Gig Review - Amanda Palmer And The Grand Theft Orchestra

Amanda Palmer And The Grand Theft Orchestra

Live @ The Forum, Melbourne (20/09/2013)

 Supported by Die Roten Punkte, Jherek Bischoff and Sabrina D'Angelo

Words by Jo Michelmore

Pics by Cordell Sanders

Well, hello. Here we are again. We keep meeting this way, because we both love each other immensely, obviously, more than anything else and I hope this relationship lasts forever, I really do, but sometimes I wonder, how long can this go on? Our last meeting, it was intense. It was intense and dramatic and hilarious and exhausting and amazing. It was everything it should have been and more.

 

This time, we met in Melbourne at a venue I've never been to before. It was stunning and a little quaint, with it's tiered tables at the back, some chose the 'dinner and a show' style viewing, but you and I both know that's not how we like to do things. From the very front, right against the barrier, this night started with those two friends of yours, the Germans, Otto and Astrid. They called themselves Die Roten Punkte. I learnt to love them quickly. Hilarious and cute and talented as well, all in red and black, both of them with extreme makeup and hilarious songs about dinosaurs and bananas and second best friends and awkward situations. Astrid spoke of inspiration striking and Otto was as cute as could be, being bossed around by his 'sister' and those big rock moves were something to behold. As they left the stage I had a strange aspiration to own my very own bananen-hausen.

You disappeared momentarily when Sabrina D'Angelo appeared. Amanda Palmer called her a body poet, she moved around in the strangest of ways with only herself and two simple props, totally in silence. The audience laughed, loudly. It was a moment in a rock show that was like nothing I'd seen before and like nothing I'll probably see again, for a long time anyway.

 

You wandered back in with that nonchalant swagger you have when Jherek Bishcoff walked on stage and you made such an impact in such a short space of time, there you were, right beside me again, making me comfortable and begging me to listen closer. He only played a couple of songs but the songs, they were incredible. How can a ukulele sound so intense? The loops, the beats, the sounds, I guess you know the secrets, but they're always a beautiful surprise when you share them.

When The Grand Theft Orchestra, Chad Raines, Jherek Bishcoff and Thor Harris walked on stage, you certainly made yourself known, didn't you? Amanda stormed out, all rock and all business, in tight silver leggings and boots and a corset and 'YES' scrawled across her chest and there you were, obnoxious and arrogant and beautiful. She started with a song that felt like we were at a rock show, 'Do It With A Rockstar' and there was no doubt she had arrived and you too had arrived. When you bounced around and screamed at me "Do you wanna get drunk and stay the night? Do you wanna smoke till our throats are sore? Make out then talk and then make out some more?" how could I ever have said no? Louder than ever, screaming in everyone's faces, you are more and more attractive every minute, aren't you? When Amanda jumped into the audience with a small amount of hysteria and the opening notes of 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' started, for a second or two I could have been in some kind of parallel universe, in 1992, Amanda the female version of Kurt and the crowd bouncing as well as any mosh pit did in the day. I loved it and I think you loved it a little more.

 

You stood right beside me as every song was performed; 'The Killing Type', 'Girl Anachronism', 'Missed Me' (with special guest Meow Meow adding her fabulousness to a song that needs no more fabulous, but somehow gets better with more of it) and 'Want It Back'. You ensured the singalong was loud in 'Map Of Tasmania', performed by just Amanda and her ukulele and you were there, screaming along with me to 'Lost'; one of my favourite tracks from Theatre Is Evil. You gave me a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder in the chorus when I felt all alone and when I felt all at one. When Thor's glockenspiel and cymbals crashed down on top of me in the front row, I looked for you, because you made the memory special, a real rock moment.

 
We loved the things that make a live gig a live gig, like the story before 'Gaga Palmer Madonna' and the sweet nerves Amanda admitted having while performing a song about Melbourne in front of a Melbourne audience in 'From St Kilda To Fitzroy'. I especially loved watching Amanda love you as she invited her various special guests on stage; Brendan Maclean making Katy Perry sound better than Katy Perry, Kate Miller Heidke performing 'Are You Fucking Kidding Me?' and Missy Higgins performing a completely new (unfinished) track 'I Can't Find You'. These are the things that make a gig special and will keep us talking days and months and years later.

