GRAVESIDE VARIETY - Progress & Glitter Report, June 2023 - THIS IS THE THING. (Patreon)

Hello Loves!

TWO REAL QUICK AND IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS before we get to the Graveside News...

1) We've had a few last minute cancellations for CAMPERSAND - our patron-only retreat in the woods! If you had been longing to come to the Gathering O' Patrons that I'm hosting  for 100 PEOPLE ONLY - with many special guests helping me run "fun ass camp for grown-ups" including movement, dancing, yoga, chocolate tastings, walks in the woods, amazing food, music...and more....the week of July 2-7th (Arts Week!) at The Omega Institute/Retreat Center in super-lovely-woodsy Upstate New York, act now and go HERE snatch one of these newly opened spots. There's just a couple, and this is gonna be an unforgettable week. I need it bad.

2) THE DRESDEN DOLLS ARE GOING TO BE WEBCASTING our SECOND-TO-LAST SHOW OF TOUR, live from The Toulouse Theater in New Orleans! This coming Saturday, June 24th. It's going to be patron-funded, so YOU WILL ALL SENT A POST with a link in it, as will the subscribers to the dolls' mailing list. SAVE THE TIME! We will send the link out sometime in the next few days, and probably send you a tiny reminder the evening of the show itself. It's gonna be GOOD.

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OKAY now.

The fun bit.

This is the post I'm putting up to "officially thing" the newly minted existence of GRAVESIDE VARIETY, the pop-up space I've started - with the help of YOU ALL and a handful of amazing friends - a place, a haven, a Third Space for patrons, locals, artists and whoever else comes by, in Woodstock, NY.

IF YOU WOULD, GET ON THE MAILING LIST for UPCOMING EVENTS!! And SPREAD THE WORD! We have a ton coming up this month and next, AND when the Dresden Dolls coming to town in Late August, we will be using it as the ULTIMATE DOLLS CLUBHOUSE!

https://gravesidevariety.com/

This has been a weird report to pull together, and I'm gonna try to do it creatively in itself. I'm currently trying to take a vacation with Ash in between the Dolls Dates (and I'm currently trying to type this from the bottom bunk of a poorly insulated room while Ash has an argument with a nine year old friend about who threw slime at who).

But anyway.

This is a peculiar and wonderful post to be writing, since this pop-up undertaking is so sprawling, and since you were all so generous in being willing to fund its experimental existence.

I want you to understand how it feels to be there, and what we've made happen.

This whole space in an experiment: in trust, in friends, in art, in help, in asking, in patronage.

It is hard to upload a ton of videos to patreon, so please start HERE, and look at this little instagram collection of 10 videos from the other night (you don't need instagram account: anyone can watch):

https://www.instagram.com/p/CtuCdPWrcUc/

I hope you cry.

I love these videos.

I made them for YOU guys, as a little portal into the Graveside world.

We have agreed that we don't want to run a Graveside social media empire - starting a twitter, an Instagram, a FB page. It feels so cosy and good to have a little mailing list, some flyers, and a LOT of word of mouth, thanks to you all and our local friends. That makes it feel real. Also, the fact that we've got the patreon money floating this for the next few months means that we can start small, with the people we love, and grow bigger....the right way, without having to "market" too much in the next months. It'll grow organically.  Right now, Holly Miranda, Gracie Coates, and Liz Grammaticas are working on the back end of things, along with the incredible help of an ever evolving group of friends and volunteers.

Everything about this place is going to come down to the stories - and the connection - it creates. The people who get to connect to each other and to themselves. The kids who get to remember seeing a Drag Queen reading a book about gay penguins, the people who start a chat over a cup of coffee, the people who got to sing together, late at night, cry together sharing their hidden truths, scream together busting out of a pandemic-world.

The heart-healing that is only possible in certain spaces.

When I first asked your permission to THING this space for a few months, the theme I saw coming up again again in the comments was this: THIS IS WORTH MY FEW DOLLARS TO EXIST IN THE WORLD EVEN IF I CAN'T COME.

I think you'll all think this was worth it when you see what we've done.

This is the sign on the bathroom door.

The original sign said EMPLOYEES ONLY, and Gracie and I tried to fix it cleverly, and it evolved, eventually, into THIS.

This says it all.

