Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra at Theater of Living Arts

Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra at Theater of Living Arts

In May, rock star Amanda Palmer made history when she used crowd-funding (via internet site kickstarter) to raise in excess of one million dollars to fund her new album Theatre is Evil. She spent her summer mixing, manufacturing, promoting and putting together the album, producing rewards for the over twenty-four thousand backers, and doing special backer-only concerts and art shows.


Monday night she opened her tour in Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love. This was her seventh concert at Theater of Living Arts, and the place was absolutely packed. While waiting to get in (down the alleyway, through the woods and halfway to grandma’s house), the girl in front of us in line noted that the last Amanda Palmer concert hadn’t had nearly so many people attending.

This is Amanda’s first album after leaving her record label–a major, major step. In practical terms, this means that the money from merchandise and CDs sold at the concert actually go to her and her band, not the label–she’s cut out the middle man entirely.


The evening began with three (count ‘em)-three opening acts, each playing a three or four song set. First up was Jherek Bischoff, bass player for the Grand Theft Orchestra. He performed with a string quartet of local “organically sourced musicians”–every city is going to feature hometown players! He was also joined by a female vocalist with a beautiful voice. The music was haunting, lyrical, and very moving.


Next was The Simple Pleasure, a trio fronted by Chad Raines, guitar/synth player for the Grand Theft Orchestra. They are rhythmic pop with a very energetic, electronic sound–great dance music.


Finally, Ronald Reagan took the stage. They are the “premier eighties saxophone duo” in Boston. Just what they sound like–these two guys had the whole audience singing as they performed Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” and Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”–complete with props, dance moves, etc. Two saxophone players had the audience in the palm of their hands. They, too, joined in and played with Amanda Palmer on several songs.


Amanda Palmer personally introduced each of the opening acts wearing her trademark kimono, but she still made a grand entrance, carried to the stage on drummer Michael McQuilken’s shoulder. Her band was all in white suits, the strings in black, and AFP herself in a gorgeous long, white gown and black fingerless gloves. White flowers decorated the stage, too. Overall elegance. Later, of course, the dress came off, revealing skin-tight black shiny leggings, corset and bra . . . .

They opened with “Smile (Pictures or it didn’t happen)” and the intensity never let up. During the third song, a piece of the ceiling fell on Chad’s head, leading to “bring the house down” jokes for the rest of the evening–like: “Theater of Living Arts is Evil.” A version of the Dresden Dolls’s “Missed Me” was done as a sort of musical Chinese fire-drill, with everyone frantically changing instruments after each verse.


Big screen TVs sometimes showed views of the stage, and were otherwise covered by white sheets, to keep things interesting. The back of the stage was a huge projection screen, sometimes showing videos, sometimes graphics, sometimes photos. Never the same thing done the same way twice.


The whole show was very interactive. From taking pictures of the audience to reading sad and bad moments from their lives contributed by attendees to showing slides sent in by fans–Amanda Palmer connects with her fans. She announced up front that she wouldn’t be playing many old songs, because they were going to play the entire new album Theatre is Evil. She also shared that since this was the first show on the tour, that tonight was “all about learning.” She told stories about the songs and when she wrote them and what inspired her to write them.


Early on in the show, she told participants in the kickstarter campaign that their download codes would be waiting for them when they got home. At midnight, she announced it was Record Release Day, amidst much cheering.


The entire concert was over four-and-a-half hours, and the main event ran close to three hours. At twenty-one dollars a ticket–it’s a hell of a bargain. And a not-to-be-missed experience. Go see her when the tour comes to your town–you won’t regret it, not one little, tiny, sparkly bit.

Elektra Hammond
Buzzy Mag Editor & Reviewer