#Tilley Komorny

[sinceileftyoublog]

Home Is Where Interview: We’re Already Here

Photo by Texas Smith

BY JORDAN MAINZER

“It’s a whale.” That’s how Home Is Where vocalist Brandon MacDonald answered to me, over email, my question, “What’s the story behind the cover art?” referring to the front of their incredible sophomore record the whaler (Wax Bodega). On the surface, given the amount of energy she poured into writing and recording the record--along with performing the songs on a nightly basis--I don’t blame her for the brevity. Dig deeper, and the whaler is riddled with simple verses, or at least direct statements chiding life’s paradoxes. They come sandwiched between comparatively complex verses likening the world to a self-eating organism, an animal or a human devouring its own entrails in an act of desperation. In its 35-minute runtime, the whaler journeys through cultural and sociopolitical history, from 9/11 to the death of Dale Earnhardt (Florida’s 9/11, as MacDonald says). It’s an emo concept record whose concept isn’t that far-fetched: We live in a world where we’re getting used to every day life getting more horrifying.

You can understand why the whaler is a mere reflection of real life for the Palm Coast, Florida quartet. It’s been an emotionally trying few years for MacDonald, who suffered a nervous breakdown in 2021. As the band released their debut album i became birds to critical acclaim, rendering them the unofficial ambassadors of fifth-wave emo, MacDonald transitioned. But as a result of horrific anti-trans legislation passed earlier this year in Florida, both she and guitarist Tilley Komorny, also trans, left the home state they loved in order to protect themselves. With this added context, the emotional outpour of the whaler becomes all the more powerful. MacDonald describes it on opener “skin meadow” as “spilling guts to the gutless;” “Forgive me for giving a shit!” she barks, on a song that contrasts Komorny’s gorgeous, twinkling Midwest emo guitar arpeggios with warbling singing saw, horns, and gang vocals scream-chanting the title. In general, the instrumentation and composition on the whaler thrillingly wavers between emo/hardcore and Americana, sometimes within the same song, emphasizing the band’s influences, and something that’s actually a positive cultural output from this godforsaken country.

The narrator on the whaler--whether that’s MacDonald herself, a character, or a collection of characters--concerns themselves with how we interact with both other individuals and society as a whole. On “lily pad pupils”, the titular whaler kills whales because, simply, it’s what they do. “I am the whaler,” MacDonald repeats as if to give the narrator’s life meaning, over Komorny’s banjo and Dan Pot’s pedal steel. A hangman brings flowers to an execution. Everyone is trying to extract beauty from an ugly situation. On the flipside, the loveless couple at the altar on “yes! yes! a thousand times yes!” are lying to themselves and each other, faking normalcy, getting eaten up by mosquitos as the song transforms from disco beat to hardcore blast, their camouflage wearing off. “9/12″ consists of twinkly piano, a sample of children speaking, and a single line: “And on September 12th, 2001, everyone went back to work.” It recalls the oft-memed picture of George W. Bush reading to a classroom, dumbfounded as he’s being told that planes have crashed into the Twin Towers. Everyone’s numb, and nobody knows how to react or move on. On a smaller scale, the twangy “daytona 500″ illustrates the cyclical aftermath of localized death: “Animal control came to collect last night’s roadkill form the roadside / Where fathers of drunk drivers plant a cross / For their loss when the wreck is hauled off,” MacDonald sings. Her sneer, knotty delivery, and imagery all recall Jeff Mangum, an admitted influence, from fever dreams of fluids and loose teeth to “lips knitted kissin' like pigeons shittin' on windshields.”

If there’s a line on the whaler that acts as the album’s thesis statement, it’s on “whaling for sport”. MacDonald knocks down the idea of a traditional higher being when she sings, “An all-knowing God doesn’t know what it’s like / To not know anything at all.” Twenty three years ago, Isaac Brock sang, “The universe is shaped exactly like the Earth / If you go straight long enough, you’ll end up where you were,” and MacDonald’s pearls of wisdom recall a similar idea. The folks uniquely positioned to comment on our hell-scape are not the usual talking heads--they’re the ones who on “chris farley” watch as a garden grows over a buried body, who on “floral organs” are “spitting teeth into each other's mouths back and forth until we make a smile.” The wheels of their racecars spin and spin, until they lurch into forward motion, even if they crash. the whaler ends on a tape loop, the same as the start of “skin meadow”. We wake up and do it all over again.

