Amanda Palmer
14th November 2020
ToiToi, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand.
Review by Rob Harbers, photography by Olivia Robertson.
These are toxic times, particularly in America. A nasty, insidious disease has infected much of the world, with the USA at its epicentre. While there is hope on the horizon, there is still time to be endured before this comes to fruition, and in the meantime there have been some extremely unusual temporary dislocations of people as they seek to ride out the storm in the safe harbour afforded by Aotearoa’s sensible approach. One of the more notable of these cases is Amanda Fucking Palmer, who has found herself in the open arms of a welcoming community in Hawkes Bay, and last night paid back that welcome in spades, with a spectacular show at the revitalised ToiToi, the jewel in the crown of the local live arts scene (and also live cast to the world, through the generosity of 15,000 paying patrons) As for that nasty disease, it’ll be hanging around in America until the 20th January, but will then be gone, and next year should see the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine also, giving further hope to the afflicted world.
Entering stage left, and elevated, in one of the stage-side boxes, the show opened with a cover of Radiohead’s “Creep”, and its potentially ironic (in the circumstances) (more of that later) line “I don’t belong here”, to which there was an emphatic, though unspoken, reply: “Yes, you do! You are so fucking special!” Descending from the heights, this was followed by “In My Mind”, with it’s theme of future aspiration stacked against present day reality. From there, it was a short stroll across the stage to the imposing grand piano, for a first set ranging across the full career, from the Dresden Dolls’ “Mrs O”, through songs from the most recent album (and reason for the last tour) “There Will Be No Intermission”. Among the highlights were “Drowning In The Sound”, with its dramatic theme counterpointed by a self-choreographed piece by precociously-talented 17-year-old dancer Boudicca Farquhar. “The Bed Song”, described by Amanda Palmer as her saddest song, was especially poignant also, with its narrative of a distant relationship. After first-set closer “A Mother’s Confession”, there was, in fact, an intermission (perhaps marking this show out as a different proposition from the previous tour?)
After comfort stop/drink refill time, the dynamically-paced “Runs In The Family” led in to the New Zealand trilogy, comprised of “New Zealand”, “Aotearoa”, and the song inspired by the myth behind local landmark Te Karanemanema o te Mata o Rongokako, aka Te Mata Peak (with a dash of contemporary relevance) “The Man Who Ate Too Much”. The lyrics of “New Zealand” carried more of the previously mentioned ironic prescience, particularly in the triplet of “I wish I could enjoy you more, I wish I had more time to see, Your cliffsides and your blackened shores”… Careful what you wish for, some might say! The local theme continued with a cover of Lorde’s “Liability”.
“Coin-operated Boy” then lightened the mood, before the magnificence that is “The Ride”, with its title and principle theme stolen from Bill Hicks, and lyrics that could almost have been snatched from today’s headlines, such is their universality. This closed the main set, before the encore “Ukulele Anthem” finished things off on a high note, closing off this show that enabled artist and audience to pay tribute to each other, and share a small portion of the mutual love and affection that circumstances such as this inspire. All components-artist, audience, venue, material:so fucking special, indeed!
If you want to check out the live stream of this magical show, you can view it for free thanks to Amanda Palmer’s Patrons at the following address:
https://www.crowdcast.io/e/afpliveinhawkesbay/register
Were you there at ToiToi for this triumphant gig, or did you tune in to the live stream? Have you seen Amanda Palmer perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Note: [AD] Amanda Palmer provided a pass to Ambient Light to photograph this concert. As always, this has not influenced the review in any way and the opinions expressed are those of Ambient Light’s only. This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase a product using an affiliate link, Ambient Light will automatically receive a small commission.
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