Dresden Dolls

The Dresden Dolls are an American musical duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2000, the group consists of Amanda Palmer (vocals, piano, harmonica, ukelele) and Brian Viglione (drums, percussion, guitar, bass guitar, vocals). The two describe their style as "Brechtian punk cabaret", a phrase invented by Palmer because she was "terrified" that the press would invent a name that "would involve the word gothic." The Dresden Dolls are part of an underground dark cabaret movement that started gaining momentum in the early 1990s.

Career

The duo formed a week after Brian Viglione witnessed Amanda Palmer perform solo at a Halloween party in 2000. Their live performances soon gained them a cult following. During these performances the two band members often wear dramatic make-up and fancy clothing which push their cabaret/theater aesthetic. They encourage fans to become involved at their shows, with the fans' own stilt walking, living statues, fire breathers and other performance art becoming an integral part of the show. The Dirty Business Brigade coordinates the fans' performances.

The band's first name was Out of Arms. At some point, the name became The Dresden Dolls. The name, according to Palmer, was "inspired by a combination of things," including the firebombing of Dresden, Germany and the porcelain dolls which were a hallmark of pre-war Dresden industry; an early song of the same name by The Fall; and a reference to the V. C. Andrews novel Flowers in the Attic where the classically blond and blue-eyed protagonists are called "the Dresden dolls." The name also evokes Weimar Germany and its cabaret culture. Additionally, she "liked the parallel between Dresden (destruction) and Dolls (innocence, delicacy), because it is very much in keeping with the dynamics of the music, which sometimes goes from a childlike whisper to a banshee scream within a few seconds."

The duo was featured in a webcast performance at the 2002 Ig Nobel Prize ceremony in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After a self-promoted demo recorded and released in 2001, their first release was the mostly live compilation A Is for Accident (Important Records), followed in 2003 by a self-titled debut produced and recorded by Martin Bisi (Swans, Sonic Youth) at The Old American Can Factory in Gowanus, Brooklyn. The album features fellow Boston-area musicians Ad Frank (guitar on "Good Day") and Shawn Setaro (bass on "Good Day", "Gravity" and "Jeep Song"). Two songs off the album ranked in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2004, "Girl Anachronism" at #30 and "Coin-Operated Boy" at #12. In 2003 they were crowned the winners of Boston's long-running WBCN Rock & Roll Rumble.

On October 6, 2005 The Dresden Dolls were interviewed by the subject of one of their songs, Christopher Lydon, on the radio show Open Source.

In March 2005, the duo supported Nine Inch Nails on tour. On June 5, 2005, The Dresden Dolls hosted a free concert at the Paradise Club in Boston. When a power outage unexpectedly delayed their performance, city streets became a temporary stage for some of the many performers (living statues, stilt-walkers, and fire-breathers) who had come from across the world to entertain audiences. The entire event