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It's the Dolls' Halloween show, so Avalon is decorated in a predictably over-the-top fashion, with living statues and spooky dioramas and a thoroughly awesome Brian and Amanda jack-and-jill-o'-lantern. Count Zero come out in matching yellow DEVO jumpsuits, with ZERO on the breast pocket position, but they do their own songs. They seem just a bit stiff at first, which may be lingering DEVO mojo, but they soon loosen up and settle into it. Just in time for "Good News," in fact, on which Peter doesn't disappoint me, soaring into stunning dynamic wails. Tonight's set is very funky and bottom end heavy, which works well in this huge, dancey space and before a crowd that's not there to see them. I could almost have made up this set list myself, it's so good, with a few of the awesome, catchy songs from the long-awaited new album and most of my favorite older ones. They sound really good, with a perfect mix and an entire set miraculously free of major technical glitches.
After some between-sets entertainment from an annoying mime guy and some other things that I mostly don't pay any attention to, The Tiger Lilies go on. They are very, very odd, on a bill where you have to be somewhat odd just to fit in. They're a three-piece, with a drummer/percussionist, one guy that mostly plays bass (although he also plays the singing saw on several tunes), and a crazed singer/multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, piano, and accordion and sings in an absurd falsetto that he never, ever drops, even in the between-songs patter. The songs are weird, subversive ditties in the style of mid-20th century English music hall fare, but overtly crude and deliberately odd. Late in the set the drummer dies, which is apparently a regular occurence, and they seem serious as they invite audience members to come onstage and finish the set with them, but there are no takers, so the drummer has to rise up as a ghost (it is a Halloween show, after all) and finish the set.
Next, after some high school kids' Drama Club improv. music video offering that the crowd receives very kindly, The Dresden Dolls come on as Sonny and Cher to perform "I've Got You, Babe." If Brian isn't exactly a lead singer, well, neither was Sonny, really. Then, in an odd and racy sequence, they change clothes onstage (matching electrical tape!) into identical Britney outfits and perform "...Baby One More Time," which Amanda makes rather a menacing experience. And then they change into their Dolls drag, complete with onstage makeup application, which gives a wonderful peeking-behind-the-curtain feel to the event. Now we get the songs that this crowd has been dying for, and I have to say that, having seen this band at the Lizard with like 14 people there, it's really an interesting experience to see them headline a show in front of a thousand desperately adoring fans who know all the words. I myself wish that people wouldn't sing along quite so loudly during the quiet parts, but I understand what motivates it. The Dolls are as tight and wild as ever, and there are some great new songs, including one that may be called "The First Orgasm of the Morning" that I've only heard once before and a really brand new one that I've never heard. Oh, and we get their stunning cover of "War Pigs," in honor of the government that we're all hoping to vote out in a few days. The crowd would love endless encores, but there's only time for "Port of Amsterdam" before Avalon kicks us all out to make way for the dance crowd.
