"It is 6.30pm on a Friday and Liverpool is gearing up for the weekend. Lime Street station is awash with travellers, students commuters and urchins all lost in the strange personal world they inhabit. Wrapped up against the cold and alone in their thoughts. Service at the nearby pubs is slow as office workers jostle with arl fellers and girls barely out of their teens defy the cold by wearing as little as is legally possible. Around the corner at the Liverpool Academy "The Brigade" have been mulling around since lunchtime. At the door a bulky teenage lad is telling a tale about the previous night in Edinburgh while his girlfriend is asking him to keep still as she tries to apply mascara to his left eyelash. Inside the venue some more teenagers are lighting joss sticks and candles and laying dried flowers on the tables. In an hour and a half's time the most important musical act of 2005 The Dresden Dolls will take to the stage.

The Dresden Dolls is songwriter and pianist Amanda Palmer and drummer Brian Viglione. They met on Halloween night of 2000 when Viglione saw Palmer playing solo at a Boston loft party and have since said that it was a case of "falling in total rock love with one another." Speaking to the duo before tonight's concert about everything from George Bush to Brian being mistaken for an Austrian it is apparent that there is much love and chemistry between the two of them. Never before has a name of the band conjured up such vivid images. From the cabaret bars of 30's Germany and the world of Kurt Weill and Bertol Brecht to the CBGB's of Patti Smith and the New York Dolls. And from the firebombed German city of Dresden, 60 years ago, to the fragile, delicate image of a porcelain figure. The Dresden Dolls are this and more.

This is their first visit to Liverpool yet some 30 years previously the Sensational Alex Harvey Band had combined rock and roll with Weill and Brecht images in front of a packed-out crowd at the old boxing arena that was the Liverpool Stadium. As a teenager I sat in awe as guitarist Zal Cleminson in white face make up performed mime as he played guitar and Harvey spitted out the words of Brel "They lie in my arms and whisper in my ear NEXT". And some 3 decades on it's Brian in white make-up playing the drums and miming and it's Amanda both caressing and thumping the keyboards in equal measures while spitting out the words of Brel. For a few moments it appears that only the venue has changed. The old Stadium was vacuous - tonight The Academy is intimate. The space between audience and act ceases to exist as Amanda part Liza with a Zee and part Polly with a J launches into the glorious 'Good Day' from the duo's self-titled debut album. The piano pounds, the voice soars, the piano flutters and the voice shrieks. And behind it all Brian's drumming is quite simply the finest I've heard for some while incorporating his love of jazz and metal.

This is performance art at its most crucial. Rock music that is touching the pinnacle. Theatre for the people. A unique experience as Amanda plays the storyteller extraordinairé making us laugh as she regales her tale of her "Coin-Operated Boy" and tears our heart torn apart with "Missed Me". The cover versions are inspired: Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" is given a life of it's own, Brel's "Amsterdam" is delicate and beautiful and Bowie's "Life on Mars" stops me in my tracks. It is apparent that many in the audience do not know the song. Those that do are dumbstruck. The show closes with the rrriot of "Girl Anachronism".
They encore with A "Night at the Roses", "The Jeep Song" and a cover of PJ Harvey's anthem "Rid of Me". It take's a brave band to cover this but The Dresden Dolls are more than brave. They are unique and truly wonderful. They are the sight and sound of 2005.

Before the concert I was privileged to speak to Amanda and Brian and what follows is an abridged version of our chat. A full article on Burlesque, Vaudeville, The Dresden Dolls and all things glam will appear in The Mudhutter Issue 4 (April 05)

MudHuts. Is this your first visit to Liverpool and have you got to see much of the city?

Amanda Palmer Yes - I've just about seen the railway station
Brian Viglione I had an interesting meeting with some blue-collar fellers in the market morning. I was walking around when one of them looked at me and said "Are you from Austria?" "No I'm from Boston" "Where the fuck is that". I told him it was America and he gave me his feelings on President Bush and we experienced some similar emotions and he explained how his brother was in the paratroopers in the Middle East. And we exchanged some bonding. It is always interesting to mingle with people from other countries and feel that scepticism of life and that "who the fuck to do you think you are" feeling at first and then realise how much you have in common.

