It’s Manchester,
it’s summer, and the streets are packed with feather-clad drag queens, men dressed in leather, rainbow flags, some very
drunk people and various members of the Coronation Street
cast. Amid all this chaos, I spent my 18th birthday dressed as Ziggy Stardust watching Belinda
Carlisle sing in a giant carpark. When your 18th coincides with Manchester’s
Gay Pride, you know it’s going to be the gayest birthday ever.
On the opening night, also
my birthday, the already-vibrant Canal Street was
crammed with such colourful characters as Adam Ant, Vikings and boyband members, and that was just in our
group of friends. The weekend opened with some woman who won Big Brother DJ-ing, followed by cheesy 80’s songstress
Belinda Carlisle, whose songs all sound like Heaven Is A Place On Earth but whose
backing dancer was incredible.
Thankfully, by the Sunday,
the entertainment picked up. Whilst The Gossip rocked up the very same car park that Carlisle
had been on just two days earlier, I sat, not dressed as David Bowie, next to a statue and watched a group of people line-dancing
to the Sugababes. Following them was Handbags of Harmony, the greatest lesbian choir ever
to hit Manchester. After some backing music which sounded
distinctly like songs from HBO’s Flight Of The Conchords, Amanda
Palmer came on stage, and broke her keyboard. Then her tour manager broke her ankle. Luckily, Amanda had a ukulele
on hand, and promptly jumped into the audience for an impromptu rendition of Radiohead’s Creep.
The setlist, once the keyboard
had been restored, comprised almost entirely of requests, the die-hard Dresden Dolls fans screaming out their
favourite tunes whilst passing Pride crowds were drawn in by Amanda’s outlandish make-up, inventive lyrics and powerful
delivery. The satirical quips in the otherwise sinister Mandy Goes To Med School
were expertly timed, and crowd-pleaser Sex Changes brought with it a riotous singalong.
Solo, Amanda Palmer may not have the show-stopping Brechtian quality the Dresden Dolls so easily exude, but she puts on one
hell of a show.
The Monday night had Gareth
Gates on the bill. It’s still true that the best thing about Gareth Gates is his kitchen.
