Review: Amanda Palmer, There Will Be No Intermission, Cambridge Corn Exchange, 20th November 2019

From the raw energy, that hits you like a hurricane, as Amanda beats out her emotion at the piano to the angelic, overwhelmingly powerful voice, that lifts the whole auditorium to the gods, this performance was exhilarating.

Photograph (c) 2019 Michael Hargreave Mawson

I laughed, cried, sang, and sat in silent admiration and compassion for Amanda's sharing of the visceral and essential parts of her life that have formed her into who she is today. There was a point where I felt unutterably sad but she lifted me again and set me free. Amanda held us every moment of the journey and then allowed herself to be held, by strangers, balanced on the railings of a balcony over the foyer, as she serenaded us with one final song. Music from The Dresden Dolls through to tracks from her current album and even Disney's Let it go (!) formed a sung accompaniment to the spoken themes of abortion, miscarriage, radical compassion, love, death, life...

I was held and transported by the energy, love, emotion and radical compassion of this most inspiring of artists. Tickets still available for some shows.

https://nointermission.amandapalmer.net/

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Book quandary.....

Two books just delivered from Amazon BUT how do I pick between them!? Both just published, both by favourite authors......

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

 The Quarry by Iain Banks

Having read the ocean at the end of the lane (a book & marriage review) by Neil's wife Amanda Palmer, I ordered the book immediately. But I think it is probably The Quarry by Iain Banks that I must read first.....

The Quarry

The novel is about someone dying of cancer, Banks had written 90% of the book by early March this year when pretty much out of the blue he himself was diagnosed with terminal cancer and was given only a few months to live, the words above (from the book) were typed while in hospital after being given his diagnosis on the 4th March 2013.

Having bought the publication date forward to today (20th June 2013) and asked his longtime partner Adele Hartley to "do me the honour of becoming my widow" he got on with life, marriage, honeymoon and finishing the book. He announced his illness to the world on 3rd April and I, along with so many others, hoped that those 'few months' would become many.

Messages flooded in to the 'Banksophilia: friends of Iain Banks' site that was set up to provide updates and a space to comment. On 9th June under the heading 'TOO SOON' Iains death was announced:

Dear Friends of Iain,

From Adele “Iain died in the early hours this morning. His death was calm and without pain.”

We will update this site shortly. Please leave messages here, he absolutely loved them.

For now, a fond farewell to our friend.

Martin

The first book I read by Iain Banks was The Wasp Factory (which was also Iain's first published book), The Quarry won't be the last - I will re-read them, as I have done in the past, over the years to come. In particular I want to read The Bridge again as Iain considered it to be his best book: The Wasp Factory and The Bridge are both waiting beside my bed.

An excellent last interview by Stuart Kelly was published in the Guradian at the weekend.

Amanda Palmer: The Art of Asking

This is stunning....