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5 Feb 2009
The AFP gig in a little more detail
5 Feb 2009 03:21 amAs I won't be able to sleep for a while yet, here's how it went.
Against all expectations I left work and arrived at the station on time, only to find all King's Cross trains cancelled because of several overhead line failures so I had to go via Liverpool St which meant I got to Camden 10 past 7 instead of an hour earlier. However,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ginasketch hadn't made it out of work in time so I had to wait for her, anyway so not so bad. The queue was quite long but we got in eventually and found a reasonable spot by the mixer desk.
After a warm up/standup, the support came on: DetektivByrån a hard to describe band from Sweden (listen to their myspace to get an idea). Best use of scissors I've seen in a long time. ;o)
There was a reasonably short interval and Amanda started just before 9. She played a mix of tracks from her solo album, a new track, a few Dresden Doll tracks (Backstabber, Coin Operated Boy) and covers. The "Danger Ensemble" (a group of performers/pantomimes) accompanied a number of tracks with their shenanigans either on stage or even in the audience and there were a number of guest musicians, too (Leeds United had a full horn section). Obviously, there was a rant about the censoring of Oasis (because it allegedly "made light of abortion and date rape") but a praise for the BBC for playing during the bit with her on BBC Radio6. On her blog she had written that maybe if she suggested that i might be allowed to play it if i just slowed it way down and played it in a minor key. think about it. if they heard the same lyrics against the backdrop of a very sad and liliting piano, maybe with some tear-jerking strings thrown in for good measure, would they take issue? and mentioned this again during the gig and proceeded to start such a version to much giggling and laughter from the audience. Eventually she couldn't take it anymore herself, said "This is so stupid" and restarted the song properly. Gods, I love this woman. The music was interspersed with random things like the auctioning of some artwork with the proceeds going to the Danger Ensemble, a gay couple proposing on stage and the "photo session" at the end.
So much fun.
I only had the Fuji with me so the photos are rubbish but a few are actually really rather good. The light was *fantastic* for photography (strong white front light), if only I'd had my D700 with a good lens and been closer to the stage. Hell, even from where I stood with the 70-200mm f2.8 would have worked (LiveView, baby). This was shot at ISO400, 1/40th, F5 (according to the camera)
Sadly, I couldn't stay for the autograph session and made my way back to Liverpool St. to just catch the last train (the scheduled last train apparently didn't run) so I was very lucky. Very boring and long journey as I didn't have anything to read.
Anyway, I'm finally tired enough to be able to sleep, I think.
Against all expectations I left work and arrived at the station on time, only to find all King's Cross trains cancelled because of several overhead line failures so I had to go via Liverpool St which meant I got to Camden 10 past 7 instead of an hour earlier. However,
ginasketch hadn't made it out of work in time so I had to wait for her, anyway so not so bad. The queue was quite long but we got in eventually and found a reasonable spot by the mixer desk.After a warm up/standup, the support came on: DetektivByrån a hard to describe band from Sweden (listen to their myspace to get an idea). Best use of scissors I've seen in a long time. ;o)
There was a reasonably short interval and Amanda started just before 9. She played a mix of tracks from her solo album, a new track, a few Dresden Doll tracks (Backstabber, Coin Operated Boy) and covers. The "Danger Ensemble" (a group of performers/pantomimes) accompanied a number of tracks with their shenanigans either on stage or even in the audience and there were a number of guest musicians, too (Leeds United had a full horn section). Obviously, there was a rant about the censoring of Oasis (because it allegedly "made light of abortion and date rape") but a praise for the BBC for playing during the bit with her on BBC Radio6. On her blog she had written that maybe if she suggested that i might be allowed to play it if i just slowed it way down and played it in a minor key. think about it. if they heard the same lyrics against the backdrop of a very sad and liliting piano, maybe with some tear-jerking strings thrown in for good measure, would they take issue? and mentioned this again during the gig and proceeded to start such a version to much giggling and laughter from the audience. Eventually she couldn't take it anymore herself, said "This is so stupid" and restarted the song properly. Gods, I love this woman. The music was interspersed with random things like the auctioning of some artwork with the proceeds going to the Danger Ensemble, a gay couple proposing on stage and the "photo session" at the end.
So much fun.
I only had the Fuji with me so the photos are rubbish but a few are actually really rather good. The light was *fantastic* for photography (strong white front light), if only I'd had my D700 with a good lens and been closer to the stage. Hell, even from where I stood with the 70-200mm f2.8 would have worked (LiveView, baby). This was shot at ISO400, 1/40th, F5 (according to the camera)
Sadly, I couldn't stay for the autograph session and made my way back to Liverpool St. to just catch the last train (the scheduled last train apparently didn't run) so I was very lucky. Very boring and long journey as I didn't have anything to read.
Anyway, I'm finally tired enough to be able to sleep, I think.
Something I forgot to mention: Could it be that she's a gaming geek, too?
The new song she played contained the line "my heart is like a six-sided die".
"Normal" people don't make that distinction when they talk about dice. For them, all dice have six sides.
The new song she played contained the line "my heart is like a six-sided die".
"Normal" people don't make that distinction when they talk about dice. For them, all dice have six sides.
More AFP photos
5 Feb 2009 09:38 pmClick the pic and then through the flickr set. I'm almost falling over on my chair so I'm going to bed. Good night.
Ozzy's Twitters
5 Feb 2009 10:09 pm- 23:38 Three words: AMANDA FUCKING PALMER! #