According to Amanda Palmer, Theatre Is Evil. But oh, what wonderfully evil theatre she’s making.

It’s been four years since Amanda Fucking Palmer released her first solo record, the fantastically crafted Who Killed Amanda Palmer. In the time since she’s married Neil Gaiman, become the craftiest social-media user on the Interweb and written an orgasmically brilliant new record. Theatre Is Evil is Palmer at her best, full of pounding keyboard melodies and clever lyrics, bellowing choruses and dramatically blaring orchestral arrangements.

Palmer’s new record has all of the pop-punk-cabaret that the former Dresden Dolls singer’s fans have come to expect with some new sounds, like the static electricity of “Smile (Pictures or it Didn’t Happen)” and “Bottomfeeder”. The album’s themes, according to Palmer, can be boiled down to “pain and dancing.”

The most amazing part of Theatre Is Evil, and it’s hard to pick one, is the fact that it was entirely fan-funded. Over 24,000 Palmer devotees helped the artists raise tover $1 million to record, promote and tour the album. In a world where record labels and media outlets drive content this feels like salvation.

We had the chance to attend AFP’s album release show at Webster Hall in NYC last week and it was a truly incredible night. Amanda Palmer and The Grand Theft Orchestra played for almost three hours to a maniacally devoted crowd. AFP was full of such wonderful, boundless energy and every person there was so fucking happy to help her celebrate the success of the project. The album is so dynamic and theatrical live and AFP just fucking killed it. It’s hard to narrow down the show’s best moments, but a few would be:

• During a rendition of the Dresden Dolls’ “Missed Me”, Palmer and the GTO kept changing instruments, everyone playing everything. Watching AFP wail on the drums…amazing.
• For Theatre Is Evil track “Bottomfeeder”, Palmer strutted onto the stage wearing a jacket with a huge cape attached that covered most fo the audience when she dived into it and crowd-surfed. it looked amazing from the balcony.

• Before a moving rendition of Who Killed Amanda Palmer track “Astronaut”, Palmer took out a box filled with messages from the audience in which they’d revealed their darkest secrets. It was intense and emotional.
• For her encore, AFP closed with the Dresden Dolls’ “Girl Anachronism” and WKAP track “Leeds United”. Everyone lost their minds.

Amanda Palmer knows how to put on a show. An evil one.

-MARK DOMMU

-PHOTOS BY MATT OLIVE / NIGHT URCHIN (see more in our gallery)