Amanda Palmer at the Union Chapel
I’ve been wanting to go to the Union Chapel for a gig for ages as good friend Crazybobbles keeps banging on about it and I finally got the chance to break my duck with an Amanda Palmer show last Saturday. It is a gorgeous venue, although you do get the sense that, maybe because the big guy himself is watching, you have to think about your actions. Then again, once Amanda started swearing on stage, I relaxed and decided I probably wasn’t going to go to hell.
In terms of setlist, this was very much one for fans, featuring a host of deep album cuts from The Dresden Dolls’ back catalogue and several covers alongside the usual suspects. Highlights included Neil Gaiman singing Jump by Dudley Moore (which was humorous in a church due to its ‘blunt’ language), Oasis with Polly Scattergood and her band (she was the support act), Boston, an off-the-cuff Icarus after someone in the crowd requested it, and a wonderful acapella cover of Tori Amos’ Me & A Gun where Amanda ditched the microphone and let the natural settings of the chapel carry her voice around the building.
There is a very good reason why Amanda Palmer shows are never boring, aside from the usual banter activities like Ask Amanda and auctioning. Since August 2008, she’s been to London four times for shows and every show I’ve seen has been pretty different from each other. She knows that there are people will go to every show so she doesn’t want to make it boring for them (some bands today are very guilty of not giving fans a different show each time). It’s a good trait for a performer to have and it certainly gives each show a bit of character and its own special charm about it.
All in all, this was pretty memorable. This was a very different Amanda Palmer show but definitely one of the best I’ve seen.
The setlist was:
The Wind That Shakes The Barley (acapella)
Astronaut
Ampersand
Bank of Boston Beauty Queen
Jump (w/ Neil Gaiman)
Sex Changes
Icarus
The Bed Song
Bach Interlude
Look Mummy No Hands
Boston
Runs In The Family
Puff the Magic Dragon (w/ Polly Scattergood)
Delilah (w/ Polly Scattergood plus her drummer)
Oasis (w/ Polly Scattergood & her band)
Flying Robert
Me & A Gun (acapella)
The Point of It All
The photo you see above is by Crazybobbles and you can view the rest of his brilliant photos here (I would have my own photos but I’ve had a case of technology fail).
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Posted on September 14th, 2009 by Max
Filed under: Gigs, Reviews
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Impressed you have the setlist!
My review here