The MOST EPIC State of All Things: MARCH 2019 {official thing} (Patreon)

(patron only)


Dear Loves.....oh my god....

to old and new patrons....WELCOME!!!!!! 

this is the monthly - and to date, MOST EPIC FUCKING - "State of All Things", aka "Althing". you can catch up on the previous Althing posts here:
https://www.patreon.com/amandapalmer/posts?tag=State%20of%20All%20Things

lovingly complied by me and hayley, it's a giant overview of EVERYTHING we've done in the past month for those of you who don't want to read every last post. it's a wrap-up, it's a reflection, it's a "here's what you missed", and it's also our promise to you for charging our monthly rate for just keeping the staff here and the lights on at team AFP. 

a note about the Althing, and timing!:

every month we SCRAMBLE to get the Althing out by the last day of the month. it's a massive pain in the ass sometimes, especially if we are working over a weekend.

SO, to save us all some pain, we are going to switch the Althing release to the FIRST of the month...or close to it. that way we have leeway and can post it on the 1st or the 2nd if we need to, esp if the 30th or 31st falls on a holiday or a weekend or whatever. got it?

to make this fair, we are NOT going to charge for an "Althing" for the upcoming month of april, we will pick back up in may and do the recap for april in may. we'll lose a month of $$, but we are also pretty good for content in the month of april (i think we are going to put out three things!) so we are fine. that may change - don't hold me to it.

onwards.

....................

WHAT HAPPENED THIS MONTH...

it was march.

i released MY FIRST GODDAMNED SOLO RECORD IN SEVEN YEARS.

it was a lot of work.

did you notice that i put out a record? and book? and launched a global tour?

well, that's what i did.

it was called....

THERE WILL BE NO INTERMISSION.

here is the cover :)

want to know some NERDY STUFF ABOUT THE RECORD???

the album sold over 6,000 copies in the first week (this includes pre-orders) and clocked in 243,000 streams. cool beans.

the music industry has changed a lot in the last few years. billboard chart position was originally determined only on copies of the album purchased, but they changed the rules over the last few years to include streams (i.e. plays on youtube and spotify)...so these days you'll see monster pop stars dominating the top spots because they get millions upon millions of streams. that's where the "Top Current Album" chart comes in - that's based on ACTUAL record sales only.

TWBNI had a few good chart placements on the first week in the US:

#14 Top Current Albums 

#169 Billboard Top 200

#3 Top Indie Label Albums 

#4 Top Current Alternative Albums

#4 Top Current Digital Albums

#5 Top Overall Digital Albums


on week 2 of the US charts, it placed:

#40 Top Current Alternative Albums
#60 Top Indie Label Albums

as you can see, the first week is the biggest week of all - that includes all album pre-orders and digital downloads purchased with physical merch on my website, and records bought at the two in-store events I did on release week.

globally, the album is doing REALLY WELL!!!!

it's in the top ten on the overall POP CHARTS in AUSTRIA...and it's doing really well in the UK and germany as well.

thanks, record album buyers, it means the world to me.


if you haven't gotten a copy yet, you can get the CD and vinyl from my merch shop or at your local indie music shop. as mentioned above, album specific merch on my webstore comes with a digital download, too.

http://nointermission.amandapalmer.net

USA/worldwide shop:
https://shop.amandapalmer.net

UK/EURO shop:
https://ukshop.amandapalmer.net

if you're down under, stay tuned, we're working on getting a local fulfillment webstore in australia for the album and artbook to help you save on shipping costs. more on that soon.

you can check back to the patreon post i wrote on album release day, with all the info you couldn't ever want (lyrics, track list, links to listen etc.):
https://www.patreon.com/posts/there-will-be-no-25219616

bandcamp is one of the FEW platforms that did not require me to censor the artwork, however the team and i decided to use censored artwork on this upload so that you can share the bandcamp link far and wide on the internet, without social media platforms like facebook removing the posts.
https://amandapalmer.bandcamp.com/album/there-will-be-no-intermission

and, as a patron, i've given you all digital downloads of the record as MP3s and WAVs, you can download it here:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/this-is-it-there-25037722

...........

PRESS? oh yes.

here's me on NPR'S "world cafe" with talia schlanger...

this was a three song session and a SUPER DEEP INTERVIEW. worth a listen.

there are tears on both sides of the mic:

https://www.npr.org/sections/world-cafe/2019/03/08/701247621/amanda-palmers-songs-ring-out-with-urgency-and-compassion-fury-and-love

.................

i did a HISTORICALLY long session at paste magazine's live music cabin:

the whole thing is OVER TWO HOURS....and the host was drunk. it's pretty funny.

i recorded this on the day the album came out and we broke a record, the broadcast was 2 hours and 11 minutes long.  

you can watch the full broadcast archive on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/PasteMusicAndDaytrotter/videos/amanda-palmer-live-at-paste-studio-nyc/338880450066523/  

or youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJCD-PiWOBo   

and you can listen to audio only:
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2019/03/live-at-paste-studio-amanda-palmer.html  

they also took excerpts from the broadcast and used them in their inaugural episode of their podcast -

The PASTE Podcast: Episode 1
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2019/03/the-paste-podcast-episode-1-joseph-gordon-levitt-a.html

you should watch it when you get time.

there are beers and tears....galore.