In the middle of their tour, MacDonald was nice enough to answer a few questions over email about the whaler, her writing style and mindset, and playing live. Read our exchange below, edited for length and clarity.

Photo credit: Texas Smith (Prairie Creek Productions)

Since I Left You: the whaler imagines a world where every day is 9/11 and we've become numb to tragedy. How close do you think we are to that world in reality?

Brandon MacDonald: Reality is subjective and easily manipulated. I wouldn't recognize it if you pointed it out. We’re already here. We've been here for a long time.

SILY: As sad as it is, some folks become numb to tragedy as a means of self-protection. Would you say that's the case for any of the characters on the record?

BM: I don't see it as self protection, I just see it as what happens after being inflicted with endless tragedy. The characters on the record are all different people, and at the same time, the same person. I don't feel protected by the numbness, just bored and afraid.

SILY: There's some tongue-in-cheek humor on the record, from Florida lore to a song named after Chris Farley. How important is humor to you as a coping mechanism, writing strategy, or both?

BM: My grandmother always says after something rough happens that, “If I didn’t laugh, I’d cry.” That's where some of the funny comes from. It’s hysterical and unnerving.

SILY: Despite the song "9/12", you've posited that 9/11 was the true turning point in our history, a before-and-after type event. Do you feel that way about any other world events or eras, even if not quite as impactful?

BM: When Dale Earnhardt died. That was Florida's 9/11. Praise Dale.

SILY: Were there any newfound musical influences on the record?

BM: Not really. We just stuck to what we like. Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, Joan Of Arc, Hank Williams. things like that.

SILY: Do you pay attention to reviews of your music or what the general public says about it? Has your relationship to the record changed at all since it's come out?

BM: I see some--I don't really think about it too much. The record is complicated for me because the writing happened during a really dark period, but recording it and touring on it has been the most fun I've had. I like that some folks like it.

SILY: The record has such a wide array of instruments on it. How do you adapt these songs to a live performance?

BM: We have very different approaches to playing them live than in the studio. I want the songs live to be intimate and fun. In the studio, I can't help but want to add layers and mess around. Some of the more dense songs are strange to play at first, but folks don’t seem to mind the absence of certain instruments. Maybe we don’t need them at all?

SILY: You recently shared a tribute compilation for I Became Birds. Even if not part of the same "scene," how would you describe the kinship you feel with the bands that were included on there?

BM: I don't really know what the scene is. I just have some friends, and they make good music. I admire all the acts on the comp. We all owe a lot to Heccra for what all of us are doing with music, whether we know it or not. He's the first.

SILY: What's next for Home Is Where?

BM: LP3. DVD copy of Barnyard.

Home Is Where tour dates:

7/13/2023 Nashville, TN Drkmttr 7/14/2023 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade 7/15/2023 Orlando, FL Wills Pub 9/13/2023 Phoenix, AZ The Rebel Lounge 9/14/2023 Santa Ana, CA Constellation Room 9/15/2023 Los Angeles, CA Knitting Factory NoHo 9/16/2023 Berkeley, CA 924 Gilman 9/19/2023 Portland, OR Holocene 9/20/2023 Seattle, WA El Corazón 9/22/2023 Salt Lake City, UT The Beehive 9/23/2023 Colorado Springs, CO Vultures

[afpwestcoast]

The Social, Orlando, FL, 6/16/23

The recent set of shows in Santa Fe started unusually late (doors at 10) because the venue was basically part of an art installation that was open until then. In Orlando this situation was essentially inverted: the venue hosts a club night that BEGINS at 10, and so doors were at 6. With a hard curfew to contend with the Dresden Dolls started promptly at 7, but the early hour did nothing to dampen the energy of the band or the enthusiasm of the crowd.

The band has recently adopted a habit of doing shows in 3-night stands over a weekend, and the first night, with the band well rested, tends to be the tightest and smoothest of the three. This night would seem to fall into that same pattern (time will tell) as it went off without so much as a hiccup. Great performance from the band and great response from the crowd (coincidence? I think not); overall a sterling example of Dresden Dolls magic. Annotated Set List:

Good Day

Sex Changes

Backstabber

Modern Moonlight

My Alcoholic Friends - Just as this song kicked off a woman in the crowd collapsed. The band stopped playing and tour manager Jaron Luksa leapt into decisive action and helped her out.

Welcome to the Internet (Bo Burnham cover) - The band donned John Lennon sunglasses for this one.

