Local News Roundup: September 16

The Dresden Dolls will reunite to celebrate ten years together this fall. The Boston-based punk cabaret duo featuring Amanda Palmer (piano and vocals) and Brian Viglione (drums, guitar and bass), will play  handful of shows to mark their first tour in three years. Sadly, no New England dates have been included (as of yet). On Sunday, October 31, The Dresden Dolls play Irving Plaza in New York City along with some yet-to-be announced very special guests for a special show to mark the band’s tenth anniversary on Halloween. “I cannot tell you how fucking excited I am to get back on stage with the best drummer in the whole wide world”, Palmer wrote on her blog. Catch the video announcement of the reunion here.

Palmer, meanwhile, is as busy as ever. Her latest project is performing as the Emcee in a production of Cabaret at the American Repertory Theater in Harvard Square for two months this fall. The production is directed by Steven Bogart, has choreography by Steven Mitchell Wright (of the Danger Ensemble) and music directed by Lance Horne. The production will run through October 29 with performances scheduled for Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. and Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Most dates are now sold out. However, tickets may become available for performances on the night of the show. A cancellation line will start at 7 p.m. and any available tickets will be sold at 7:15 p.m. Palmer is also playing a few post-cabaret/late-night performances of her own on select nights with friends at the theater. Hit up her website for more info.

Back to the reunion front and Bang Camaro have announced they are back, for at least one night. Yes, the biggest band (literally) in Boston will end a year-long hiatus to play the Paradise Rock Club. The band will return to where it all began for them in — on Friday, November 12. Tickets for the show are now on sale through Ticketmaster for $16.50. So what happened to the 2007 BMS Band of the Year? Alex Necochea, the band’s co-founder and guitarist (now with Township), took time yesterday to explain the band’s situation in a long but very informative and interesting blog entry on the band’s website. Check it out here.

Another New England favorite that we haven’t heard from in awhile is returning to the spotlight as Zox has revealed plans to play Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in Providence on Saturday, October 9. As part of WBR’s Cheap Date series, fans can pick up tickets in advance for just $9.95 through etix.com. The show will be the band’s only liver performance of 2010. The band only played a handful of shows last year after spending much of 2008 on the road in support of their third album, Line in the Sand.

Semi Precious Weapons, the Berklee-bred glam rockers who have spent the year on the road opening for Lady Gaga, will soon return to the road for a headlining tour of their own. Touring in support of their sophomore release, You Love You, the band will play Royale on Saturday, October 9. Tickets are now on sale through Ticketmaster for $15.

Speaking of Royale, Northampton’s Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers will play the club on Thursday, October 14. Over the summer, the band released a new live album, Live from the Heart: 1000th Show, Irving Plaza, NYC. Their last studio album was last year’s The Bear. Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers were recently named Entertainers of the Year by Armed Forces Entertainment and the guys are working on plans to get back overseas and perform for the troops in 2011. In other Sixers news, the band sang the National Anthem at New York’s Citi Field before the New York Mets vs. Houston Astros last month. Tickets for the band’s Boston show are now on sale through Ticketmaster for $20.

Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield, two local veterans from the 90′s rock scene in Boston, will play together as a proper duo in New York City at the end of the for the first time ever. Thankfully, the two shows (Wednesday and Thursday, September 29 and 30) do not appear to be the first and last. We hear that Boston shows will be added shortly. Though they have shared plenty of stages, at these shows the two will perform a set together of old and new songs from both artists, as well as some cover tunes. “In the past when I worked with Evan it was always in a strictly auxiliary capacity,”explain Hatfield in a press release, “backup singing, bass playing – but now that we will be on equal footing I think we could do a lot of damage.”

The Organ Beats are offering their debut album as a free download. For those who don’t have Sleep When We Are Dead, the album can be downloaded for free for a limited time through the band’s bandcamp website. Fans are welcome to make a donation of any kind and are asked to pass it along to friends. In related news, the band is currently writing new material for their next release which is expected to be ready by March of next year. If you like what you hear, catch their next local performance at TT the Bear’s Place on Friday, November 19.

Berklee student Emily Elbert, an accomplished singer/songwriter who opened the Life is good Festival at Blue Hills last Saturday, was recently named as one of Glamour magazine’s annual Top 10 College Women, which honors the best college juniors in the country. Elbert, who is featured in the October issue of Glamour, received a $3,000 cash prize and a three-night trip to New York where she attended a ceremony in honor of the winners. The 21-year-old native of Texas just released her second album, Proof.

The Motion Sick will play their last show before an ominous-sounding “indefinite break” at T.T. The Bear’s Place in Cambridge on Saturday, September 18. The show will be a part of the Virgo-A-Go-Go Festival and will also feature Three Day Threshold, Kev & Col, Thick As Thieves and Moons. The local indie pop outfit will be taking a break as frontman Michael Epstein focuses on a few other projects he’s involved with including Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, The Michael J Epstein Memorial Library and Neutral Uke Hotel.

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