The Dresden Dolls: Brechtian Punk Cabaret

Combine the smoky cellars of a Weimar-era cabaret with the rock n’ roll fury of Joan Jett, PJ Harvey, and The Violent Femmes and you have a remote idea of what to expect when experiencing The Dresden Dolls. Ever since taking up arms in mid-2000, the uber-dynamic duo of Amanda Palmer (piano/vox) and Brian Viglione (drums) has been packing clubs in Boston, New York and beyond. Palmer accompanies her confessional story-songs with a thunderous and shimmering piano style that rests on the shoulders of Jerry Lee Lewis, Kurt Weill and Nina Simone. Viglione’s jazz and hardcore influenced drums are the perfect foil, providing in turns a delicate cradle of rhythm and a piercing bed of nails onto which Palmer lays her twisted, raw and often humorous lyrics.