Amanda Palmer graced the stage of the Forum on Friday night and as expected, did not fail to impress. She is a true master of performance, and as anybody who has seen her TED Talk will attest, her ability to make people love her is one of her strongest assets. She creates an environment where an audience feels safe and free to join in and express themselves however they damn well please, and in another life she would have made a great cult leader. Each call to action, each catchy hook – is lapped up by an enraptured audience and organically contributes to an inclusive, and dare I say, beautiful vibe.
She introduced a song by saying it was written by a friend of hers with Asperger’s and it was called either ‘I love you so much,’ or ‘Asperger’s R Us.’ Both titles were given, but the former makes a little more sense, given the nature of the song. A simple melody, with amazing crowd participation. Amanda instructed the crowd to ‘hold the hand of the stranger next to you, not in a creepy, rapey way, and sing along with the chorus of “I love you, sooooooooooo much. “ The gentlemen to my right in a trench coat wasn’t that keen on holding my hand, but my wife was, and most of the crowd seemed to get into it and sing along. It was an amazing thing to be a part of- and a testament to Amanda’s ability to get people involved and make them feel included, creating a tribal mentality that is difficult to resist.
Amanda’s recorded music has never really excited me much, but seeing her live made me realize the woman has some pipes on her. I don’t think she’ll go down in history and one of our generation’s greatest voices, but she belts out each number with passion and technique- and the pop sensibility of her songwriting make for engaging, catchy songs. A particularly warm part of her performance was where she stepped out onto the crowd and sang most of a song out there, more stage glide than stage dive. It is truly a sight to behold- a kimono-clad, freakishly tall woman, effortlessly and with complete trust being held up by an adoring room full of people. It’s probably an appropriate metaphor for her recent crowd funding success and way she inspires such a loyal and accepting fan base.
Amanda Palmer must be seen to truly understand what she is capable of creating. You’ll probably learn something, especially if you are a performer yourself. She will teach you something about interacting with the other humans and how people react to the simplest things- love, kindness, and being included. Go see her if you get the chance.
BY REI BARKER
LOVED: The atmosphere
HATED: The forum being too full to sit comfortably
DRANK: Water
