New Age Attitudes: Live in Concert

New Age Attitudes: Live in Concert is part pop-up book, part performance. Theatre-maker and JUNO-nominated musician Amanda Sum de-digitizes her identity-drenched indie-pop album into a handmade book. Each audience member is given a personalized book to silently read together. Filled with sonic descriptions and humorous invitations, the pop-up book guides audience members through a new way of listening and receiving.

New Age Attitudes: Live in Concert is neither a musical nor a straight concert. Shifting the traditional structure of a music concert by using collective reading as a backbone, this lo-fi performance prioritizes introvertedness and celebrates awkwardness. Amanda rearranges her debut album, New Age Attitudes, to craft a new narrative that demands your gentle devotion.

Please note: audience capacity is less than 100 per night — book your tickets soon to ensure you get a seat!

Produced by Theatre Replacement

Photo by Reagan Jade

Program Notes

New Age Attitudes: Live in Concert originated as an ‘idea commission’ piece as part of PushOFF in 2020. As the platform had pivoted to only online works, I created a ‘construction paper performance’—a homemade and handcrafted book which was hand delivered or mailed by post to audience members across Vancouver, Canada and around the world. Audiences were invited to open their book and begin the performance at 8:00pm, no matter what timezone they were in, as a gesture of connection.

This project came out of a year when many artists turned to the digital, with livestreams and recordings. I was battling some sadness after releasing my first single, Groupthink. It excited me to share my work online, but it scared me that the digital release of something meant anyone could access my thoughts and secrets at any time. So, in tandem with making arrangements for a full-length studio indie-pop album, titled New Age Attitudes, I wanted to de-digitize the songs into something tangible and physical. Something to hold, and something to fold. This was a way to question and examine how/when we perform and how/when we attend during a very disconnected time.

In 2021, Maiko Yamamoto invited me to be Theatre Replacement’s COLLIDER Artist in Residence. This was the perfect opportunity to further develop the book into a live performance piece.

New Age Attitudes: Live in Concert combines and provokes my theatre and music practices. I was interested in experimenting with where these disciplines intersect, while dissociating from the conventions of western ‘musical theatre’. Now that the digital album is also out, I’m excited by the different forms that these songs and thoughts have taken shape to.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening.

With my gratitude attitude,

Amanda