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This was another installment of the Scara's Night Out series, organized and headlined by Chris Mascara and his semi-eponymous band. Like the last one, a decidedly mixed bag. I showed up while Mick Mondo was playing, but by the time I'd gotten something to drink and removed several layers of clothing, he was done. So I have little to say about him.
Next, after an interlude from The Inexplicable Sinus Brady, we were treated to a sort of skit by Radio Pu. I had been hearing about these folks for a while, and the word "Dada" is invariably used, and I had high hopes, which were brutally dashed. I'm sorry, but it's not the case that anything you say will be interesting if it's weird enough. It seems like it ought to be, and I know I shouldn't judge them on the basis of a single performance, but this was awful. It sounds good in principle: Dick Cheney whispering filthy nothings to "VFW Lady" in Esperanto, translated by Barney the Dinosaur. Doesn't that sound promising? Why did it suck so?
After a (mercifully) relatively short exposure to Radio Pu, we had a few songs from Tim Mungenast. He seemed very earnest and grateful for the exposure, and so I feel bad that I didn't like his songs or his playing. His drummer was very good. I really liked his drummer. The woman doing backup screeching and hitting a small tambourine out of time was a bad idea, Tim. But I really liked the drummer very much.
Finally, the act I came to see, and she really blew everyone out of the water. Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls is just freakishly brilliant. Tonight she played mostly alone, a mixture of newer songs and covers. We got to hear Ultima Esperanza, which is a beautiful song, gorgeous and sad, and it works quite well solo. She also played one that I've heard before but don't know the name of, which is sprinkled with lovely, clever references to other songs. Also a new song or two, which are wonderful, Half Jack, which is always great but needs the missing drums for its full effect, and some fairly obscure covers. Two-Headed Boy is apparently by Neutral Milk Hotel, and it's a great song, worthy of Amanda's gifts. Cosmic Dancer, by T-Rex, is not; I didn't know the song, and she didn't mention that it was a cover, so it could have been hers, but I knew it wasn't, because the music and lyrics weren't interesting or clever enough to be Amanda's. Another cover was by Momus but could have been Amanda; it had her lyrical genius and her wry, skewed worldview. Brian Viglione, her fellow Dresden Doll, joined her on guitar for Two-Headed Boy at the end. Amanda's voice was rich and smooth and in great shape, and the new songs are excellent. A first-rate performance.
After Amanda, the headliner, Mascara, played. We didn't stay for
much of that--I've discussed the problems that I have with Mascara
before.