............................

LISTENING PARTIES  

hundreds of patrons came to LISTENING PARTIES in new york and boston!!!

also: if you HOSTED A PARTY....send REPORTS! LINKS!!! LINKS TO PHOTOS!!!!! i wanna know how everything went!!! DID YOU CRY? we cried.

here's the new york public library party:

(all photos below by hayley rosenblum)

me with sxip shirey, who opened the evening

.............

here's the SLEEPOVER party in the catskill mill in catskill, NY:

chris wells led us in a group exercise of truth, and jason webley played the accordion....

and everyone wore pajamas, yours truly included...

right before we listened to the record:

the next morning, after the sleep over.....

and here are some photos from the listening party at the cloud club, my home in boston:

............

HOKAY.

VOICEMAIL FOR JILL

i released a music video for the song  "voicemail for jill" directed by amber sealey....

the video premiered on refinery29, where they shared video alongside an interview with me about the song:
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/03/226163/amanda-palmer-a-voicemail-for-jill-music-video-the-drop

after being out for three weeks, it has almost 130K views on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npq_ieGCzes

there's a GREAT feature about the song here on bustle.

https://www.bustle.com/p/amanda-palmers-new-album-is-honest-about-abortion-in-a-way-so-rarely-heard-in-music-16817227

the song and the video are really affecting people.

here's a screenshot from author jodi picoult, who is one of my writer heroes.

her new book of fiction, "a spark of light", takes place during a shooting at an abortion clinic.

her words meant everything to me.

............

IN-STORE SHIITAKE!!!

i was the very first in-store artist at the brand new newbury comics on newbury street location in boston....it's literally next door to the beloved old location. it was fun and weird. i played while people shopped for anime.

photo by hayley rosenblum

then i went to brooklyn and did a much more controlled and serious show at rough trade....

and look. i'm naked:

...............

SXSW 2019

i went to austin, TX for the SXSW music conference. 

eight million things happened at SXSW, and i knew it would be a PACKED week, so i brought along a filmmaker, jessica gardner, to follow me around. 

jess filmed me from when i arrived to when i left, and she's working on editing the footage now for a future THING! we talked and talked, she followed and followed....and she caught A LOT of great behind the scenes moments. i can't wait to share this one. it was a blur. thank god for patreon, there's no way i would have been able to afford a doc like that just for the sake of it. 

.................

basic round-up?

i performed at patreon's house of creativity on march 11th, the night i arrived in austin:

(photo by @ando22 on instagram)

the next day, i recorded a live podcast with elizabeth mcqueen for kutx's This Song podcast, where i talked about my love of nick cave's "magneto" and how his latest record influenced mine.....it was so much more profound that i expected. her questions were EXCELLENT.

(photo by hayley rosenblum)

you can listen to this episode of KUTX's This Song podcast, HERE:

http://kutx.org/this-song/this-song-amanda-palmer-on-nick-caves-magneto

and if you want to watch the full, unedited conversation, you can check out the archive webcast on kutx's facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/kutxaustin/videos/live-this-song-taping-with-amanda-palmer/254738245460885/

.............

AND THEN....

i recorded a live studio interview with sxsw and host douglas caballero. it's just over 20 minutes....

you can watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg4_MvMNzCo

.................

and as i was wrapping up in the studio i met the next interview guest that was arriving...ilene chaiken. some of you may know her as the creator of The L Word, others may know her as the showrunner for Empire, she's worked on a lot of great tv projects. turns out she and her wife are fans, which made me dissolve into a pile of glee. COLLAB PLEASE.

...........

i recorded a session with kcmp and got mud on my underwear....WORK HAZARDS.

you can watch the full video session on youtube, here
https://youtu.be/1A8WWpLwWGw 

and here are links to watch the 3 songs individually:

the clip of "bigger on the inside" is particularly intense.

i'm in a drainpipe.

i cry.

good times:.

The Thing About Things -  https://youtu.be/-hyHKTYGh0Q
In My Mind -  https://youtu.be/GLzGvZ0zIKQ
Bigger on the Inside -  https://youtu.be/hVn1HJ4l0q4
...............