Bad Habit - Brian said this was the first song he ever heard Amanda play, on Halloween in 2000. Before that, when she was just starting to play in public, Amanda said she played at an open-mic night at Club Passim in Boston. The rest of the contributions consisted of 20-30 folk songs about going to other places. Amanda played Bad Habit solo on the piano. It did not go well.

Missed Me

Amsterdam (Jacques Brel cover) - Since the venue had no balcony Amanda was forced to stand on the bar for this one

(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!) (Beastie Boys cover featuring Tilley Komorny on bass, Brian on guitar, and Amanda on drums)

Delilah (featuring Veronica Swift) - I really want a peek inside Veronica’s closet. I’ve never seen her wear the same thing twice and all her outfits are fantastic!

Amanda opined about touring back in the day and the different reception that the band got in different parts of the country and how it all seemed so much more extreme and scarier now. Looking forward to the planned upcoming album and tour she concluded that the only thing to do is to get on stage and be very queer.

Whakenewha (pronounced Fuckin-A-Fa)

Mandy Goes to Med School - This one really clicked tonight for some reason. Totally en fuego!

An appropriate time for a brief interlude to campaign to get abortion rights on the ballot, with the full support of Ron DeSantis, I’m sure.

Memory (from Cats; brief excerpt)

Coin-Operated Boy - No INXS mash-up tonight

Half Jack

— —

War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)

Girl Anachronism

Photo Gallery:

Say what now?

Pre-show selfie!

Good Day

Welcome to the Internet

Random Amanda shot

Amsterdam

Preparing to fight

You gotta fight! For your right! To paaaaaaaarty!

Delilah

The Dresden Dolls, ladies and gentlemen

Campaigning to get abortion rights on the ballot

Selfie time!

Red light district

[theeverlastingshade]

the whaler- Home Is Where

Emo music has had a remarkable arc throughout the past decade. Although commonly derided for juvenile (and often toxic) displays of emotion and simplistic instrumentation throughout its 3rd wave in particular (when bands like My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, and Jimmy Eat World were inescapable) emo has seen a creative renaissance from the early 10s (dubbed as emo's 4th wave) onward, unparalleled by most other genres of music that I'm aware of. This trajectory has been so dramatic that the majority of contemporary bands making sonically adventurous and emotionally complex guitar-based music throughout the last several years sound like emo (or country, or some combination of both). Emo began its 5th wave in 2017, which expands on 4th wave's aesthetic by taking the typical go for broke energy and filtering it through an everything but the kitchen sink sonic approach to push the boundaries of the genre as far as possible without losing its essence in the process. Enter Home Is Where, one of the brightest stars in this current realm of emo, and who recently released their 2nd LP, the whaler. On tw, Home Is Where have doubled down on the promise of their 2021 classic debut, I Became Birds, with an urgent, engaging, and multi-faceted record that exudes the immediacy of the best guitar-based music with the weight of a leftist political manifesto.

HIW are a 4 piece emo band from Palm Coast, Florida consisting of drummer Josiah Gardella, bassist Connor O'brien, guitarist Tilley Komorny, and vocalist Brendan MacDonald, who also contributes harmonica and singing saw. They started to pick up some serious blog momentum with their aforementioned debut thanks to its combination of emo, folk, punk, and screamo stylings and thought-provoking lyricism. The raw, unabashedly earnest yet confrontational nature of MacDonald's writing coupled with the band's omnivorous sonic approach that sort of splits the difference between Neutral Milk Hotel and The Hotelier didn't make it particularly surprising that they almost immediately became one of 5th's wave's standout acts, but it was hard to say how they'd follow-up an early classic. 2 years later HIW return with tw, which is a record that sounds wearier and weirder, less immediate and more incendiary than their debut, and is all the better for it. On tw, HIW have crafted the platonic sober 2nd LP that leans into their sources of depression and anxiety head-first while refusing to rest of the propulsive laurels of their past work. The throughline throughout all of their work remains a fully-realized emotional urgency that consistently articulates the stakes of being young, trans, and in a band while living in our dystopian late-stage capitalist hellscape with a singular, poetic point of view.