 

 

As usual and as you know, there's one, one song I can't listen to without tears falling, every single time and yet again, a week after the last time, the absolute beauty of 'The Bed Song' bought me to tears, but what I didn’t expect was a little surprise you had planned, that cover of Bat For Lashes 'Laura' with Amanda's good friend, Brendan Maclean was stunning, almost as powerful as the original and as tear jerking as well. The goosebumps I get at these type of events are strong and scary, exactly what I love about these nights. 'Bottomfeeder' caused the same reaction and even though I'd seen the trick before, the flowing tail of Amanda's jacket covering the audience as she seemed to float above them through the second verse, I was still amazed and impressed, still wrapped up in all you are and still feeling like a tiny person in a giant world of happiness and heartbreak, both as equally as important as each other.

 
When the opening notes of 'Common People' were played, I knew that song for me would never be the same, after holding Amanda's hand, dancing and screaming with her at the Brisbane gig, a little regret came over me, I realised that this would soon be over, that something I had looked forward to for so very long would be done and what next? I looked at you, I looked you right in the eye and decided there and then to enjoy every second of what I was seeing, because these type of gigs only happen every now and then.

I don't think we could have smiled wider or giggled louder when Amanda invited her entire crew on stage, all the support acts and friends she adores to join her for her final songs, 'Sweet Dreams' and 'Leeds United', they were loud and they were fun and we danced like never before. How I love to share these moments with you.


It's artists like Amanda Palmer that hold that special place in my mind and hold that special place in my heart, it's artists like her and gigs like these that remind me, even though you are always there, in every part of my day and night, it's you music, that I love the most. It's you that is always there, guiding me through life. It's gigs like these where you shine and remind me to respect you, to hold you closely but not tightly and I don't question how long I'll love you, I think I'll adore you for my entire life. It's gigs like these where we both come alive. It's you music, it's you who I adore. Another gig date soon?


Check out some more pics from Amanda Palmer And The Grand Theft Orchestra's Melbourne gig over at facebook and instagram. Go on, you know you want to...

Gig Review - Amanda Palmer and The Grand Theft Orchestra

Stolen from Jo!

Amanda Palmer and The Grand Theft Orchestra

Live @ The Tivoli, Brisbane (12/09/13)

Supported by Die Roten Punkte and Jherek Bischoff

Review by Matt Bond

Oh, Amanda Palmer. You're so fine. You're so fine you blow my mind. Amanda Palmer. End of review. But not really. The long wait for Palmer to return to our shores and perform tracks from the brilliant album Theatre Is Evil came to an end last night, as Jo and I made our way to The Tivoli for some fun times with the Grand Theft Orchestra. 

Before AFP took to the stage, the audience was entertained by Berlin's brother-sister duo, Die Roten Punkte. Palmer continues her winning ways in selecting awesome support acts with these guys. They are funny. Laugh out loud funny. Astrid and Otto Rot also delivered some awesome pop-rock songs in-between all the laughs. 'Burger Store Dinosaur' and its hidden subtext that tells the story of a boy dinosaur meeting a girl dinosaur and having lots of dinosaur sex (oldest story in the book) and 'Second Best Friend' were fantastic. But the standout had to be the Astrid penned 'The Situation'. It's a true story, a short one, but a true one that she had to run home and write down immediately. It involves a stranger placing their finger somewhere on Astrid's body, preventing her from sitting down. Yep. I was so caught up in the fun of everything, I didn't even question that IT WAS ALL A LIE! They're not German at all... They're Australian! They're taking the piss out of the White Stripes (their name is translated to The Red Dots) and they're not related and "Astrid" plays the drums and "Otto" plays the guitar and... they're still the funnest supporting act I've seen in forever. 

Jherek Bischoff treated us to two songs, one a banging, looping bass jam and the other a quieter, looping ukulele number. The "shhhhh" noises from some dude started all the ocean noises coming out. Seagull humans. Wave humans. All that was missing was someone making the foghorn sound. A missed opportunity, Brisbane. 