.
NPR's Tiny Desk Family Hour @ SXSW

NPR hosted a showcase in a church called the Tiny Desk Family Hour and graciously invited me to play. the guests were top secret, you hadda be there to find out who was playing, but we all shared one thing in common: all the performers have played NPR's Tiny Desk. (whee, that's me!)

the showcase was in the same church my headlining show was to be in a couple days later. i had only 15 minutes to play, and thought i'd offer up voicemail for jill with a nice abortion/pro-choice rant..... but when bob boilen and robin hilton introduced me, robin talked about his love of the ride (which they featured on their podcast/radio show All Songs Considered) so.....i switched tacks and performed two songs: Drowning in the Sound and The Ride. 

you can watch here:
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/06/700856476/tiny-desk-family-hour-amanda-palmer 

it's pretty beautiful.

the ride in a church filled with public radio people, c'mon.

photo by hayley rosenblum

that's npr music's bob boilen sitting in the church pew on the alter on the right. tiny desk sessions are played at his desk at npr's washington dc office.

............

BBC6music Roundtable with Steve Lamacq @ SXSW

i popped into a live show on BBC6 with host steve lamacq (y'all UK people probably know him), it was a roundtable with musician mattiel (in the hat), and broadcaster hu stephens. 

photo by hayley.

....this is what it looks like when a radio station takes over a hotel room to broadcast overseas. i am pleased to tell you that the roundtable was indeed recorded with us all AT AN ACTUAL ROUND TABLE.....

mattiel and i also compared notes on album covers and agreed that this year is the YEAR OF WOMEN STANDING ON THINGS ON RECORD ALBUM COVERS LOOKING POWERFUL.

go check her out.

............................

THEN.....

i did a featured talk at SXSW.

i worked on my talk up until i hit the stage. here i am bursting out of the speaker's green room when i finished making notes on my talk.

photos below by hayley:

but then on my way to the stage, in the elevator, inspiration struck and i needed to add one more note.

cos i did.

then i hit the stage....

my talk was recorded....stay tuned, when it's ready i'll share the video with you.

i talked about a lot of important shit.

....................

after my talk, i went over to patreon's House of Creativity and did a panel with their ceo/founder, jack conte, and ben mother fuckin' folds......

photo by hayley rosenblum

BEN JUST JOINED PATREON!!!!!!

instead of waiting til the end of the post, i'm gonna bug you NOW.

GO JOIN BEN FOLDS' PATREON!!!!

his page looks like a total joke, and that's because ben is a total joker. he's going to be doing some really beautiful musical weirdo things....go check it out. ok?

ok.

https://www.patreon.com/BenFolds

......

back to SXSW:

the next day, i did my headlining performance at the central presbyterian church. 

one of my favorite new artsits, lingua ignota (who i found out about through my friend cormac bride) opened up for me. she KILLED IT:

photo by hayley rosenblum

and here's me:

above photos by hayley rosenblum


gary gaff at billboard magazine was there, and had some nice things to say about the show. the review:

https://www.billboard.com/articles/events/sxsw/8502650/amanda-palmer-plays-epic-set-at-sxsw

..............

we did a FLASH READ-IN at the austin public library !!!!

austin public library let neil and i host a "read-in" at their brand new location. we sat for 30 minutes in silence all reading our books....and thereby fighting all the evil in the world. 

i played a song and read from the artbook, neil read a soon-to-be-published story...it was fucking wonderful.

photos by hayley:

hell yeah we read goodnight moon

the entire staff at the library were gracious and wonderful. they even gave ash a little notebook with a unicorn on it.....

.....

THE ARTBOOK!!!

the THERE WILL BE NO INTERMISSION artbooks are starting to arrive in peoples mailboxes!, which is great to see. some of you have been posting pictures with your books online but because there's nudity on the hardback patron-only edition of the book, you've gotten quite creative with it.

here's a collage made by chrystal in the patron facebook group:

THANKS GAL.
............

............

and....

TOUR!!!!!!!!!

the tour/stage show has been a stumble to the starting line.

i thought i was going to have months of LEISURE time to work on the shape of things and the setlist and, well…there was a lot to do. i just barely had my shit together for the three warm-up shows but by the time i hit detroit, toronto and montreal, it seemed pretty clear to me how things needed to be presented. 

i keep changing the set list and shaving down the banter between the songs, but there is….what can i say….so much i want to say. it reminds me a lot of the process of writing my book….it’s a hardcore case of anti-editing. like: “WAIT AND ANOTHER THING” every time i go to shave things down. if i had my way this show wouldn’t be three hours, it would be six. i would throw in a bunch of covers and slide projections and old dresden dolls songs to amplify my main thesis. fuck it…….the show would be a durational 3-month show. i would never stop talking. i would play the entire catalogue of ani difranco, tori amos, natalie merchant, and leonard cohen. and nick cave. i would read entire novels by judy blume aloud. I WOULD DO EVERYTHING. WHY MUST I FEEL LIKE I HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING. I DON’T KNOW. i’m just built that way. whatever. if you came to show, you know what i mean. if you haven’t come yet…you’ll get what i mean.