MH You made your version of Black Sabbath's War Pigs available for download to help the anti-Bush cause - How did you feel after the Bush victory?
AP We don't want to talk about it
BV It felt like a great slap in the face
AP So many young people had worked so hard and it was just so sad as it felt like we had finally rallied and got our forces together. And it's the first time I have experienced that in my life. We were in Montreal and it was just a crushing feeling when we heard he got it - we tried so hard
BV The worst feeling is feeling part of a country that is held responsible for so many political actions and being under the microscope and has so much negative influences on other countries and feeling that despite all everyone's that we are being laughed at by the government.
AP The most disappointing and scariest thing is not that Bush got elected but the fact that people actually voted for him. Who are these people? I don't know anybody that voted for him

MH The most exciting movement (for want of a better word) in Britain at the moment appears to be the Burlesque scene that is developing in the major cities. Your act touches on this how do you encompass this into your act?
AP It's very interesting because it's only been over the past 2 or 3 years that the idea of Burlesque and Vaudeville has been embraced. There's a scene in LA and there's a scene in New York and there's a teeny little scene in Boston. It's hard to organise. But it's such a great idea and a wonderful art form. But it also very easy to do badly and it's easy for it to get a bad name. We have tried to include performers wherever we have been but it is very difficult to audition people when you are travelling around. Plus we do not want to set up a precedent to just invite somebody up on stage who is not very professional, not very sexy, not very rehearsed. So what I hope is when the band gets to the next level we are able to create a machine of possibilities where we can have rehearsed professionals on stage.

MH You've been on the road for a couple of years now. It's been a slowish process so far - why do you think that is? Is it because you are so different?
AP Yes. Especially in the States where people have been very sceptical. Even now people that haven't seen the band and only vaguely heard the music are desperate to rip us apart.
BV The image is an easy target. It's funny but now you see Green Day wearing stripey ties and eye make-up.
AP Scissors Sisters Darkness - bands dressing up and being theatrical is coming back again
BV The early 80's was much more extreme with the huge hair. I love all that

MH Yet you are much more than that as the music itself would carry you through - you were meant to be doing Lollapalooza 2004 until it was cancelled. Would you have glammed it up there?
AP We were looking forward to it and were so excited as we had not done many big shows but it could have been a blessing as by the time it came around we were exhausted and it gave us some time to be around family and friends.

MH How do you think the influence and success of White Stripes might help you as a duo? Will it open people's ears to the fact that you can have just two people on stage?
AP I think so. I think it's one of those things that may act as an ice-breaker and their success is well deserved

MH Did you coin the phrase "Punk Cabaret"?
BV Yes we sort of put that together and we sort of decided it evoked the right kind of spirit the band projected - the energy, the individualistic attitude and the theatrical spin we put on things

MH Do you think cabaret is spirit?
AP That's one of the interesting things about the word "cabaret". In the States it seems to represent cheesy dinner theatre but that is not the case. When you look at the listings that's what you get. That's not what cabaret was. One of the things that I love about the idea of cabaret is that it's not a show it's a party - it's a place where freaks get together and exchange ideas. There's a scene happening, there's a freedom of the place. It isn't just about what is happening on the stage it's about the audience and the whole surroundings

MH Do the European crowds differ much from the American crowds?
BV One of the things we've found the same type of crowds and enthusiasm in Europe, America, Australia. Australia is one of our best markets. The radio stations really picked up on it. From what we've heard and scene Australia has always had a reputation for latching onto left of centre underground weird bands. Incredible we had fans that brought us gingerbread cookies in our likeness
AP We have these kids that we call The Brigade that you'll see tonight. Kids hanging out downstairs decorating the venue. They show up in every city. In some cities they go over the top and really decorate the place in others not so much so. In Australia they took it to the hilt it was great

MH Do you think you'll lose that intimacy when you take the next step up
BV Sure
AP No, I disagree with Brian. I think the beautiful thing with this is that by engaging the audience in the show you keep it. The audience could be 500,000 but the back, middle and front are still part of the show
MH Cheers