The 11 songs on tw find HIW tastefully expanding on the fully-formed sound they seemed to have already perfected on IBB without losing sight of what made them so thrilling in the first place. Full-throated yelps propel surging punk onslaughts, singing-saw and harmonica provide rich texture to their more subdued moments, and the music progresses with the sequencing of an air-tight dj mix. The record's first song, "skin meadow" opens to what sounds like a procession of de-tuned piano tape loops for a few seconds before a series of scorched riffs take us somewhere else entirely; the record's closing song, "floral organs" transitions into those same loops as the record winds down, in affect rendering tw as a closed loop that can be spun from start to finish indefinitely without ever breaking the spell. And the spell that they've cast here warrants multiple listens. The aforementioned "skin meadow" ignites as soon as those riffs hit, and within seconds we're rushed into an raucous punk rollercoaster that's only cooled by a singing-saw bridge that eventually builds into a triumphant movement resplete with horns and furious percussion, which eventually collapses to make room for a creaking string dirge leading into the next song, "lily pad pupils". Their music continues to defy easy categorization and predictability at every turn, but continues to thrill regardless of what they're attempting in any given moment. Even the 2 singles, "floral organs" and "yes! yes! a thousand times yes!", respectively (which are among the more straightforward offerings here) embellish their immediacy with expansive hooks, verses, and bridges that ensure that they're both far greater than just the sum of their parts.

The writing throughout tw is passionate and disillusioned in equal measure. The disgust with respect to the political and cultural climate of the United States is felt in every note, but so is the belief in the possibility of building towards a better future. MacDonald continues to write with an emphasis on surreal body horror ("Kites and intensities/Tangled in branches/I'm spilling my guts/To the gutless"), but she's gotten better at using this colorful imagery in service of sharp societal critiques. The song with a title that serves as the record's thesis ("everyday feels like 9/11") offers up sharp assessments of our unrelenting brutality "You're your own tapeworm/And God's in heaven/Where he's safe from us" followed immediately by the somber "9/12" that folds acoustic guitar, keys, horns, and sleigh bells into a mournful interlude that succinctly dissects our collective tendency to normalize tragedy instead of learning from it and improving ourselves and the world writ large in any meaningful way "And on/September 12th/2001/Everyone/Went back to work". The no punches pulled approach is a constant, but occasionally the surreal aesthetic is sidelined for a gutting observation.

Despite how bleak things appear, HIW remain resolute in their constructive defiance, even going so far as to end the record with, as MacDonald put it "the closest thing that they have to a love song" with career highlight (and one of the best songs you'll hear this year) "floral organs". On "floral organs", sleigh bells, harmonica, and anthemic guitar riffs congeal into a rollicking groove that features instantly iconic lines like "We braid our intestines together/Spitting teeth into each other's mouths/Until we make a smile" that are as endearing and subtly hopeful as they are visceral and disturbing. In addition to its unusually degree of immediacy, "floral organs" caps the record perfectly by articulating, in the band's own highly idiosyncratic way, what's at stake here and what's ultimately worth fighting for. The defiance against seemingly insurmountable odds amplifies the potency of every moment, rendering tw as an electrifying statement of survival with an appeal well beyond the consistently stellar musicianship on display. On tw, HIS remind us, in characteristically brilliant fashion, that the ship might be going down, but they're not drowning without a fight.

Essentials: “floral organs”, “skin meadow”, “everyday feels like 9/11”

[afpwestcoast]

The Social, Orlando, FL, 6/18/23

Before the show I ran into Brian on the street and asked him what the new song (which had been dubbed Tom’s New Favorite Song at last night’s show) was actually called. He said it’s called ‘Boyfriend in a Coma’ and was actually written about 19 years ago but had only recently been arranged as a Dresden Dolls song. It’s based on her then-boyfriend Brendan suddenly collapsing during a load-out after a show, developing Guillain–Barré syndrome, and going into a coma for like 6 months, during which time Amanda hardly left his bedside. You can hear a demo of it here. It will always be Tom’s New Favorite Song to me.

When my nephew was 12 or 13 years old he googled Amanda Palmer to find out why his uncle kept jetting around all over the place to see her. Afterwards, due to the number of pictures that came up of Amanda in various stages of undress, he asked, “Is she a porn star?”

When I told Amanda this story she inscribed a copy of ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ for him: “To Dylan - I am not a porn star. No really. Love, -Amanda.” I gave him the book for his 18th birthday.

He’s now 26, and he lives in Orlando, so I brought him to the show. When I planted him in the front row against the stage I said, “Just so you understand: there are thousands of people all over the world who would kill to be standing where you are right now.” At the time I’m sure there was some eye rolling, but by the end of the evening I think he understood.

