11 September 2026 (gig)
11 h
Twenty years after the release of ‘Yes, Virginia…’, The Dresden Dolls have returned to the album that helped define them, completely rerecording it as ‘Yes, Virginia… (Tailor’s Version)’. The resulting tour feels less like a nostalgia trip and more like a chance to revisit old material with two decades of experience behind them.
The London show had already undergone a change in venue, moving to Electric Brixton, but once the dark cabaret duo of Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione took the stage, any concerns about the venue change seemed irrelevant. What followed was a scorching, visceral performance of aggressive piano and thunderous drums. The crowd were constantly cheering, creating an atmosphere that felt strangely intimate despite the noise.
It’s difficult to pin The Dresden Dolls down to one genre. Punk cabaret is probably the closest description: theatrical, confrontational and deliberately excessive, but with the rawness and unpredictability of punk. The punk element isn’t simply about volume or attitude, but about the subjects they are willing to tackle. ‘Yes, Virginia…’ explores addiction, isolation, sexuality, identity and the uglier sides of relationships, often wrapping uncomfortable ideas in catchy melodies and dark humour. ‘My Alcoholic Friends’, for example, approaches addiction with a mixture of humour, discomfort, and vulnerability, while ‘Modern Moonlight’ takes aim at consumerism and a world increasingly dominated by technology and corporations.
That collision between the playful and disturbing is what makes the Dresden Dolls’ version of punk so distinctive, alongside Palmer’s dramatic lyricism. The performance of ‘Mandy Goes to Med School’ towards the end of the set particularly showcased this, using dark humour and a clinical, detached tone to explore a controversial subject. Live, the song felt especially chaotic and energetic, and was probably my standout moment of the night.
The theatrical side of the band was particularly obvious when the duo performed ‘Pirate Jenny’, the Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht song, in the middle of the set. Dropping a piece of classic theatre into an already intensely theatrical punk show felt completely natural. Palmer’s performance leaned into the song’s dramatic storytelling , proving that the Dresden Dolls’ cabaret influences are far more than just an aesthetic. The theatricality wasn’t limited to the music either. Palmer and Viglione’s dramatic makeup and eccentric stage outfits made them look less like a conventional rock duo and more like characters who had wandered in from some wonderfully twisted cabaret – perfectly matching the Dolls’ distinctive aesthetic.
The theatricality never felt detached from the audience, however, as Palmer and Viglione have an obvious friendship and seem completely at ease together on stage, breaking up the set to reminisce on their initial meeting and influences to their music. Their chemistry gave the performance a sense of spontaneity, while the audience seemed ready to sing along to practically every lyric.
There was also a lovely surprise when support act Eva von Schnippisch returned to the stage to perform an inspired ‘Delilah’ with them. It fitted with the friendly atmosphere of the evening, where the focus felt as much on everyone having a good time as it did on putting on a perfectly polished show.
The energy continued into the encore, which included a cover of Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Hurt’, bringing a darker, more stripped-back mood after the intensity of the main set. From there, ‘Half Jack’ and finally the fan favourite of ‘Girl Anachronism’ brought the chaos back, ending the night on a suitably energetic note.
As their tour, and celebration, of ‘Yes, Virginia… (Tailor’s Version)’ comes to an end, the re-recording has given the duo an opportunity to revisit these songs, but hearing them performed live reaffirmed that they still have plenty of energy left behind them.
