though. Who buys their costume 3 days before Halloween? Maybe they just enjoy waiting on lines for things, hoping the evening news would stop by to do a little segment on all the last-minute shoppers--except they usually do that on the 30th. On my way down 11th Xris rides by on his way to Critical Mass. He stops to show me his costume. Spider Man. "Team Spider-man! So if you see me in handcuffs on the evening news, you'll know who it is!" "Unless you need bail money, in which case I've never seen you before." Only because I have no money myself. If I had any, it would be a different story.
There are already 7 people on line; a group who've been there since 2, a blue-haired indie rock guy, and a guy decked out in vintage gear complete with aviator sunglasses and spats, one guy in suspenders and a bowler hat. Behind me is some guy who knows people invovled in the show--a guy with dreadlocks and an accordian case stops to talk to him; the guy on line is on his cell all night, having important-sounding conversations and receiving hugs from people in costumes walking past. "I've gotta go, I'm getting bombarded here." I should get a cellphone so I could stand on line having bogus yet juicy conversations: You gave who a blowjob backstage last nite? Guess who I did last week. Hey, I still have that schmo's cell phone lying around. I should try this. A girl dressed in white and painted white perches on a chair and poses, in between blowing handfuls of baby powder. Another passes out lollipops to the gathering crowd. A woman dressed in a cigarrette girl costume comes out to work the line: How's everybody doing? Who are we here to see? Tepid responses and a few half-hearted "Dresden Dolls" and one "Devotchka." "One more time!" the woman prompts. "You're all wonderful! It's Friday and it's not too cold! You're here to see the Dolls!" C'mon, these are the people who've been standing here all afternoon. The woman announces that she's selling CDs, pins, and stickers. Brill. Every band should sell merch outside the venue to save time and I buy a sticker because she didn't have any pins on her. After she works the line, getting enthusiastic "Woooo!s" further down, she heads back inside and I call after her to bring out pins. At 6:45 they start IDing the line and I toss the Voice (Christgau's punk report from 1978 said that of the 20 bands he saw over 9 days in England, 10 played genuine punk and of those 10, only 4 put on hotter shows than anyone he saw at CBGB, namely the Clash and X-ray Spex) but there's still a good half hour to go. I'm antsy and have to pee. After the barricades are set up, one of the guards tells us to form 2 lines. We sort of form a huddle and I cut the blue-haired boy. I guess I just wanted it more than he did. Once the rope comes down I'm the first one in but I go up the stairs a little slower to be fair to the kids there since 2. Once anchored up front, I can't go off to buy a pin because it's filling up quickly.
A venue like Webster Hall is visually perfect for these bands. There's a balcony and the decor makes it look like an opera theatre, the only thing missing is seating; however, the place is too huge and impersonal. As Faun Fables sets up, the guy with the accordian comes out with a ballerina "from the Bolshoi ballet" in black. He plays a bit and she starts dancing--and her wig falls off and is totally bald. The accordian player tosses her another one and she plops it on quickly. It falls off again, so she starts juggles them and waves them like pompoms for a bit. Renaissance Faire-y Faun Fables strums an acoustic guitar and had yodely songs. She lights a candle and sits down at a table, knocks the candle over, taps beer bottles, and sings along. After her set, comedian Eugene Mirman comes out and does a skit about having a conversation with a telemarketer from a Christian phone company and plays the recorded conversation. Devotchka, (with a backward K, not to be confused with the streetpunk Oi! Toys in Devotchkas) feature a woman on a tuba, the opening of which has Christmas lights circling it. This has gotta be the most bad-ass tuba ever and they play Ukrainian opera pop. (Sorry I'm going fast--it's a busy weekend.)
While they were setting up for Dresden Dolls, the (underage) girls to my left grabbed a beer bottle off the stage and polished it off, then hit on the stagehand flashing ass cleavage. ("Wanna hang out later?" "Sure, see me after the show.") The same half of Modrocket at the Donnas show were again to my right, plotting to get into the VIP section for Nine Inch Nails so they don't get stabbed up front. I don't really know if The Dresden Dolls is punk cabaret, mainly because to me "punk" conjures up a certain sound/look, just like if I were to describe them as Goth makes you think of certain acts who are Goth but not necessarily Gothic. Then again, I'm not quite sure which time period/geographical region the historical Goth refers to, but Boston's The Dresden Dolls mine German cabaret circa the early 1900s. Imagine The White Stripes with a German cabaret sound--only with the woman, Amanda, (in a crushed velvet dress, black and white striped stockings held up w/garters, Mary Janes, and really hairy pits) on a keyboard (Kurzweil is changed to read "Kurt Weill") and guy, Brian, (in a bowler hat and lace stockings) on drums and occasionally an acoustic guitar. Their faces are painted white with red lips and they sing songs about coin-operated boys and girls who are anachronisms, and cover a cabaret song about a port in Amsterdam, "One Is The Lonliest Number backed by the Ambitious Orchestra in costume (if you're gonna sing about one being the lonliest number, it makes sense to be backed by an orchestra), which is why I said this is perfect for a venue that looks like an opera house. Among the encores were "Science Fiction Double Feature" and "Let The Sun Shine In," making for one of the most unique shows I've seen in a long while.
The problem with being among the first inside a venue is that it takes you forever to exit. The merch was all the way in the back and a crowd was pretty deep. I'm not too thrilled about buying one pin through a website because I think it's pretty pointless, but luckily their site has several. And soon I will, as well.