Unfortunately, guest bassist Tilley Komorny had come down with COVID in the past 24 hours, so we were not able to fight for our right (to party!). Despite this the band torched through another stellar set, with only minimal property damage.

Annotated Set List:

Good Day (featuring Brian on guitar to start)

Sex Changes

Gravity

Backstabber - Due to a “band miscommunication” they actually started playing different songs. I kinda think they shoulda just gone with it, but they restarted and both played Backstabber.

Modern Moonlight - Once again Brian led the crowd in the backing-vocal part before diving into the song.

My Alcoholic Friends

There was a pause in the set to introduce the band, tape down the piano pedal, and, of course, say GAY!

Rock and Roll Part 2 (aka The Hey Song - Gary Glitter cover) - Brief excerpt with the shout of “Hey!” replaced with “GAY!”

“If you’re looking for a gay band, look no further!”

Boyfriend in a Coma - By way of introduction Amanda said, “I’ve been sitting here for the last few nights thinking ‘I wouldn’t want to break up with me.’ Just warning you: I’m like the goth Taylor Swift. If you go out with me, and we break up in a bad way, you’re fucked. You’re SO fucked! This song is not quite really like that, but it lives in that dimension.”

Merch commercial

Welcome to the Internet (Bo Burnham cover)

Bad Habit

Missed Me

Amsterdam (Jacques Brel cover) - During her rampage up and down the bar tonight Amanda actually broke one of the lighting fixtures. “We broke that light, which means we’re gonna have to pay for that light. Buy more merch!”

Delilah (featuring Veronica Swift)

After taking a huge swig of wine straight from the bottle, Amanda said, “The truth is I stopped being as much of a lush when I had a child cause it just didn’t work. I don’t know if anybody has ever tried to have a small child and be hungover, but it’s fucking impossible.”

Whakanewha (pronounced Fuckin-A-Fa)

Mrs. O

Twenty Years Ago, Part 2 - Another impromptu composition about a song about climate denialism being more true now than when it was written 20 years ago. Conclusion: That’s fucked up.

They then welcomed to the stage Father Nathan Monk, who told the story of why he left the priesthood. Bottom line: The conservative (read: ignorant, bigoted, and, frankly, unchristian) dictates of his church were incompatible with his progressive world view.

Mandy Goes to Med School

Coin-Operated Boy - At the start of the song instead of singing the lyrics Amanda just sang, “Gay, gaygaygaygaygay” to the tune. Then at the end she changed the line to “Gay and to the point.”

Half Jack

——

War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)

Girl Anachronism - At this point, at the end of the third night in a row, I was exhausted and could barely stand. In a fit of wishful thinking, I actually thought they were going to close with “Sing,” and I would have a nice, calm denouement - I even took out my earplugs. Instead, I got a face full of Girl A. I managed to power through … and then collapsed on the stage.

Photo Gallery:

Dylan’s final few moments of pre-Dresden Dolls innocence (photo by Laurie Steiger)

Merch commercial; I was too enthralled through the first part of the set to take pix

Welcome to the Internet!

Grrrrrr!

Amsterdam

One of those light fixtures will not survive

Delilah

Let’s see how fast this thing can go!

Brian: You know what you did. Amanda: I know tee-hee!

Father Nathan Monk

The many faces of Brian Viglione

Really dude?

I remain convinced that Amanda’s stare can shatter glass

The end!

I’m not the only one who collapsed on the stage afterwards

[afpwestcoast]

The Social, Orlando, FL, 6/17/23

Before the show I bumped into Veronica Swift and her lovely mother, Stephanie. I asked whether she was going to come and dance with me in the front row, as she had in Woodstock, but she said she was going to sit with her mom. “I guess Mom trumps Tom,” I replied.

I have never been to a Dresden Dolls show that I would consider “bad.” I’ve never even been to one that I would consider “mediocre.” The band has a long track record of delivering consistent excellence. But let’s face it: they’re not all the same and some are better than others. Tonight was one of those nights when the stars aligned, the crowd was amazing, everything clicked, and the band blew through excellence to arrive in mind-blowing territory.

Not only were the performances incredible, but it was painfully obvious that they were both just having a blast. Nights like this are why music exists.

