Music Review: An Evening With Neil Gaiman And Amanda Palmer

By Jeffery X Martin

“Happy loving couples make it look so easy/Happy loving couples always talk so kind.”
—Joe Jackson, “Happy Loving Couples”

When Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer got together, it seemed to be the perfect pairing, a gentle collision of geek-o-spheres, the kind of thing the word “adorkable” was coined for. Witness the reserved writer and the flamboyant cabaret singer gliding around the world, about three feet off the ground, being fabulous and sweetening up Twitter with their frequent declarations of love for each other.

That’s cool, if you like shit like that.

Some people don’t like to see happy couples. I understand that. I used to be that way. But it takes a lot of work to be bitter all the time. I enjoy that dynamic now, that chemistry. It’s nice to be around people who enjoy being together, not taking caustic pot shots at each other and gleefully wishing for the other’s slow painful death.

It is imperative that you realize, before listening to An Evening with Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer, that they come across as a bubbly, happy couple. They laugh at each other’s jokes. They say nice things to and about each other. If you would rather hear anger and mean-spirited humor, you can find the “Shut Up, Little Man!” recordings online.

An Evening is a three-disc set, recorded live in 2012. There’s a Neil disc, an Amanda disc, and a Neil and Amanda disc. I suppose if you like one person, but don’t like the other, you can still find some enjoyment from the set. I wish they had mixed it up a little bit. It feels odd to have the introduction to the show at the beginning of the second disc.

That’s a minor nitpick, though, and the only one I have. The entire set is delightful. Neil reads a few of his short stories and some poetry. “The Man who Forgot Ray Bradbury” is a heartbreaker while “My Last Landlady” is a sweet Gothic ghost tale. His delivery is impeccable; he could easily start another career as a professional bedtime story reader.

Amanda’s disc is fan service in the best way. She performs some of her lesser-known songs and the crowd politely goes apeshit. Her version of Death Cab for Cutie’s “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” is quietly devastating, as is her cover of Fascinating Aïda’s “Look Mummy, No Hands.” Fans have seen Amanda naked before, but she’s never sounded as vulnerable as she does on this disc, with no full band to back her. She knows where your heart is and how to squeeze it, subtly, with a whisper or a cracked note. It’s an outstanding performance, pure, and emotionally draining.

Neil and Amanda together are charming, to be sure, coming across as the perfect dinner guests. Their conversations are interesting and brutally honest. It’s nice to hear Jason Webley show up in a guest spot, but the best thing on the combo disc, and maybe the whole set, is hearing Neil and Amanda sing the old classic, “Makin’ Whoopee.” Neil Gaiman may be the most British man ever to Brit, and the slight hint of embarrassment in his voice is funny.

If all you know of Amanda Palmer is her armpits or some other controversy, let that go for a bit. Put it aside. The same with Gaiman: if you only think of him as the “Sandman” guy, the “Dr. Who” guy or the “guy who married Amanda Palmer” guy, dial that back some. There’s real depth in this collection. Some flashes of genius. You’ll hear some different aspects to their talents, collectively and individually. This could garner both of them new fans, and it will absolutely thrill the hardcore ones.

They make it look so easy. They talk so kind. This is a good evening, indeed.

An Evening With Neil Gaiman And Amanda Palmer was released on November 19.