Evelyn Evelyn / Bitter Ruin

Tonight, is the official, but belated, European debut of Evelyn Evelyn, the "conjoined twin singer-songwriters". The first few dates of their tour have been disrupted because of the volcanic ash (!). One of the sisters, Amanda Palmer, formerly of the Dresden Dolls, has had to perform solo shows and rope in special guests to help out. The other half, Jason Webley, was stuck in the US for a while but arrived today in time to perform at their London shows.



The compere for this seated show at Bush Hall and also playing musical saw on a few of the songs is Adrian Stout of the Tiger Lillies, who has stepped in to lend a hand as some of the entourage didn't make it over. The support is Bitter Ruin who were also at Palmer's Koko gig last night and are definitely winning fans with their powerful and emotional alt-folk songs.



The main event - Evelyn Evelyn - are helped on to the stage and shuffle along to the keyboard where they share a seat. They are also sharing a quaint Victoriana outfit and it does feel like we're watching a circus freak show. The 'twins' have matching wigs and make-up, and share vocals as well as playing various instruments between them – it seems like quite a feat to coordinate walking, let alone playing keys, guitar, accordion, ukulele and kazoos with one hand each!

They start with the title track of the debut album 'Evelyn Evelyn', followed by 'Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn?'. They describe their music as Americana/Gothic/Showtunes and it sounds folksy and countryish with a bit of swing thrown in, as well as a touch of madness and mayhem, especially in 'Chicken Man'. A couple of willing volunteers assist in 'The Tragic Events of September – Part I' with paper cartoons and hand puppets; whilst Stout plays an eerie musical saw in the background, the twins narrate the murderous story of their birth. All the songs have very dark and mischievous humour in the lyrics, particularly 'You Only Want Me 'Cause You Want My Sister'.



The twins break from the music to answer questions, which punters have submitted earlier, from the Chalice of Knowledge. They give responses to profound topics like why we are here and what they think of the concept of duality by saying one word each alternately to much amusement. There's a bit of audience participation during 'Elephant Elephant' with people shouting "elephant" and all the words rhyming with it back at them. They play a cover of Bill Withers' 'Lean on Me', followed by a funny commentary on social networking in 'My Space' – "…you can't always want what you get when you're looking for love in a café on the internet."

At the end of the set, after a standing ovation, the twins reappear on the balcony at the back of the venue with a ukulele and sing a fragile version of Joy Division's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' to a completely hushed crowd.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.