Annotated Set List:

Good Day (featuring Brian on Guitar to start) Sex Changes

Gravity

Bad Habit

More Vocals in the Wedge (to the tune of Coin-Operated Boy) - an impromptu composition to convey a request to the sound engineer, Dave Hughes, whom, Brian announced, has been working with the band for nearly 20 years.

Backstabber

Modern Moonlight - Before the song Brian trained the crowd to sing backup

Tom’s New Favorite Song - There is a long-standing tradition that whenever the Dresden Dolls play a brand-new song I ask for the title (in order to properly document it) and Amanda gives me some bullshit answer (who can forget the “Snakes on a Plane 3” incident of ‘17?). Tonight’s answer was Tom’s New Favorite Song. From the lyrics I would guess that it’s actually called something like (Love Comes in) Moments Like These, but if they actually call it Tom’s New Favorite Song I’m fine with that. Whatever it’s called it is a total banger and puts to rest any concerns that the new Dresden Dolls album will be nothing but weird, slow, 10-minute-long sad songs, as Amanda has jokingly suggested in the past.

Welcome to the Internet (Bo Burnham cover) - Amanda claimed a kinship with Bo Burnham, declaring him to be “another theater dork from Massachusetts. There’s something in the water in that state,” she opined, “that breeds musical theater sarcasm.”

Mrs. O

Twenty Years Ago - another brief, impromptu composition, the entire lyrics of which were: “It’s sad that a song written about 20 years ago, about climate-change deniers, and Holocaust deniers is still true!” She then claimed that the new record would be nothing but 15 to 20 second TikTok-able commentary segments on their old music.

Missed Me - Brian broke a drumstick early in this one and then proceeded to prance around the stage with his face covered like a cartoon villain holding a pair of drumsticks like a marionette’s control bar. As you do.

My Alcoholic Friends - Apparently this had been removed from the set list but then re-inserted spontaneously because it’s groovy.

Eye of the Tiger (Survivor cover) - brief excerpt for no discernible reason.

(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!) (Beastie Boys cover featuring Tilley Komorny on bass, Brian on guitar, and Amanda on drums) - During the song I jumped around so much that my reading glasses flew out of my shirt pocket (tell me you’re getting too old for this shit without telling me you’re getting too old for this shit). After the song they gave Tilley the stage to make an impassioned plea for trans rights. When she stepped to the mic and announced, “I am a trans woman” the crowd erupted in cheers, which visibly moved her. “If you’re here and you’re trans every day that you’re alive is a gift. If you’re an ally please remember that silence is violence.”

Amsterdam (Jacques Brel cover featuring Brian on guitar) - Before the song started Amanda warned that any drinks on the bar would go flying, and then proceeded to run around like a maniac.

Delilah (featuring Veronica Swift) - Upon returning to her keyboard Amanda complained, “The piano is all wet!” Causing Veronica to quip, “That’s not the only thing!” IN FRONT OF HER MOTHER!

Amanda decried the general decline of sarcasm and irony since, oh I don’t know, about 2015 or so, and said, “If anybody ever finds out that you like the Dresden Dolls and they say, ‘I don’t get it, like, are they trying to be funny or are they trying to be serious?’ just say … yes!”

Whakanewha (pronounced Fuckin-A-Fa) Amanda recounted the story of meeting Brian when she was 24 and he was 21 and said that he was the first person in the world who totally believed in her songwriting.

Brief pause to campaign for abortion rights, which served as a nice segue into …

Mandy Goes to Med School

In honor of Ron DeSantis Amanda said, “I just want to say ‘gay’ over and over again,” and then proceeded to yell “GAY!GAY!GAY!GAY!GAY!” in rapid succession, eventually leading the crowd to chant “Gay! Gay! Gay! Gay!” They then played what was proclaimed to be the gayest Dresden Dolls song …

Coin-Operated Boy - The intro to Enter Sandman by Metallica snuck in there somehow. Determining the relevance of introducing Sandman into a song about favoring mechanical lovers over human ones is left as an exercise to the reader.

War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)

— —

To encourage the band to return to the stage the crowd began chanting, “Gay! Gay!! GAY! GAY!! GAY!! GAY!!! GAY!!!” It worked.

Girl Anachronism

Sing

Photo Gallery:

Brian Viglione: Best drummer in the world!

Welcome to the Internet!

The Dresden Dolls!

Tilley prepares to join the fight

Amanda appears confused by the whole thing

Fight for your right!

Amsterdam

Chaos

Delilah

Sing cuz it’s obvious