AFP Goes Down on Napier! A.K.A my Sappy Love Letter to AFP

A Letter to Amanda Palmer.

I saw you for the first time performing with Brian Viglione under the band name 'The Dresden Dolls' in 2006. I had never really heard any of your music before, but that night I knew I had been converted.

I got your albums, I learnt the words and I saw you both times you returned to Wellington to play solo shows at Bodega. I loved your punk cabaret style, your beautiful outfits and the fact that you don't believe in the beauty standard (which as someone who has always felt self-conscious about my appearance, appealed to me). Your lyrics are clever and moving and are always stuck in my head and usually played on my ipod.

You are honest and most importantly you don't forget your fans. I think your total dedication to the people who love you is what makes me adore you the most. Constantly keeping us up to date through twitter and your blog posts, your ninja gigs and the fact that you have come to New Zealand three times in three years (when most musicians will visit us maybe once or twice in their careers) just makes you so much cooler!

So when I couldn't afford to go to your Wellington gig this year (because I lost my insurance job in Wellington and had to shift to Napier where I now work on check outs)I was heartbroken. I tried to make the best of it and enjoy art deco weekend, but it wasn't quite the same. Until Sunday morning when a friend updated their fb status about a ninja gig at Marine Parade. WHAT! AFP in Napier? For reals? I almost couldn't believe it.

The show was amazing, even in the rain. And although the crowd was not as big as I was hoping for, the fact that you managed to convert randoms from off the street into fans (two men asked me who you were, where you were from and how they could find out more about you) shows just how impressive you are.

The fact that I then got your autograph and a photo with you made up for the fact that I had to miss your gig. However, next time you come back I will be in the front row of Bodega, singing along and wearing a big grin.

Napier Art Deco Weekend...

Because a lot of Napier was destroyed in the Hawkes Bay earthquake of 1931, most of the city was rebuilt in the Art Deco style that was wildly popular at the time. So to celebrate every year lots of rich white people come to our city, with beautiful vintage cars, dress up in '20s-'30s style clothes while getting drunk and dancing to jazz and big band music. There are lots of lovely old people and quite a few guys in uniform (Navy boys, army boys, air force, oh my), and the atmosphere is lots of fun.


Most of the events cost (A LOT), but there was lots of free stuff for us to enjoy. Friday and Saturday nights we went dancing at the Soundshell, there was a vintage car parade during the day and jazz in the evenings. Sunday there was also The Great Gatsby Picnic but we had to miss it because of skating.







Next year I will have to make sure that I save up more money so that we can do some of the more costly events. Like the Jitterbug dancing lessons and one of the fancy dinners.

But you have to love it when the whole town dresses up for a whole weekend. Even if you can't afford to do alot of the paid events, there is still plenty of free stuff, and I love any excuse to dress up :)