Theatre Is Evil

About the Grand Theft Orchestra

The Grand Theft Orchestra is composed of Amanda Palmer, Michael McQuilken on drums, guitarist Chad Raines, and Jherek Bischoff on bass. Thor Harris replaced McQuilken for the second half of the live tour of this album. The band regularly switches instruments during their live performance, including in their version of The Dresden Dolls's song, "Missed Me".

Critical reception

On July 11, 2012, Ben Folds, fellow friend, producer and musician, posted the very first review of Theatre is Evil on his Facebook page, stating that he was "listening to 'Theatre is Evil' everyday, more than once. It's good. It's really good," and in summary that, "This record is as good as it gets. You're going to shit when you hear it. It's going to be around for ages. Otherwise, it's total crap."

Numerous reviews have been released since then. Richard Marcus, of Music Review, stated "I think I'm being quite honest when I say I've not heard anything like this disc before. [...] It felt like listening to the soundtrack from some wonderfully anarchic musical. Something set in a basement night club in Paris during the decadent desperate period just before a war, any war. [...] Theatre is Evil is far more dangerous than the music you normally hear, but it lets you know you're alive." Kate Mossman, of The Guardian, wrote "Theatre Is Evil feels like sitting on the bed of your tattooed, far cooler cousin 30 years ago, while she tells you 'all you need to know' about music." Adam Rathe, of Spin, wrote "If Theatre Is Evil does anything, it should make clear that [Amanda] Palmer's not just a fundraiser par excellence but someone who's energized enough people with her work to be able to create exactly the kind of record that makes people love music in the first place."

Kickstarter

The album was crowdfunded by $1,192,793.00 pledged via Kickstarter. Backers could choose from a number of bundles offered for different investment amounts. At the time it closed, this was the most successful Kickstarter campaign by any musician.

Music videos

The first music video released for this album, was a stop motion video for the song "Want It Back" and features Amanda Palmer prominently nude on a bed with the rest of the bandmates, clothed, as the lyrics to the song crawl across their bodies. It was "filmed on and around Brunswick Street in Melbourne, Australia in March 2012" and was produced, edited, and directed by Jim Batt.

The second music video was for "The Killing Type," directed by Tim Pope, who had previously directed many videos for The Cure. It features scenes from the band playing in an all white room, dressed in all white clothes, playing all white instruments and another scene where Amanda seems to contemplate killing her lover while in bed with him. A music video for "The Bed Song" was also shot as part of the band's residency at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, which was the first residency in a new program led by Gideon Lester, to have artists do their work with student assistance on-campus. The video was released February 14, 2013.

Amanda Palmer has also released lyric videos for every song on the main disc of "Theatre Is Evil" on her YouTube channel.

Tour

Palmer planned an extensive tour schedule in support of the album. In June 2012, Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra began with a short six-date stint of small club shows throughout Europe and the US, beginning in Berlin and ending in Boston. A full-scale tour began on September 10, 2012, this time reaching 33 cities throughout North America and Europe. According to Palmer's husband, she plans to spend approximately 14 months on the road in support of "Theatre is Evil," though not yet confirmed by her official schedule.

Controversy

A controversy arose at the start of the full-scale tour, when Palmer crowdsourced volunteer horn and string players among her fans to back the Grand Theft Orchestra onstage for a few songs in each city. She was criticized, most notably by Steve Albini, who questioned her for asking for further indulgences from her audience. Palmer had explained that most of the Kickstarter money was actually spent on covering the cost of creating the album, producing and shipping the rewards, and setting up the tour. Albini called the breakdown "absurdly inefficient".

On September 14, 2012, following an article in the New York Times Palmer wrote on her blog that she considered the issue to be about artists' choice more than anything else.

On September 19, 2012, Palmer announced that she had decided to pay the volunteer musicians. This included retroactive payment to volunteers at the start of the tour.

Title

After posting the album name to her Twitter account, there was a debate amongst fans about whether the album should be spelled "Theater Is Evil" or "Theatre Is Evil". Palmer took a vote and "Theatre is Evil" eventually won, causing some of the CDs to have to be reprinted.

Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra

Guest musicians

Production

Track listing

All tracks written by Amanda Palmer, except where noted.

Selections from Theatre is Evil

Before the release of the album, Palmer sent a free 3-track digital download EP to fans through her newsletter, titled "Selection from Theatre is Evil" featuring three promotional singles.

All tracks written by Amanda Palmer, except where noted.