(above three photos by lindsay duncan, taken in toronto)

in the ticket sales department….things are going okay. many of the shows had a great start but have stalled and in some cases, stopped. i still need a fuck-ton of help selling out the shows in nashville and atlanta.

if you’re in DC, philly, chicago, st paul, boston or new york - that’s my next leg. PLEASE TALK UP THE SHOW and help me sell out those venues if you can they are HUGE. all the tour dates are pasted at the bottom of the post.

the "MONTREAL HAD NO MERCH" FIASCO....

was fixed by me dashing off to a used bookstore called WORD and buying 108 paperback books i liked and selling them for pay-what-you-want starting at $10. 

i signed many odd books.

WE FOUND A SIGNED BOOK BY JOHN IRVING BY ACCIDENT.

it was amazing.

here's me in the book store. i made adrian, the owner's, fucking day.

we broke even more or less on the books. but i mean...it was awesome.

MONTREAL: we still owe you an email about the merch discount. it's annoying to get perfect and we are working on it. if you haven't email us yet, i will remind you what the gmail address is: it's sort of about what happened. you'll remember. at gmail. (if you can't figure it out, email patronhelp@amandapalmer.net and we'll sort you)

.........

PLANNED PARENTHOOD / ACTION CANADA!!!!!

planned parenthood of michigan tabled in detroit and raised nearly $1,000 in donations

and action canada for sexual health and rights came out to the montreal and toronto shows, and they'll be at the vancouver show this june!!!

photo by lindsay duncan

...........

COMING DOWN THE PIKE.....

-after reading all your comments here this morning, i think i will be thing'ing my new poem. stay tuned. 

 -MICHAEL POPE and ME and COCO KAROL are working on an EPIC video for "drowning in the sound"!!!!! i'm about to head to NYC tomorrow for a DANCE REHEARSAL (i know!!!!!)

-there's a long-lead idea brewing for another video....more soon.

-i'm working on an animation for my reading of neil's poem "the mushroom hunters" with the creative connection, the same folks who did the "art of asking"/"sometimes, up on the box" animation! 

-GREAT NEWS....the NINJA-TED recording is ALMOST FINSIHED!!!!!!! i will hopefully be able to put it out this month.

the "ASSEMBLY" PODCAST  - ST. PAUL!!!!

A REMINDER TO ST. PAUL (and an apology to ST. LOUIS): the call for interviewees for the “assembly” podcast is for ST. PAUL, NOT ST. LOUS, i made a stupid typo in the post a couple days ago.

if you’re in ST. PAUL and you're interested in participating, fill out this form : https://forms.gle/z7PHPPcWgebasRV4A  

here's all the info:   

Hello!  The Modern School of Film is producing a new serialized podcast series called ASSEMBLY which focuses on the "coming together" of a work of art or a performance or cultural event- from first inspiration through public premiere - from all voices involved: creators, communities, architects, and fans.  

ASSEMBLY will be distributed by The Consequence of Sound.

The Modern School of Film is proud to announce that Season 1 of ASSEMBLY will feature Amanda Palmer on her current THERE WILL BE NO INTERMISSION tour!  In that spirit, MSF would like to include 2-3 select chats with a small group of Amanda fans in the series, discussing Amanda's live work, events, and impact as a performer; so they are putting out a call to Amanda-fans to answer the below questions and consent to be chosen (at random) by MSF and interviewed by the show's host, Robert Milazzo.

For reference:

-www.theassemblypodcast.com
-@AssemblyRules

If you're interested in being considered, please answer the below, and The Modern School of Film will be in touch directly.  Selections will be at random and chats will be arranged either in-person or electronically.

Thank you so much for your help on this!  ASSEMBLY wouldn't be possible without a real community to contribute, listen, and support - much like art and the artists, themselves - and given Amanda's singular connection to fans worldwide, there is no better perspective on her live work and art, then YOU!

Best.

The Modern School of Film
www.modernschooloffilm.com
@modschooloffilm


........................


HOW THE PATREON HAS GROWN....

as of this writing there are 15,081 patrons pledging  $58,809 for the first THING of the month. 

I LOVE YOU ALL GODDAMIT.

this month we hit 15,000 patrons, which means i met one of the goals i set on the front of my page!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT TIMING EH?

I HAVE SO MUCH FREE FUCKING TIME TO DO THIS.

I DON'T.

BUT I'M GONNA. 

just gimme a second.

we'll have to accept suggestions and do some up-voting to see what's the most popular pick. more on this soon.....

...............

patreon charges you "monthly"/"retroactively" meaning that you get billed on the 1st of the month for all the Things released the month prior (for example, you'll get charged for the Things released in march on april 1st). 

so i don't have figures for this month just yet, but here's february:

(i say this every month, but if you're new....)

because people have their pledges capped (HAVE YOU NOT CAPPED YOUR PLEDGE? if you are on a budget, you should. here's the tutorial again), the first Thing raises the most money, and anything released thereafter raises less and less. (I LIKE THIS. it means i never feel too guilty).

the numbers below are gross. not net. basic math. meaning: it's the money raised before fees were deducted by patreon and is not the total deposited to me. patreon takes a 5% fee (which they use to build and sustain the platform, which is GOOD) and then there's a payment processing fee, which varies on a ton of factors and is usually between 5-9% of the total collected. 

also, none of this reflects the money i SPENT MAKING THE ART, running my business, etc etc. 

i don't share that level of nitty-detail-stuff with you because i assume it would bore you to fucking tears. but you can trust me: paying for a full-time staff, office, manager, accountant, and massive team of art-collaborators ain't cheap. sometimes we barely break even. so be it. this is awesome.

