Amanda Palmer at Koko

The 'Who Killed Amanda Palmer' tour hit London tonight in the scarlet and gold music hall surroundings of Koko in Camden. We mourned Amanda with Jason Webley and with Zoe Keating, followed by an obituary read by Neil Gaiman and then Amanda rose from the dead to entertain us and bring us joy.

In fact, Amanda rose from the dead right beside me as she walked through the crowd to the front of the stage to magically appear and have a lace veil removed from her head. I was standing in just the right place for Amanda to walk beside me as she hobbled to the stage without her crutch but with a helper to keep people from accidentally hurting her injured foot. I'd forgotten how small she is. Unfortunately for me, once she was on stage people started pushing closer to the stage so my relatively spacious standing area became crowded so I moved to the back of the hall to avoid people getting close to my back.

Amanda was on top form and looking and sounding good, swigging from a bottle of wine and plonking away at her Kurzwiel piano, occasionally augmented by cello and violin and by the dance movements of the Danger Ensemble. She opened with 'Astronaut' and 'Ampersand' from the new album, an excellent way to begin. Most of the songs were from the new album plus a few Dresden Dolls songs and a couple of covers/karaoke verite. For a few of the songs she got up from the piano or, rather, was carried to the front of the stage by the tall Ensemble bloke, to join in the performance moves with the Danger Ensemble moving around and behind her. The first time she did this was for 'Guitar Hero' and it was great to see her stand up and be more visible.

The format of the gig was as you'd expect, a couple of songs followed by some chat - general or about the record or song - and then more songs. Dresden Dolls favourites were 'Mrs O', 'Coin Operated Boy' and a great, extended version of 'Half Jack' with mad violin and cello, sounding very different to when it's just piano and drums. Amanda played most of the new record including 'Blake Says', Have To Drive', 'I Google You' and 'Strength Through Music', and was joined on stage by Neil Gaiman and Jason Webley on a fun version of 'Oasis'.

Amanda did her karaoke version of 'Umbrella' made famous at the Edinburgh Festival a couple of years ago when wine was poured over the umbrellas sheltering her. She also led the audience in singing Bon Jovi's 'Living On A Prayer' (I didn't sing along but even the youngsters in the crowd did - how on earth do they know the words?) while the Danger Ensemble passed through the crowd with collection buckets (or in the case of the Ensemble member near us, a black boot). They're on tour with plane tickets and food paid for, but earnings rely on what they can collect from the crowd. Then we were given a great version of 'Leeds United' with a troupe of girl dancers in sparkley outfits dancing and high kicking along with Amanda, a great sight with them all obviously having great fun up there on stage. Amanda told us the video for 'Leeds United' isn't out yet because the record company seems to think she's too fat - eh???

And that was it for the night - Amanda live and kicking and not letting a minor hindrance like a plaster cast on one leg/foot slowing her down. It was good to see her interacting with a range of other performers and musicians creating a dramatic show. She puts a lot into the show and you can tell - she lives it - and that's good for us. As ever, the only downside was the venue - unless you were at the front of the stage or the front of one of the balconies - or seven feet tall - then a few glimpses of Amanda is all you'd have. Her piano wasn't raised up for some reason (maybe because of the plaster cast and difficulties moving?) but I saw relatively little of Miss Palmer, even catching glimpses of her hair inbetween people's heads when they moved was a bonus. Why wasn't she on a platform so that everyone could see her? Koko looks flash but isn't the best venue for gigs and only one exit which means it takes an age for everyone to leave.

I might not have seen much of Amanda, but I certainly heard her and she was in fine fettle! And I got merch - another 'Who Killed' tee shirt and a set of 12 badges, each with an image for one of the 12 songs on the album. My photos aren't much cop this time since I was at the back of the hall most of the time, but I have some great memories. Thank you Amanda!