Then came our main event... Amanda Palmer and The Grand Theft Orchestra. They did not disappoint. Things escalated quite dramatically from the opening lines of 'Do It With a Rockstar', with Palmer leaping into the crowd and getting The Tivoli to mosh it up with her. She must have made her way through the entire ground floor before briefly contemplating returning to the stage, instead choosing to run up the stairs to the balcony as a cover of 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' started to play. She straddled the rail, I thought she'd jump... I wanted to look away but couldn't. This was already a rock show to remember. As Palmer made her way back to the stage she pointed out that even if she had wanted to jump, no one would have been ready to catch her. There was a sea of camera phones being held up from the crowd below. 

Now, you'll have to forgive me. Instead of thinking of what I'd say in a review, I opted to really enjoy the show and it now seems like a surreal blur. What follows might not be in the right order and will probably just be a random stream of thoughts that are hitting me as I'm writing. All of the songs performed from Theatre Is Evil were fantastic. 'The Killing Type' and 'Want It Back' had The Tivoli singing along as loud as they could. With the focus back on the stage, you could see how much The Grand Theft Orchestra (Jherek Bischoff, Chad Raines and Tarzan Thor Harris) were enjoying themselves. Bischoff was even sitting on Raines at one point as they continued to play their guitars. The banter with the crowd was suitably playful, with the band turning a request for a song about the seaside (in a return to the Bischoff debacle - seriously, Brisbane?) into a small Jimmy Buffett 'Margaritaville' cover. Raines telling seaside man to, "be careful what you wish for. Jerk." was worth the price of admission. 

My personal highlights were always going to be Theatre Is Evil faves 'The Bed Song' and 'Bottomfeeder', so with bias I declare them the tracks of the night. You could feel the collective hearts of 1000 music fans breaking as AFP played through 'The Bed Song'. Someone must have been throwing cups of water around the crowd or something, because hearing it live for the first time and at approximately exhibit E, I could feel just a little bit of water on my face, specifically in the eye region. Yep. Cups of water were being thrown around that night. For 'Bottomfeeder', Palmer donned a massive cape before falling into the crowd and covering them in the ocean-like material. 'Lost' wasn't quite the singalong I was expecting from those in attendance, but it definitely had everyone bopping around the place. 

'Astronaut' and 'Leeds United' represented the Who Killed Amanda Palmer? era, with the Grand Theft Orchestra's take on Leeds being another gig highlight and fun singalong moment. The ukulele was brought out for a rendition of 'Gaga, Palmer, Madonna', which I think caught everyone by surprise. Palmer's been spending a lot of time thinking about Miley Cyrus apparently, so the song was busted out for her sake. Or something, it's all about artists being free to do what they want. Or something. AFP's housemate dance onstage during Leeds (those fake Germans were there too) and performed a song of her own with the Grand Theft Orchestra. Oh... and Jo got to hold Amanda Palmer's hand and dance around to a cover of Pulp's 'Common People' with her. It looked like there was some intense eye contact going on there. There was also a cover of a track by one of Palmer's friends in Boston which was intended as a massive 'love' moment where the lights went low as everyone sang along to something about love or something. AFP herself pointed out that there would be some Australian guy at the bar thinking, "fucking hippies." But I wasn't at the bar.

There were some deviations from the setlist throughout (which is easy to read when you're in the front row - boom!), including the encore performances, with the scheduled 'Half Jack' being swapped out for a ukulele-tastic 'Map of Tasmania'. That left the always incredible 'Missed Me' and the second and final encore track, 'Girl Anachronism' as Palmer's Dresden Dolls tracks for the night. All in all, Amanda Palmer and The Grand Theft Orchestra delivered a perfectly imperfect set that stands as my favourite gig of  the year. The tracks performed off Theatre Is Evil were everything you would have wanted them to be and then some, the band pulled off a Nirvana cover (which is no easy feat) and made me dance along to a Pulp song (which is no easy feat). The talent on stage was extraordinary. So was the gig. Go see Amanda Palmer whenever you can.