Amanda Palmer delivers indie-pop patriotism in recent concert at Hamer Hall

Prepare yourself to be enchanted by the eclectic Amanda Palmer. Starting with a strum of ukelele from the back as she makes her way to the stage, singing In My Mind, Palmer is the very definition of storyteller first, singer later. The way she sings her own stories helps you tune in to her.

Amanda can command the audience and keep them captive, even with a simple key on her grand piano and a few strums of that ukelele. She invited some guests to come duet with her and dance on stage – locals from town who did an excellent interpretative dance to one of her newer songs.

Palmer’s raw energy and a certain vulnerability to her audience make her relatable. I like how she keeps her performances down-to-earth, humbled and emotional.

Palmer knows how to connect effortlessly with her audience and with a raw, vulnerable energy in sharing her personal stories. Her most popular songs, like Runs In The Family and In My Mind were of course played, the latter paying homage to New Zealand and Australia. Then there was an ode to doom scrolling, The Ballad of the New York Times, in which she sang about the uncertainty of the beginning of the pandemic, news and losing sanity, taking us back to the start of the decade.

Amanda Palmer was on tour for her new EP New Zealand Survival Songs, itself recorded live. On stage, she shared personal insights of life during the Covid pandemic, parts of her own lockdown experience, and stories about life in New Zealand in general.

I enjoyed the patriotic ride.

Mango Adonis

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