Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra August 2, 2012

I was fortunate to see two AFP & tGTO shows at the Middle East Club in Cambridge. I've seen Amanda perform many times now: solo, with the Dolls, Evelyn Evelyn, GTO in the garage, Cabaret etc. I had stood there next to the stage two nights previously, deliriously happy and energized for hours and hours of AFP.  But that Thursday night. lightning struck. When she performed "Olly Olly Oxen Free", dripping with sweat, makeup smeared, hair a tangled mess, singing her heart out, FIERCE AS FUCK, the band thrashing behind her as we all stood packed together but moving, somehow both breathless and screaming, I felt a chill, like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water down my back. I got goose bumps, an adrenaline rush and I knew I was watching something being unleashed I had never seen before. It was like seeing Patti Smith in 1975 at CBGB. Amanda was at a whole new level of intense, punk power and it was electrifying, transforming. And that was only a  preview show for the new album Theatre is Evil. I cannot imagine what level the band will reach as they tour and play together this fall, but I will be there at the Paradise, ready for another thrill ride.