EvelynEvelyn at the 9:30 Club!

Last night I went with ProfX and two friends to see EvelynEvelyn at the 9:30 Club. We got a great spot up on the balcony right at the very end, just above the stage. The sound there was fine, the only problem was that during the puppet show we were actually behind the screen. The others watched it from behind and I moved somewhere where I could see it from the front.

I brought CthulhuCthulhu, you can read their take on the night here. Other than those, I have no really good pics, sorry.

The show opened with Sxip Shirey. He did a great job creating a theatrical/sideshow mood between his awesome suit/crazy hair and his odd assortment of instruments. There were bells, three penny whistles duct-taped together, the Sxipinspeil (I think it was a bunch of bike bells on something)…he said his instrument choices were lazy, but the music was fun and kind of mentally fascinating.

During the first song, we saw Amanda and a few other people with the tour watching in the balcony beside us (if you’re familiar with the 9:30 club, you know there are two booths at the end of the balcony). Then she went off, I assume to change.

After only a few songs, Sxip switched gears and opened the EvelynEvelyn show. The first thing I noticed was that the dynamic was very different from the time I saw Amanda Palmer in concert or any of the (many) live videos I’ve seen. As EvelynEvelyn, she and Jason didn’t really engage the audience.

The show was more like a theatrical piece combined with a circus/sideshow (so audience response was requested at parts) and EvelynEvelyn stayed in character. Fortunately, that’s precisely what I was expecting—as was everyone who came to the concert familiar with the premise—so it worked very well. Sxip as MC/manager was the one who primarily interacted with the audience.

They played about half the songs from the record (which you can listen to for free) and did one of the story numbers, which Sxip accompanied with a puppet-theatre (causing great hilarity). They also answered very deep audience questions going back and forth to offer one word at a time. That part made me laugh so hard my sides hurt.

After that part was over, there was 10 minute break. Then Jason came out and played three songs. I hadn’t ever seen him perform before and his energy wowed me. Generally good music and very fun to watch. He does his own drum accompaniment by stamping.

Next, Amanda came out and performed a WKAP piece, a Dresden Dolls piece, a piano cover of her ukulele cover of “High & Dry” and her own “Do You Swear…” on ukulele. Though I’d enjoyed the Evelyns very much, there was also something wonderful about the energy she brought to the stage being herself. She’s such an engaging performer, as I’d seen online and in person at the State Theater in November, and I realized I’d missed that.

Afterward, my location in the balcony turned out to be perfect for getting in line to get the CD signed. I was probably less than the tenth person in line. I gave them CthulhuCthulhu and Jason’s initial reaction was hilarious. He looked shocked & uncomfortable for a moment before he realized and explained that he thought for a second they’d already been given conjoined Cthulhus, which would have been weird. But he’d just seen the picture I tweeted when I finished them. They were both very friendly.

Getting home was another adventure in being a bad DC-ite. I’m used to going out on weekends when the metro’s open until 2ish and I’m not a night owl so I never have any problems getting home. However this was a Thursday, not a Friday, the last train comes through U-St a little before midnight. ProfX was scared that we wouldn’t make it there in time since I got in line for signing around 11:45. So he ran off to catch it & drive back to pick the rest of us up.

But the line started just a couple minutes later and moved so quickly that I was out of there by maybe 11:52. We decided that we’d get to the metro as fast as we could, just in case the last train hadn’t yet come. So we alternately hustled & ran and as we were running down the escalator, our hearts sank to see a WMATA employee closing the gates.

“No trains?” we called.

“Only one left, to Greenbelt.”

I thought for a second. “That’s us!!!”

So we ran through the hole she left in the gate, slowed when we saw there were 4 minutes left, and came upon ProfX perusing a map on the wall and trying to figure out how he’d make it back. I’m his GPS and had been a bit worried about just that. He was very relieved to see us.

So we made it home by 12:30am and fortunately I’d taken Friday off. I had some client work, but that didn’t start until 10am so I was able to get sleep.

I thought it was cute how there were a number of little fans there. @cecitart who I saw in November too brought her kids. And one of the friends I went with overheard a sweet conversation between young fans. Two boys of about 12 were debating buying something from the merch table. The one pointed out that the stuff cost money (you could get playing cards for $5, but most things were $10-20). The second said “Yeah, but I’d be supporting Amanda Palmer.”

All in all, I night I wouldn’t have missed.