EVERYONE ONLY.

Here's holly lighting up the bathroom...

And Orin fixing up a window....

The patron ART WALL starting to take shape....

The CROWN JEWEL....

.......

Picking out some vinyl for the space...

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The kids.

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The kids, you guys.

The kids.

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This is the best story to happen in the space in the last few weeks:

One patron came up to me - very late at the very end of the first piano-night - and said she wanted to give me something.

She said her mom - who's first generation Chinese - has fun and odd habit of gambling, but only with the intent to make money for her kids. And whenever she gambles and makes money, she takes the winnings and hands the cash to her children, saying: you need to give this money to someone or something important.

And so there we were, and the patron gave me that that story, and with tears close at hand for both of us, she pressed a folded $100 bill into my hand that she had been carrying around forever in her wallet. She said, this is from my mom, and

This is something important.

.......

You guys, my god.

I love this.

It's like I'm going back to everything that was important to me.

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Opening day.....

A few weeks ago, on a Sunday, we "officially" opened the doors of Graveside Variety - more or less to patrons and friends only, not yet to the public - and the people flowed in. We did a morning and evening event, and in total, about 200 people showed up.

We kept the coffee cups full and people brought foods to share: cookies and kombuchas and hand-baked crumbles and matcha mochi cakes.....

The feeling was one of total joy, and of love, and of safety.

The whole room like a warm hug.

Luke and I played piano, Gracie played piano, Holly played piano, Lance played piano, Matta played piano...SO MANY PEOPLE PLAYED PIANO AND SANG....

(John Coons and Matt Aument who will be back at Graveside this summer to perform! 7/24-25 )

(Me and Luke Gadjus)

(Holly Miranda)

(Gracie Coates)

(Zoe, 6)

(Paxis, 8)

My old friend Lance Horne - above - from Club Cumming's "Mondays in the Club series - brought a ton of his queer AF musical theater friends from NYC - notably John Coons, Matta, AJ, Dagger, and Pony - and we gathered around the piano and we SANG OUR ASSES OFF.

I chose this ONE video - embedded above - of John out of dozens that I took because I thought it really captured the spirit of the space. The joy. But if you want to see a little collection of videos I took, here’s a drop of of a few more that I just sent to Instagram. I’ll post a few more to you folks direct to patreon over the next week or so, and add more links and photos when I post the Althing.

We did it. We did THIS. You all helped us do this.

To see this many people - most local, but some from afar - in one purpose-built space.

To see all of our hearts coming back to life.

To feel my own heart coming back to life.

This is the medicine, the antidote, the only drug to shock the heart back into sinus rhythm. For me, at least. This brand of togetherness.

Here's Gracie, Karen (who's helping me to fund this on the backend), Holly and me....in loving trust. The hug. To create a place where the ideas can run around, the joy flows, the music flows, and the people are trusting.

My Aunt Donna, who’s 75, came to the space for the whole night the other night; she said her heart was full and that “it felt like the 60’s again”. I don’t think I’ve ever been paid a higher compliment.

Knitting, reading, drawing, talking, listening, laughing, enjoying life.

People brought food, they brought chairs, they brought love.

Patrons began to put stuff up on the walls.

We had a donation jar; it filled.

The space won’t break even this month, or even next, but the patreon will keep it afloat, and we are hoping we can break even by September at the rate we are going.

By the end of the weekend, Donna had made best friends with Pony, who lance brought from NYC, and they talked into the wee hours.

This - these sorts of connections - this is everything to me.

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Here's a ton more to look at...

Josh drawing the window sign....

A little letter and bouquet of roses we got from our sweet new neighbor, who also offered to advise us about the groundhogs living under the venue (uh oh)....

Jeff showed up with his Coffee Truck and vended on Sunday morning..

.

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And can we talk about the perfect and beautiful after-show coffee-and-piano mornings at my house...?

This is, possibly, the best part.

Me and the Lance gang.....the day after opening night….pure bliss.

From left to right: Pony, Matta, Chano, John, Lance, MOI, Hunter, AJ.

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AND THEN…this.

There was DRAG STORY TIME, which we are making a REGULAR THING.

We brought in Annie Christ, an old-school dolls/AFP community member (who went to school with HAYLEY ROSENBLUM, long time friend-of-all) and she did a beautiful little drag story hour for the kids

This is so important right now. I don't think I need to tell you why.

