Saturday, October 30, the Dresden Dolls decided to once again grace Boston with their presence at the Avalon Ballroom on Lansdowne Street in the all-consuming shadow of the Green Monster, who, after the riot-victim hecatombs of the past couple weeks now slumbers in silence, waiting for the next sacrifice of virgin blood. The entire show (starting at the past-your-bed-time hour of 5:30 p.m.) had a Halloween theme going on, and most everyone was dressed in costume especially for the occasion, excluding the goth kids who were draped in their normal uniforms of black capes and woe. The Dresden Dolls were the headliners for obvious reasons: the other two bands sucked – and I don’t mean comparatively, for these two bands’ (The Count Zero and The Tiger Lilies) suckitude was completely self-contained, and the fact that the Dresden Dolls are (a) much more talented (b) have better stage presence (c) perform with way more energy and emotion, did not help Count Zero and the Tiger Lilies very much at all. Count Zero came out in yellow jump suits and mega-80s sunglasses, giving the audience the expectation of something much cooler than what actually transpired. After three of their “loser-suck” borderline-mediocre songs I ventured to the designated smoking area and remained there until the end of their set, trying to wash away the nasty taste the band left in my mouth with a steady stream of Marlboro goodness. The Tiger Lilies weren’t much better-they were worse. A white-faced eunuch with an accordion strapped to his chest came out on stage and began singing falsetto songs about children masturbating and other trite Theatre Major shock matter that seemed more like an obvious (unskilled) perversion of a Tim Burton children’s book and Marlene Dietrich’s back catalogue than anything original or conceptually redeeming. Well, they are from Britain, so I guess they at least have some sort of excuse. A disclaimer here: I was sort of exhausted from a long day of drinking, loosely related to the Red Sox parade, which might account for my particular dislike of these two bands, but I just was not feeling it. However, in my own defense, an associate of mine who had been abstaining most of that day concurred with my low opinion of both Count Zero and the Tiger Lilies. The Dresden Dolls, a strictly two-member group consisting of Amanda Palmer (vocals, piano) and Brian Viglione (drums), made the entire event worth it despite the sub-par opening bands. There are very few existing bands that can play with such energy, such passion, especially given the nature of their music: there are no guitar freakouts, no eight-minute drum and bass solos, just Amanda seated at her piano stroking the keys with delicacy and fury in equal measure, each note and each verse accented expertly by Viglione, neither of them ever outshining the other (although we all know who the creative force is behind the band’s success). In all their songs, the Dresden Dolls cover a wide range of the human emotional spectrum: from apathy, to frivolity, to melancholy, they leave almost no stone unturned-especially on the night of October 30. They opened up with a cover of Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe,” dressed in complete Sonny Bono and Cher…Cher attire, which was promptly removed for a Britney Spears cover. Yeah, that’s right: Britney Spears. This second cover was followed by a second costume change, but fortunately for any of the sensitives in the audience, Brian Viglione’s ariolas were covered with X-shaped pasties made out of duct tape, because as we all know that’s the part that Jesus hates. One highlight of the evening was the Dresden Dolls’ only foray into the world of politics that I am aware of, and that was special election-time cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.” As Keanu Reeves once quipped, “Whoa.” Damn right, Keanu. The sheer intensity of their cover would have been enough to make Ozzy spin in his grave, if he was actually dead-which he is not. In addition to this small handful of great covers, the Dolls performed their spectacular original works, including but not limited to: the radio hit “Coin-Operated Boy,” “Back Stabber,” “Girl Anachronism,” and a hard-hitting extended version of “Half Jack.” They closed the show with an encore, David Bowie’s English version of Jacques Brel’s “Amsterdam,” for which Amanda abandoned her piano and Viglione traded in his drumkit for an acoustic guitar. For those somewhat unfamiliar with The Dresden Dolls, they are definitely worth checking out. Their self-titled studio CD is good, but somewhat lacking, almost as if the Dolls were holding back. However, the older (and better) live CD, A Is For Accident, is easily one of the best albums to come out in the last five years. Unfortunately, the Dresden Dolls will be on tour for a while yet, but keep your eyes and ears open because this is one act you don’t want to miss, unless you despise a good time and good music, in which case go catch a Dashboard show, you loser.