Dakota

On Friday, was Genevieve's birthday party. A number of faces were there, many from cast or gaming. I finally met (albeit briefly) Noah and (less briefly) Joanna...

The party was lots of fun, and involved impromptu Tenacious D video-watching, and (towards the end) progressive Soul Calibur 2 playing.

On Saturday, Amy came over and Genevieve, Danielle, and I headed over to Clifton Park to see the Dresden Dolls. Detours included sneaking Nathan's Hotdogs food into the Roy Rogers eating section at the rest stop, and non-ending traffic that featured unreadable www.bumperstickers and a woman driving, dressed as a clown.

By the time we got to Clifton Park, we were concerned that the huge gathering of people outside the venue would mean we were clearly not thinking arriving an hour before showtime was enough. Not really a problem. After (I'm sure) an amusing quick-change outside of Amy's car, we walked into the club, me as cabaret choirboy, Danielle as Magenta, and Genevieve as Panda-Riff Raff, and Amy as (her own words) The Mom.

They were playing Extraordinary Machine before the show and that made me really amused. I danced with Danielle dramatically to "Red, Red, Red."

Eventually (and it seemed like a long eventually especially in those boots), the Dolls took the stage.

The Setlist (as per theshadowbox.net)
Gravity / Missed Me / Backstabber / Modern Moonlight (a.k.a. www.wwiii) / Coin-Operated Boy / Girl Anachronism / Mrs. O / Shores of California / Glass Slipper / Life on Mars / First Orgasm / My Alcoholic Friends / Slide / Half Jack / Happy Birthday / Good Day

"Gravity" was a great opener, and while I felt it was less dynamic than the album version, it was our first realization that this was going to be a very loud show. And it was. Harsh acoustics led to a mind-drilling hour-plus that between songs felt like a wind tunnel gushing.

"Missed Me" got a lot of applause when it started, and it was perfect. "Backstabber" was excellent, as well. "Modern Moonlight" was next, and Genevieve and I figured that it was the "www.wwiii" song from it's context, but we weren't really sure. "Coin-Operated Boy" was naturally great fun, and I was completely transfixed by Brian for much of the song/show.

"Girl Anachronism" was so random... In theory, I guess that's appropriate. Shoveled in-between "Boy" and "Mrs. O" just made it all the more. Some stupid boy up front tried to mosh to it, unsuccessfully. He was more of the laughed-at/eyes-rolled response by his surrounders. The song itself though was quite fun, too, but incredibly hard to sing along with because I know the album version so well.

"Mrs. O" was a surprise, as I really don't know how often they perform it, and only know of it from their live CD because of Genevieve. It was so nice, though. "Shores of California" was nice, although another song I didn't know. I would like to hear it in better circumstances, as I really couldn't tell what it was about. "Glass Slipper" was next, and was one of the best songs of the night. I just couldn't remember what the damn song was called til after the show.

I must have zoned out during "Life on Mars" (their David Bowie cover), because I don't remember it. If it's the song I'm thinking of, than it did occur to me that it may've been "Life on Mars" during the show, but I think it's the one song that I really couldn't get into.

"First Orgasm" and "My Alcoholic Friends" were also songs I had heard of, but never heard. "Orgasm" made me very curious about it, but I really couldn't tell everything. What I could discern was really interesting, though.

"Slide" was creepy, as it's meant to be, and she did excellently despite her inability to do the effects on her voice like the recording. I think her voice was husky enough at this point to pull that off pretty well.

"Half Jack" was preceded by a long jam session between Amanda and Brian, with them pounding away on their respective instruments. It was incredibly impressive. When it finally got to "Half Jack," though, it was almost exhausting. I loved how Amanda did the "See Jack run" bit, echoing herself, off-mic after each word.

It was Brian's birthday, apparently (or at least close enough to it) where the Brigaders (the equivalent to the Grateful Dead' deadheads, or Tori's toriphiles/ears with feet) giving him cake (or a really big brownie... I wasn't sure). Everyone sang "Happy birthday" after they left the stage and returned for their encore. They did one encore, but they did it splendidly: the best performance of the night, "Good Day," which isn't even my favorite song on the album, but was done so wonderfully.

Afterwards, they came out and I had them sign my "Girl Anachronism" DVD. Amanda was on what appeared to vocal rest, which I will admit was disappointing. She seemed really tired, but polite. Brian was very animated for someone who's arms should be hanging on seams after a show like that. I shook his hand and said "Hi, you are amazing." "Thank you!" he said all chipper, "so are you!"

We headed a long way back home and I got dropped off for much-needed showering and sleeping. I swear, that bed makes the most convincible argument for sleeping all day.