She read a book about two boy penguins starting a family.

It was so beautiful

...

 The kids working on a drawing project after listening to Annie read.

I don’t think I need to tell you how important this is - this tiny gesture - given what’s going on in this country.

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From Gracie and Holly....

Oh what a month! We've come so far and there are still so many wonderful things to do. The space is coming together, shows are getting booked, lamps are feeling swoony, piano's feeling moody. A picnic table comes tomorrow! It's a lot of work but the good, soul-filling kind where your heart fills up at every gravesidey corner. We're beyond excited to bring so many sounds and sights into this space and create something uniquely special together. LET'S GO!!!!! –Gracie + Holly

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From Liz:

Oh boy, after dodging Covid for over three years, the virus finally caught me.. .. opening week of Graveside Variety.  Heartbreak & FOMO were thus added to my list of ailments.  I recovered for the next weekend…and Graveside took over for all the types of healing my body hadn’t already done. I was completely overwhelmed in the best way when I walked in. Everything felt….right.

It was beautiful..supportive..welcoming.. comforting, inspiring….and a NECESSARY. The type of community space I forgot could exist, and how much I needed it. Holly, Gracie, and Amanda are all so incredible, and so is the community already gravitating to this space. I am so glad to be a part of this. I am so excited about what we already have planned and what’s still yet to be thought of.

So very much looking forward to sharing this with you all! -Liz

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THATS THE PROGRESS FOR NOW.

We now have FOURTEEN events and counting booked for the months of July and August and we are just getting started!

PLEASE SIGN THE MAILING LIST!!!!!

https://www.gravesidevariety.com/

u p c o m i n g

june 29 @ 5pm – live music with amadou diallo + m’bollo

july 7 – omega institute after mixer

july 9 @ 7pm – party around a piano with lance horne

july 10 @ 6pm – ‘super second rate’ with cellist leah coloff

july 14  @ 6pm – golly presents : holly miranda + kyp malone

july 15 @ 10am - drag story hour with annie christ

july 15  @ 6pm – golly presents : holly miranda + kyp malone

july 15 @ 2pm – book event with the golden notebook

july 22 @ 2pm – book event with the golden notebook

july 23 @ 7pm – party around a piano with lance horne

july 24  @ 6pm – john coons presents BLEAK!

july 25  @ 6pm – john coons presents BLEAK!

august 4th @ 6pm - golly presents : lisa gee + joan as policewoman

august 5th @ 6pm - golly presents : lisa gee + joan as policewoman

august 6 @ 7pm – party around a piano with lance horne

THANK YOU FOR FUNDING THIS SPACE.

It's everything.

There's a lot more coming.

I'm gonna end on my very favoroite picture from Graveside ever taken….

It's Ash and a few of his friends. Just....reading together. This is, in my opinion, the best place ever.

LOVE

AFP

———THE STUFF I PASTE AT THE END OF THE POST———

1. if you are a patron and new to my work, don’t forget your patronage allows you access to ALL of my patreon releases to date. HERE is the link to download my latest big solo record, “There Will Be No Intermission”, and HERE is a link to download the PDF of the art/essay book that goes with it.

2. if you’re a patron reading this post via an email notification, please click through to comment on this post. at the very least, if you’ve read it, indicate that by using the heart symbol. that's always nice for me to see, so i know who's reading.

3. see All the Things (over 200 of them) i've made so far on patreon:

http://amandapalmer.net/things

4. JOIN THE SHADOWBOX COMMUNITY FORUM, find your people, and discuss everything: https://forum.theshadowbox.net/

5. are you new to my music and TOTALLY OVERWHELMED? TAKE A WALK THROUGH AMANDALANDA….we made a basic list of my greatest hits n stuff (at least up until a few years ago, this desperately needs updating) on this lovely page: http://amandalanda.amandapalmer.net/

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

2023 Tour Dates:

***THE DRESDEN DOLLS***

June 16th, 17th, & 18th - Orlando, FL - The Social *SOLD OUT*

June 23rd, 24th, & 25th - New Orleans, LA - Toulouse Theatre *SOLD OUT*

All tickets at: https://amandapalmer.net/events/