.....

in february, i Thinged two Things:

a song about abortion called "voicemail for jill" was the first Thing and it earned about $63,601 from 14,373 patrons.

State of All The Things: FEBRUARY 2019 was the second and final Thing of the month and it earned about $29,637 from 9,436 patrons.

(we say "about" because patreon may be still trying to process some pledges that have yet to go through...we never know, you know.)

.....................

DISPATCHES FROM TEAM AFP!!!!!!!!!

words from hayley:

Hi Everyone,

It’s been a hard two months. 

As you saw from last month’s Althings, I was bouncing around in February with some travel for album promo and tour warm-up shows. Since then, I’ve been bouncing around even more with the three official listening parties, the two in-store signings and a week at SXSW. It feels like I haven’t slept in two months….so to no surprise I have caught the plague (okay, that’s a little dramatic – I have a sinus infection). As you may have saw earlier this week with the Whoops post, I’m not operating at 100% this week, but doing my best to chug along to keep all the spinning plates in motion. It seems I've been the hardest on my self, and appreciate all the kind words from you all - in the comments, on the facebook group, and in the private messages. You all rock, thank you for your virtual embrace. (I'm sure you have even MORE of a glimpse into how much work goes behind these Althings posts after seeing that accidental draft i published! From the comments it sounds like you like that sneak peak behind the scenes.)

The listening parties were truly amazing. With each listen on such good audio equipment, I heard new things in the songs, and I enjoyed seeing people's reactions - especially those who hadn't yet heard the album before. I also had such a blast checking everyone in at the door – it was also great to put faces to names and meet so many patrons. I know so many of you by name (or screen name!) that maybe you don’t realize this: We know you! You’re seen! We're fans of you! So it’s so cool to see and meet you in person - in fact, Michael and I talk about this quite often with each other, it's our favorite parts of working live events with Amanda. Everyone at all the parties were super respectful of each other, they created and held a safe space to share and bond, and I think that’s the type of magic that results from this community that so many people outside of it don’t get to see or truly understand.
 

To give a sketch of how hectic this was:
We did the NYPL listening party on March 5th and on that night we drove up to Woodstock so that we could get to the Catskill listening party on March 6th - which was intense because we were premiering the Voicemail for Jill music video on the morning of March 7th (which was the morning of the Catskill sleepover). The album came out on March 8th and we spent the afternoon broadcasting at PASTE. Then we headed up to Boston in the early morning of March 9th to get there in time for the in store and listening party on March 9th. The next morning we go up early to hop a train to NYC to go straight to the Brooklyn in store on March 10. From there, I had just enough time to finish packing at home to wake up early for my flight to Austin on March 11th. By the time I got to SXSW, I was fully wiped out from the album release activities – which is not a great way to start SXSW because you usually get exhausted BY the festival itself, but I’m glad to be looking back on it from the other side. I finally got home on March 17th. What a wild few weeks!

here's me, Michael, Jordan, and Amanda having an early morning work party on the train to Boston:

SXSW was a lot of work but very satisfying. Amanda’s schedule was SO PACKED that there literally was not a single block of time unaccounted for. I went in with a laser focus and avoided conference FOMO by not paying much attention to what was happening outside of our work commitments. When I did have a few hours to roam the festival, I used it to see a handful of bands I already knew of and liked, so I could use that time as a way to recharge and spend time with myself. Upon reflection of this Althings post, I think I took like 90% of the photos here, to say I was kept busy is an understatement, but thankfully there's fun to have on these adventures.

When I first arrived in Austin, I had a few hours to kill so I made my way over to Patreon’s House of Creativity to check it out in advance of Amanda’s performance there that evening. On my way there, I stumbled upon the Good Omens’ Garden of Earthly Delights. I thought this tent had closed, but it ended up being the last day. I saw “Hell Hounds In Training” and Chattering Nuns on my walk and it filled me with so much delight. I enjoyed the book of course, but knowing that Neil worked so hard on this show, it just made me swell with pride for him to see this event and to see it so successful. There’s also something about seeing puppies that add some extra pep to your step, but when you throw a “Hell Hound In Training” vest on them, boy does that add even more joy.
 

Here I am with a Very Good Boy. One of us had to be bribed with a treat for this photo.

the dog's red vest says "Hell Hound in Training" on one side and "Good Omens" on the other. The dog on the right is wearing a black kerchief that says "Hell Hound"

Why yes, I wore an Amanda Palmer shirt, here I am flaunting it with an Angel and a Demon.

