Live Life Live

I'm in a quandry. I got tickets to see Amanda Palmer at the Union Chapel on 12 September as soon as they came on sale. She (obviously) sold out straight away so she then announced another gig on 11 September and I leapt at the tickets like there was no tomorrow. Some things are important.

But now Eliza Carthy has announced a gig on 11 September on the Southbank. She's playing with the rest of her family - The Waterson Family - and before the family gig is the Eliza Carthy Band. I saw Eliza 3-4 years ago as part of Patti Smith's Meltdown and liked what I saw and heard so started investigating her albums. Her latest album, 'Dreams Of Breathing Underwater', is excellent. Eliza is also part of the excellent The Imagined Village collective that I plan to see as part of the WOMAD festival at the Tower of London next month.

So, do I see Amanda? or Eliza? Especially since I'm potentially seeing Amanda twice...

At least I have an opportunity to see my heroes live. My poor American cousins (well, I don't have any, technically) won't be able to see the mighty Maximo Park since they've cancelled the USA leg of their tour for personal reasons. I really wouldn't want to rub it in that I've ordered tickets to see the Maximos at the Royal Albert Hall - that's just not the kind of thing I'd do.

Something I liked about the Maximo's announcement is the medium - a hand-written note posted on their site and emailed to the world. That's a nice bit of multimedia work.