Lungs Locked, Lips Locked - More Punk Cabaret

My second dose of that most essential of non-prescription medication - The Dresden Dolls and the punk cabaret. A slightly different support line-up tonight and a slightly different set-list, no stilt-people, more cameras to film the experience, more younger people in 'at a rock concert' mode and more Amanda and Brian both being wonderful.

We were treated to an early sight of Amanda when she played piano on one of the songs with the blokes from the Pink Dots - and the singer returned the favour by singing on 'Missed Me' later in the evening (I'd never thought of that as a duet but it works, particularly with the older man). The Dolls have a very generous and inclusive approach to music, promoting their friends and people they admire.

A special guest to sing on 'Delilah' was Lene Lovich - yes, Lene Lovich, still with miles of hair looped round her head and trilling away on the vocals. I had no idea who she was when she came on stage and just thought, 'O, I walked past her earlier' and then Brian said her name... I saw Lene nearly 30 years ago on the Be Stiff tour and still have her first two albums. And bringing on the singer from The Red Paintings to duet on 'Mad World' in the encore, with the Dolls effectively giving away their glory moment to promote someone they believe in and give him space to shine. That's such a nice thing to do.

Anyway, Amanda was gorgeous (naturally), Brian broke a cymbal, the Brigade was out in force to organise setting off sparklers during 'Sing' and co-ordinate swaying and hand waving, lots of singing along and general joy. The set was largely the same as Friday but included 'Slide' (that for some reason I thought was 'Bank Of Boston Beauty Queen') and the delightful 'Shores Of California' (I just love the the line, 'That's why God made escort agencies').

The big finale of 'Sing', accompanied by sparklers in the crowd (in which I joined with gusto) and the whole troupe on stage, was excellent, followed by a joyous collective bow with smiles wreathing the stage and the 'la la la' refrain from the song continuing until we got what we wanted - the Dolls back on stage and more songs, Amanda in 'Mein Herr' uber-bitch mode giving Brian a wedgie while he played guitar. They work so well together and they both looked so happy and comfortable throughout the show, which was lovely to see.

So that's my Dresden Dolls weekend over. It's taken six months to get here and it was well worth the wait. Now I just have to wait patiently for the DVD...

Oh, and yet more photos are here.