I spoke on two panels, the first was called “Make Your Music, Make Your Money” and it happened directly after Amanda’s Featured Talk, and right before her panel with Ben Folds and Jack Conte. Amanda came in for the first 20 minutes and it made me happy to see her there. She snapped this photo:

I was speaking with Camielle Hearst, Patreon's Head of Product - Merch. Camielle founded a company called KIT that was acquired by Patreon last year. She previously worked for iTunes and YouTube, and we chatted about how independent artists can build their communities and take steps to monetize their online worlds.

Patreon wrote up a blog about takeaways from their SXSW programming, and included two lessons from me – numbers 2 (Get to know your audience) and 6 (What you’re doing has value):

https://blog.patreon.com/6-themes-sxsw-2019
 

The second panel I spoke on was called “Artists in Control: Technology and the New DIY” – this panel was presented by a company called eMusic and had a focus on blockchain. This panel was at the end of the week.

Amanda's talk really inspired me, and being around Amanda while music industry professionals around us were all "buy buy buy" and "sell sell sell" - by the time I was on this panel I guess I really just wanted to emphasize the fact that music community is special, that fans shouldn't be viewed solely as customers, that monetizing a community is something that you do to sustain it, not to create it. Anyway, this is my monthly reminder that what we have here is special, that Amanda has built something beautiful, and there's a lot to learn and share about it.

I also did a SXSW Mentor Session, which let 5 people schedule 15 minute meetings with me to get advice and tips. I had a great time sharing knowledge and tips, and hope that people got inspired. It was an extremely productive time at SXSW, and I feel quite satisfied to have been at Amanda’s side during this week of intense album promo. 

So much has happened this month that I feel like it’ll still take me weeks to reflect and process it all. Have I mentioned that I'm an introvert? Yikes!

As you can see from this March Althing update – it’s been a ride.
 

Love,
Hayley

{you see it, folks. hayley has been busting her ass extra-super hard this season, for serious. give her an extra round of extra applause. WE LOVE YOU, HAYHAY. - AFP}
.....

from michael:

....

Hello Patrons!

What a month, huh?  Listening Parties, The Album Release, SXSW, New Merch, Tour, oh MY!  I can say with complete certainty that this has been the busiest month in the almost two years that I’ve been working with this incredible team and it’s been. . . a ride.

There have been so many different things swirling around this month and so many more projects on the burner that it’s really great to take a moment to sit, breathe, take a step back, and write these notes to you all.  While these posts do take a lot of work to write, format, put together (thank you, Hayley), I do think that they are very important for both our team and you, the Patrons.  I love pulling back the curtain and letting you all get a glimpse of what we do and how we do it! 

One project that took up a lot of the team’s bandwidth this month was the listening parties.  Hayley worked tirelessly to get these all set up and to find the right place, platform, organizing the tickets & guestlist and I spent lots of time driving all over New York and Boston getting supplies, speakers, and Amanda from place to place.  It was definitely all well worth it, but so much more work than I think we had anticipated for this project.  Also, a special shout out to Alex who did that all by himself over in London!  Cheers!  Mixed in there were also the signings at Newbury Comics and Rough Trade.  By the time we had taken the train from NYC to Boston and back and were finally at the close of opening week we were beat!

(photo by hayley)

They don’t call it ROUGH Trade for nothing!

But. . . as tired as we were. . . getting to see everyone at all the listening parties and at Rough Trade (sorry I missed out at Newbury Comics) was so rewarding!  I think at this point I’ve said it in every one of my Althing updates, but I just have to say it again. . . meeting all of you wonderful Patrons in person really solidifies why we work so hard to make these events happen and why all of us here at Team AFP care so much about the art and music that we help Amanda get out to you.  We see it in your faces and hear it in your stories and feel it in your hugs (which are always amazing btw) when we get to meet you.  This community is what makes all of this happen.  Your support and love keep us going when we’re tired and cranky.  So thank you for all the kind words and continued love that you send our way!  And a very special thanks to whoever it was that handed me a fortune cookie in Montréal. . . I hadn’t had a chance to eat dinner that night and that little snack helped immensely!

Ok, I can’t just call out Montréal. . . those first three shows. . . wow.  They were even better than I imagined they would be (and that’s saying a lot).  I got to stand in the lobby at the Patreon Table and meet so many wonderful people.  Thanks for taking the time to stop by and introduce yourselves.  Meeting members of this community is one the top pleasures of my job!

Here I am in Detroit!

But I have to say. . . this show, this tour is so powerful and so fucking necessary right now.  Telling the truth is so important right now and telling it unapologetically just like Amanda does night after night on stage is essential.  This show does that and hopefully it inspires every member of the audience to go out and do the same.  So . . . thank you, everyone who came to those first three shows and thank you to everyone planning to come to the shows that are coming up.  If you have friends or family that you think need to hear some real truth and sit in a theater with hundreds of other people all sharing in that truth telling please tell them about the upcoming shows.  If you’re located too far to make this run of shows please share the album with those people.  This album is so heartbreakingly beautiful and inspiring I cannot stop gushing about it (and I don’t think I’m alone in that). 

