Amanda Palmer, originally of Dresden Dolls fame, has announced a short New Zealand tour. According to her Instagram post, she wasn’t even planning to do a New Zealand tour, but decided to go for it “because nothing else makes sense right now. let’s do it. because we can.”

 

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god i am grateful to be here. there is a place in aoteroa i have never been (or played), and it is…🥁…dunedin. this is where dunedin is. it’s DOWN THERE. i wasn’t going to be touring this country. i’m touring this country, because nothing else makes sense right now. let’s do it. because we can. everybody who came to the show in christchurch in march (that’s the last city i played before lockdown) from dunedin insisted that it is the best place in the world. i put out a post about wanting to play some new and less usual places in aotearoa for these upcoming months that i’m covid-here, and the mayor of dunedin, aaron hawkins saw my post, wrote to me, and forwarded my email to the woman who runs the regent theatre in dunedin. she’s named sarah. she sent an offer. i took it. i’m gonna bring ash with me! WHAT SHOULD WE SEE? DO? tell me, dunedin. this is real. here are all the dates. spread the word: WELLINGTON – aug 28 (just added) & 29 (sold out), st. peter’s HAWKES BAY – sept 11th, opera house @ toitoi DUNEDIN – sept 26th, regent theatre AUCKLAND – oct 2nd, st. mary’s-in-holy trinity wellington & hawkes bay tickets are on sale now. auckland & dunedin go on sale to patrons tomorrow (wednesday) at 10 am NZST, then to the public on thursday morning at 10am. the show link (and the link to join patreon) is in my bio. patrons will get the link tomorrow in email. x

A post shared by Amanda Palmer (@amandapalmer) on Aug 3, 2020 at 8:36pm PDT

The previously Boston-based artist decided to weather the pandemic in New Zealand since she had coincidentally moved there right before lockdown started. She’s enjoyed her time in the island nation but has started itching to play shows now that the country has given her the go-ahead to start performing again. COVID-19 is essentially under control in New Zealand, with contraction numbers steadily in decline. She played her last show pre-lockdown in Christchurch in March. A lucky small crowd of locals saw her first post-lockdown performance in July.

Live concerts aren’t the only thing she’s had her mind on musically. In May she announced intentions to reunite with Brian Viglione to record a new Dresden Dolls album and go on a reunion tour in 2021. The last Dresden Dolls album was No, Virginia… in 2008. Deciding to take advantage of a solo career with a more singer/songwriter style, Palmer has been consistently releasing music under her own name since then. Just a few days ago, she released a cover of a Frank Sinatra song, “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.”

Wellington & Hawkes Bay tickets are on sale now. Auckland & Dunedin go on sale to patrons Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. NZST, then to the public on Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m.

8/28 – Wellington, NZ – St. Peter’s
8/29 – Wellington, NZ – St. Peter’s (Sold Out)
9/11 – Hawkes Bay, NZ – Opera House at Toitoi
9/26 – Dunedin, NZ – Regent Theatre
10/2 – Auckland, NZ – Saint Mary’s-in-Holy Trinity

Photo credit: Raymond Flotat