Yeah, the ticket was $20 and yeah the show was at Webster Hell, but The Dresden Dolls' Brechtian punk cabaret is perfect for kicking off Holloweekend. Thankfully the weather wasn't that bad so it wasn't treacherous to stand outside the venue from work until doors, just boring. I picked up an extra copy of the Voice's 50th anniversary issue with the intent of actually reading it, not just adding it to the stack of Voices with interesting articles to read when I have time but I don't so I just chuck 'em. Halloween Adventure across the street had a bigger line than Webster Hall. Seriously, though. Who buys their costume 3 days before Halloween? Maybe they just enjoy waiting on lines for things, hoping the evening news would stop by to do a little segment on all the last-minute shoppers--except they usually do that on the 30th. On my way down 11th Xris rides by on his way to Critical Mass. He stops to show me his costume. Spider Man. "Team Spider-man! So if you see me in handcuffs on the evening news, you'll know who it is!" "Unless you need bail money, in which case I've never seen you before." Only because I have no money myself. If I had any, it would be a different story.
There are already 7 people on line; a group who've been there since 2, a blue-haired indie rock guy, and a guy decked out in vintage gear complete with aviator sunglasses and spats, one guy in suspenders and a bowler hat. Behind me is some guy who knows people invovled in the show--a guy with dreadlocks and an accordian case stops to talk to him; the guy on line is on his cell all night, having important-sounding conversations and receiving hugs from people in costumes walking past. "I've gotta go, I'm getting bombarded here." I should get a cellphone so I could stand on line having bogus yet juicy conversations: You gave who a blowjob backstage last nite? Guess who I did last week. Hey, I still have that schmo's cell phone lying around. I should try this. A girl dressed in white and painted white perches on a chair and poses, in between blowing handfuls of baby powder. Another passes out lollipops to the gathering crowd. A woman dressed in a cigarrette girl costume comes out to work the line: How's everybody doing? Who are we here to see? Tepid responses and a few half-hearted "Dresden Dolls" and one "Devotchka." "One more time!" the woman prompts. "You're all wonderful! It's Friday and it's not too cold! You're here to see the Dolls!" C'mon, these are the people who've been standing here all afternoon. The woman announces that she's selling CDs, pins, and stickers. Brill. Every band should sell merch outside the venue to save time and I buy a sticker because she didn't have any pins on her. After she works the line, getting enthusiastic "Woooo!s" further down, she heads back inside and I call after her to bring out pins. At 6:45 they start IDing the line and I toss the Voice (Christgau's punk report from 1978 said that of the 20 bands he saw over 9 days in England, 10 played genuine punk and of those 10, only 4 put on hotter shows than anyone he saw at CBGB, namely the Clash and X-ray Spex) but there's still a good half hour to go. I'm antsy and have to pee. After the barricades are set up, one of the guards tells us to form 2 lines. We sort of form a huddle and I cut the blue-haired boy. I guess I just wanted it more than he did. Once the rope comes down I'm the first one in but I go up the stairs a little slower to be fair to the kids there since 2. Once anchored up front, I can't go off to buy a pin because it's filling up quickly.
A venue like Webster Hall is visually perfect for these bands. There's a balcony and the decor makes it look like an opera theatre, the only thing missing is seating; however, the place is too huge and impersonal. As Faun Fables sets up, the guy with the accordian comes out with a ballerina "from the Bolshoi ballet" in black. He plays a bit and she starts dancing--and her wig falls off and is totally bald. The accordian player tosses her another one and she plops it on quickly. It falls off again, so she starts juggles them and waves them like pompoms for a bit. Renaissance Faire-y Faun Fables strums an acoustic guitar and had yodely songs. She lights a candle and sits down at a table, knocks the candle over, taps beer bottles, and sings along. After her set, comedian Eugene Mirman comes out and does a skit about having a conversation with a telemarketer from a Christian phone company and plays the recorded conversation. Devotchka, (with a backward K, not to be confused with the streetpunk Oi! Toys in Devotchkas) feature a woman on a tuba, the opening of which has Christmas lights circling it. This has gotta be the most bad-ass tuba ever and they play Ukrainian opera pop. (Sorry I'm going fast--it's a busy weekend.)
While they were setting up for Dresden Dolls, the (underage) girls to my left grabbed a beer bottle off the stage and polished it off, then hit on the stagehand flashing ass cleavage. ("Wanna hang out later?" "Sure, see me after the show.") The same half of Modrocket at the Donnas show were again to my right, plotting to get into the VIP section for Nine Inch Nails so they don't get stabbed up front. I don't really know if The Dresden Dolls is punk cabaret, mainly because to me "punk" conjures up a certain sound/look, just like if I were to describe them as Goth makes you think of certain acts who are Goth but not necessarily Gothic. Then again, I'm not quite sure which time period/geographical region the historical Goth refers to, but Boston's The Dresden Dolls mine German cabaret circa the early 1900s. Imagine The White Stripes with a German cabaret sound--only with the woman, Amanda, (in a crushed velvet dress, black and white striped stockings held up w/garters, Mary Janes, and really hairy pits) on a keyboard (Kurzweil is changed to read "Kurt Weill") and guy, Brian, (in a bowler hat and lace stockings) on drums and occasionally an acoustic guitar. Their faces are painted white with red lips and they sing songs about coin-operated boys and girls who are anachronisms, and cover a cabaret song about a port in Amsterdam, "One Is The Lonliest Number backed by the Ambitious Orchestra in costume (if you're gonna sing about one being the lonliest number, it makes sense to be backed by an orchestra), which is why I said this is perfect for a venue that looks like an opera house. Among the encores were "Science Fiction Double Feature" and "Let The Sun Shine In," making for one of the most unique shows I've seen in a long while.
The problem with being among the first inside a venue is that it takes you forever to exit. The merch was all the way in the back and a crowd was pretty deep. I'm not too thrilled about buying one pin through a website because I think it's pretty pointless, but luckily their site has several. And soon I will, as well.
posted by heather @ 2:55 PM
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