Ok this has gotten a bit long and rambly. . . so thank you for sticking with me.  Thank you for being a Patron.  Thank you for being the wonderful, beautiful, imperfect you that you are.

All the hugs,

Michael 

{extra cheers for michael this month too. the wear and tear has been rough on everybody....WE LOVE YOU, MICHAEL. hang the fuck in there - AFP).

....

words from allison, our nyc office helper:

Humans of the Interwebs!

This month my inner bibliophile was quite tickled to help out Team AFP make the listening party at the New York Public Library a success. Wearing the new Machete T-Shirt and standing in the main lobby holding a sign saying “There Will Be No Intermission,” many visitors to the famous Fifth Avenue landmark thought I was protesting something (as some are want to do in this Big Apple). Instead my task was to direct patrons to the special private space where we would all be sonically surrounded by the new album in all its glory. And what a room it was!



With beautiful tapestries!

Lady Africa

Lady Europa

Lady America

Lady Asia

And once everyone gathered inside we turned off the lights and listened to Lady Amanda pour her heart and soul into There Will Be No Intermission. We cried. A lot. And felt better for it - well, I know I did :)

Besides that it’s been a lot of mailing packages from the NY office and tracking down packages making their way to the NY office. 

May next month bring showers, flowers, and even more exciting adventures from Team AFP!

Love and hugs,
Allison

{THANK YOU FOR JOINING THE CIRCUS, ALLISON!!!!!!!!! i'm glad we haven't burned you out quite yet .....xxx - AFP}

........

words from alex in the uk:

wow wow wow wow wow wow WOW this has been A MONTH!! a month entirely full of envelopes and boxes and art books, and it has been a wiiiiild ride.

the main challenge of this month was the art books - there was a minor hold-up with the printers, so they eventually arrived with me around the middle of this month. but then!! we had to personally insert the exclusive letter and print into every single one of the 890 patron-exclusive hardcover books. unlike the album, luckily, i was able to rope in my wonderful and long-suffering partner connor (who many of you will have met on the UK tour last year, and will likely meet when he's on the road with me across europe this fall!) 

so we ended up with a pretty smooth assembly line, as he unwrapped each book, inserted the print and letter, and then handed them to me as i packed them up and sealed them ready for the post office. over several days we spent more hours than i care to think about like this:

cue about 10 trips to the post office, with the car loaded up like this:

the post office workers LOVE ME now.

eventually they all got sent, and i left buffy with the big cardboard box clean-up. (spoilers: she wasn't very helpful)

as a reward to myself for getting everything done, i went away last weekend and i read an entire book (rivers of london by ben aaronovitch, i think i like 8/10 recommend it) and now i am resuming normal life, and i just want to thank everyone for their patience with the delays - but i've seen photos popping up of people receiving their packages, and i'm so pleased to have played my part in helping bring the happiness to you all <3

now: i catch up on the sleep. 

lovelove,

-alex, uk merch queen

{WE LOVE YOU, ALEX MERCH QUEEN. hang in there, boxy. xxxx <3 - AFP}

.........

THE "THERE WILL BE NO INTERMISSION TOUR".

i shared this last month, and it was effective, so it's worth sharing again this month: 

REMINDER!!!: if you are traveling, looking for tickets or have extra tickets, need a place to crash or want to search for a ride share there are a few recommended ways you can do this;

- use the patron facebook group: http://facebook.com/groups/afpland

OR

- hit me up on twitter and i'll RT - @amandapalmer

OR

leave a post on the official tour REDDIT THREAD on the  AFP subreddit, r/amandapalmer: https://www.reddit.com/r/amandapalmer/comments/avzqjn/the_official_there_will_be_no_intermission_tour/

one good thing about reddit: you can reply "inline" to other comments and you can privately message people if you want to offer or respond to their posts without letting the whole world know what your address is, or what your paypal email address, or whatever else you need to coordinate.  

here are all my 2019 tour dates for now.   

HEADS UP LONDON! a THIRD SHOW AT UNION CHAPEL will be announced this week. stay tuned for patreon presale info coming soon, tomorrow probably.  

as always, all info and tickets can be found on my tour page:
http://amandapalmer.net/shows

Fri Apr 05 – Washington – National Theatre

Sat Apr 06 – Philadelphia – Temple Performing Arts Center - Lew Klein Hall

Fri Apr 12 – Chicago – The Chicago Theater

Sat Apr 13 – St. Paul – O'Shaughnessy Auditorium

Fri Apr 19 – Boston – The Orpheum

Sat Apr 20 – New York  – Beacon Theater

Fri May 10 – San Francisco – The Warfield

Sat May 11 – Los Angeles – The Theatre at Ace Hotel

Fri May 17 – Atlanta  – Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

Sat May 18 – Nashville  – Ryman Auditorium

Thu May 30 – St. Louis – The Pageant

Fri May 31 – Kansas City – Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland

