Di., 14. Okt. – Amanda Palmer, Jason Webley, Zoë Keating, Battle Circus

After the Dresden Dolls rocked the Tent at Highfield Festival in August, I aimed to see them again soon. Well, chances for that to happen are dim at the moment, since Amanda and Brian are taking a break from the band for a while. But I could still go see Amanda on her solo tour in Heidelberg.
And that's what I did.


Battle Circus

I was much too strained to fully enjoy the support acts. I did like Battle Circus though. They were wholeheartedly doing their thing and it sure sounded nice.
After crazy Jason Webley and grave Zoë Keating made their appearance, dead Amanda Fucking Palmer was finally about to be revived. At first they were quite serious about the "Amanda is dead, let's mourn her" thing.
But soon enough she was moving through the audience up to the stage on crutches! The danger ensemble carried her to her keyboard and she started to rock. It was heaven.


Revival

And it was anything but dull. The show wasn't just a rock show, it was a fucking rock performance. There were those four people calling themselves the danger ensemble and they kept doing dangerous things.
During coin operated boy the guy next to me got a full blown french kiss from Steven, one of the danger guys. I wouldn't call myself homophobic, but I was really glad it didn't hit me (-;
The acting was a lot of fun though, the danger ensemble added a lot to the show.


Rock!

Not that there was any need for that, Amanda was insaaaaaane on her own. She whirled through Dolls songs and Who Killed Amanda Palmer songs. And she whirled back and forth on the stage, as if her broken foot was healed for those wondrous 2 hours (with some help). She took out the Ukulele, the Guitar and the Umbrella!
And it was palpable how much she enjoyed herself. She was so at ease, the stage could have been her living room.


Ask Amanda!

Then there was "Ask Amanda", when she answered questions from the audience. She also told some stories about her time in Heidelberg as a student and about her year in Regensburg. Some things she even said in German, just to top that by singing a whole German song by the Einstürzende Neubauten.
That was the first encore. Then came another and another, she was unstoppable! Eventually, after yet another encore, she left the stage to go back to her grave.


Tasty!

This was most likely my all time greatest show, but what I will remember most about the evening is the signing session afterwards. I had a little thank-you letter for Amanda because with Delilah and some other songs she really touched my soul. I wanted to give it to her during the show, but standing in the 5th row that didn't really work out. So I had to see her in person afterwards.
I was halfway looking forward to it and halfway dreading the moment. The two halves sure were not equal (-;


Signing Session

When it was my turn at the signing table she seemed to look right through me. I figured out that she was looking at my T-shirt and promptly she wanted to know what it means. Well, she didn't like the meaning, but Steven next to her did.
I always have to explain this T-shirt and almost nobody likes it, so I won't go into details now.

She sure liked my letter though. First she thought that I wanted it signed, but I kept saying "This is for you". "What is it" she asked in German. I tried to explain, but failed miserably. "So etwas einfach" (just something like that) she offered in German. "So etwas einfach" I repeated and with those words all of her attitude changed. She got that "I understand everything, you are safe now" look. It was nice and really creepy at the same time.

When I fled the place an eternity later, she and Steven seemed to keep looking after me. I couldn't really enjoy that leaving though, because of the kiss on the cheek she gave me before.
This might sound like a nice thing to get from a very beautiful, very intelligent and slightly drunk woman. But it was too much of a shock for me at that moment. I literally ran from the room afterwards and I was glad that there was no way she could run after me with those crutches. (-;
Don't tell me how nerdy that was, I know for myself...

. . .
wow!

The letter itself was akward at best, someone didn't do his homework. I sure hope she read the damn thing while she was still somewhat drunk. Anyway, considering that look of understanding she gave me, she probably expected something completely different, maybe my ugly story of life.
Well, I'm happy most of the time and I had to write a little thank-you letter to this amazing woman, who made me even happier...