So, the Amanda Palmer show was fantastic. She's a very passionate, intense live performer, and it was just her and a piano. I don't know that I've ever been so forcefully reminded that a piano is a percussion instrument. Also, she's very funny. I enjoyed her chatting between numbers. I will say that I don't know if the experiment where the audience Twittered their song requests to her worked all that well, though. Her blackberry froze up because of the volume. On the other hand, I've now joined Twitter, as did one of the other people at our table, so if her goal was to spread Twitter madness, then: success!

Both opening bands were a pleasant surprise. Rita, a.k.a. Helen Keller's Ukelele was without a doubt the best ukelele performance I've ever seen, but that's damning her with faint praise. She has an awesome voice, and her folksy, plaintive songs are enhanced by the plinky ukelele music. It didn't feel gimmicky.

Vermillion Lies, introducing themselves under the moniker Napalm Marshmallow (and AFP introduced herself as Alabama Boyfight), played next. Workplay's website described them as a duo that plays with found objects, pulling each one out of a box (and prompting the audience to ask "What's in the box?" every time they do so.) This description made me nervous, but I was glad to be proved wrong. They were entertaining, and the found objects made for interesting sounds (and visuals.) My favorite was when they used a typewriter as percussion. The song "Bonnie and Clyde" particularly stuck out, but all of the songs were good, and most were very funny.

All in all, if you're only going to see a live concert every three or four years, this was a good one. Worth going through the whole rigamarole that a night out sans child entails.