Amanda Palmer makes having a nervous breakdown sound appealing. Actually though, I suspect that Amanda is one of the sanest forces in rock’n'roll. She doesn’t give a damn about anything famous people are supposed to care about, like PR or waxing services. She does her thing, man. She’s super modern too – she uses her blog, facebook and other social media to communicate with fans directly, flying under the radar of big labels, big radio, and big tv. It’s super inspiring to see that she’s become a successful and beloved artist through grassroots support, not by being a corporate object. Not to mention the whole Amanda Fucking Palmer persona. She’s the role model little girls should have. Part of it is being what’s known colloquially as ‘a crazy bitch’. But she’s not an angry crazy bitch or a feeling-sorry-for-herself crazy bitch, or a man-hating crazy bitch, or stridently marching around screaming about crazy bitch rights. The crazy bitch is part of every woman’s personality, and it’s ok to be that way sometimes, and still be an intelligent creative person, and be happy with yourself being a crazy bitch.
Jan 09, 2012 @ 01:03:53
I saw the Dresdon Dolls last night at the Forum in Melbourne. So good live and totally agree with everything in your post. I love AFP for her uncompromising devotion to her craft and art and refusal to be bound to corporate machination.
At last night’s gig Amanda and Brian gave heartfelt thanks to the packed out crowd, because they had a sell out crowd in Melbourne. No record label, no album recently released to tour. Just a tour prompted by their desire to play music in front of these fans. No media promotion. A gig driven and promoted by fans on Facebook, twitter and blogs. They asked us to text our email addresses to a mobile phone they’d got for this tour, so they can generate a melbourne Dresdon Dolls list for future gigs, album street team promotion etc.
I appreciate artists who find ways to make art on their own terms and refuse to bow to the conventions of the music industry (which is currently collapsing)