Sat Jun 01 – Denver – Paramount Theatre

Thu Jun 06 – Vancouver – Chan Centre

Fri Jun 07 – Seattle – Paramount Theater

Sat Jun 08 – Portland – Crystal Ballroom (SOLD OUT)

Sun Jun 09 – Portland – Crystal Ballroom

UK/EUROPE:

Wed Sep 4 – Netherlands – Amsterdam – Meervaart

Fri Sep 6 – Germany – Berlin – Admiralspalast

Wed Sep 11 – Germany – Munich – Kongressaal

Fri Sep 13 – Germany – Offenbach – Capitol

Sat Sep 14 – Austria – Vienna – Konzerthaus

Sun Sep 15 – Austria – Graz – Stefaniensaal

Wed Sep 18 – Germany – Stuttgart – Theaterhaus

Thu Sep 19 – Germany – Essen – Colosseum

Fri Sep 20 – Belgium – Antwerp – De Roma

Tue Sep 24 – Germany – Hamburg – Laeiszhalle

We Sep 25 – Germany – Leipzig – Haus Auensee

Thu Sep 26 – Czech Republic – Prague – Hybernia

Fri Sep 27 – Luxembourg  – Luxembourg – Conservatoire

Sat Sep 28 – France – Paris – Bataclan

Fri Oct 11 – Denmark – Copenhagen – Bremen Teater

Sat Oct 12 – Sweden – Stockholm – Södra Teatern (SOLD OUT)

Wed Oct 16 – UK – Bexhill – De La Warr Pavilion

Sat Oct 19 – UK – Cardiff – St David's Hall

Sun Oct 20 – UK – Cambridge – Corn Exchange

Wed Oct 23 – Ireland – Cork – Opera House

Thu Oct 24 – Ireland – Dublin – National Concert Hall

Sat Oct 26 – Ireland – Belfast – Ulster Hall

Sun Oct 27 – Ireland – Limerick – Univeristy Hall

Frin Nov 1 – UK – Dunfermline – Carnegie Hall

Sat Nov 2 – UK – Glasgow – City Halls

Sun Nov 3 – UK – Manchester – Albert Hall

Mon Nov 4 – UK – York – Opera House

Thu Nov 7 – UK – Newcastle – Tyne Theatre

Sun Nov 24 – Portugal – Braga – Theatro Circo

Thu Dec 5 – UK – London – Union Chapel (SOLD OUT)

Fri Dec 6 – UK – London – Union Chapel  (ALMOST SOLD OUT!)

............... 

if you're on facebook, you can RSVP to the official event pages, invite your friends and more: http://facebook.com/amandapalmer/events   

and if you want to join the north american STREET TEAM, i will grab your mailing address and send you some flyers and whatnot to plaster around town to help get the word out. we still have over a month to get this shit going and sell these places out.  note about the street team - please sign up only if you live near a city where there's a show (canada and USA) as it involves in person street team activities!!!  


SPREAD THE WORD!

.......

still!

STAGE PROPS NEEDED FOR TOUR:
thanks to everyone who has reached out to help with some props for the live show.
here's a shot from toronto, where jenn and jamie brought a LEG LAMP!
 

we are still looking for some more lamps for the next few shows, motorized disco balls for all the shows, and area rugs for all the shows.  

for more info on what's needed and how to reach out, check out this patreon post with all the details:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/its-tour-time-so-24152837

----

AND NOW....

OTHER ARTISTS /THINGS TO SUPPORT:

BEN FOLDS!!! i mentioned him a little further up!

LINGUA IGNOTA, who is pictured above supporing me at SXSW, is on BANDCAMP here....go give her some love:

https://linguaignota.bandcamp.com/

........

i also just backed THIS CROWDFUND, which looks so amazing, a VAGINA MUSEUM IN CAMDEN!!!! cmon, LONDON!!! you KNOW YOU WANT A VAGINA MUSEUM!!!!

here's an article about it:
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women/vagina-museum-london-autumn-camden-market-crowdfunding-a8837316.html

they need 300 quid, and they're at 18,000, but the story is growing!! help them out

here's the crowdfund link:

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/vaginamuseum

............

THAT'S IT MY LOVES.

BACK WITH MORE ART ANY DAY NOW

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------THE NEVER-ENDING AS ALWAYS---------

1. if you’re a patron, please click through to comment on this post. at the very least, if you’ve read it, indicate that by using the heart symbol.

2. see All the Things i've made so far on patreon: http://amandapalmer.net/patreon-things

3. join the official AFP-patron facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/afpland

4. new to my music and TOTALLY OVERWHELMED? TAKE A WALK THROUGH AMANDALANDA….we made a basic list of my greatest hits n stuff on this lovely page: http://amandalanda.amandapalmer.net/

5. general AFP/patreon-related questions? ask away, someone will answer: patronhelp@amandapalmer.net