It's been a big week! Last Saturday I went to see Melbourne synth-pop/disco-house band Miami Horror play at the Metro Theatre, which was good fun. The first support act, I Know Leopard, were unremarkable, but the second, Goldfields, had plenty of attitude. They're five young blokes from Ballarat (hence the name), and bounce around like they've been snorting something (especially the singer). Goldfields also have a drummer and a percussionist – always good –, and a further snare drum in the middle of the stage for when the singer or guitarist want to make even more noise.Good music, tremendous energy, and a bit of stage-destroying action that makes you wonder what they'd be like if they played rock & roll.
Miami Horror, though: noice. Big light show, great crowd interaction – including some singing-while-crowd-surfing action –, and their singer/guitarist can sure throw his lanky frame around. I can't embed any photos, but here are some I found on Flickr.
The synth player (not to be confused with the keyboardist/bassist, though there was a bit of instrument switching) had a bit of Korg action going, which I like to see, and a startling resemblance to Justin Wolfers. Must be the surfer hair. I didn't find the songs translated particularly well from their album, and that wasn't even to do with the difficulty in replicated complex layers on stage – I just didn't think the vocals sounded anywhere near as good. The guy wasn't a bad singer, he was seemed a bit weak.
That might have been because it was the last show of Miami Horror's tour, though. The got Goldfields back on stage with them for the last song, and busted out a massive final few minutes. Very cool.
Three days later, on Tuesday, I braved the torrential rain to go to the launch of The Living End's sixth album, The Ending is Just the Beginning Repeating. Regular readers will know I'm a massive TLE fan, and I was lucky enough to snaffle one of the tickets given away in one of those "tell us why you deserve to go in 25 words or less" competitions. (For the record, my answer was along the lines of having driven from Melbourne to Port Pirie to see gigs, to secret shows out in country, flying to London, and following their entire 2009 Germany tour.) As my +1, I invited the biggest TLE fan I know, a woman from Melbourne who's seen over 100 shows and is currently decking out her car in TLE style. I'm not nearly that hardcore.
My brother wanted to go, too, and as luck would have it one of my friends works at the venue that was hosting the album launch, so she was able to take him in as her +1. Now my friend, J., knows me through swing dancing, and had no idea of my rock & roll predilections – which would go for most of my Sydney friends, I imagine –, so she was quite amused when I wandered straight to the front row and started saying hello to the crowd there.
The concert itself was great. The album wasn't out yet, but concert-goers had been treated to a sneaky online listen all of Monday. The Living End are also playing their new tour with a fourth member (Adrian Lombardi, of Blueline Medic), to fill out those guitar parts you don't usually get to hear. It worked really well, I thought; very tight. The concert was also the first Australian concert to be streamed live via YouTube, and I had several friends spot me on the broadcast and tell me about it *grins* I don't know when, exactly, but I think it was probably when I started the chant that brought the guys back for their encore – for the record, it was the "woah-woahs" from the start of TEIJTBR. Yep, that's mine: I claim it. All you people who do it on tour from here on in – I started it :-P
After the show, Chris, Scott, and Andy came out to do the standard meet and greet. Those who weren't taking advantage of the open bar flocked to them, but all those TLE fans who were on the band's messageboard were trying to organise a group photo. No sooner had we assembled everyone (which took yonks) than Chris walked in front of our photographer. That wouldn't have been so bad, except he was followed by a crowd of people who completely blocked her view! Once he noticed us, however, Chris grabbed Scott and Andy and they joined us for the photo – which promptly turned into a bit of a free-for-all as others jumped in and a multitude of cameras flashed.
My brother and I hung around for a while chatting to J. as everything was being packed up, and after she popped off to her office we were just about ready to go, before J. scurried back out and said, "Guys – there's a party in my office. Wanna come have a look?" So, we did! Lo and behold, TLE and their crew had decided J.'s spacious office was the perfect place to have some post-show drinks, so I took off my rain pants and booties (it was still pissing down) and joined them.
Now, I've seen The Living End lots and lots of times, and hung out with them after shows a few times, too. My brother, however, spent several minutes chatting to Scott (the bass player) before having to ask someone whether Scott was actually in the band or not – and this was after having seen the concert! *facepalm* Meanwhile, I was catching up with Woody, the ex-Webmaster/sound mixer, and some of the record label guys I didn't know.
When the party left J.'s office to head to a local Darlinghurst pub, the Gaslight Inn, Klaus and I were going to split, again – but, again, J. convinced us to come along, so we spent a few more hours at the (by that stage) after-after-party. And this on a Tuesday night, remember. Great fun! Great, great fun. I'm not sure how much more I can reveal here without possibly implicating people in criminal activity, but it was a night to remember :-D
Two days later – what are we up to, now, Thursday? – I went from rock concert to a completely different sort of event: Bell Shakespeare Company performing "Faustus", that classic German tale of selling your soul to the devil. I almost missed it – after getting caught in the rain on Tuesday, my bicycle lock was refusing to open, so I was catching buses everywhere. My bus to the Opera House was supposed to arrive at 7:00pm (for a 7:30pm performance), but Sydney doesn't know what the fuck to do when it's wet. As a result, between 7:00pm and 7:20pm my bus had only managed to move about 300m, from Oxford St to Liverpool St.
I convinced the driver to let me out (in the middle of the street, but it wasn't like traffic was moving), and ran the remaining 2km, through the rain, to take my sodden place just minutes before the show started. It was well worth it, though. John Bell was magnificent as Mephistopheles, and the rest of cast very good, too. I don't know enough about the play to judge their interpretation, but the execution was very good. Definitely something I'd do again. Bell, especially, just makes the rhyming prose sound like natural speech. Remarkable actor.
Lest you think that was all, tonight my brother's house is hosting a "house cooling" party, to which at least 300 people have been inviting. "Only" 120 or so have responded in the affirmative, but it should be massive, and very messy. It's a costume party, but without a theme i.e. wear whatever costume you like. There will be totem tennis, giant Jenga, beer bongs, danceable DJs, and other alliterative accoutrements.
At this rate, I'm kind of glad my football games this weekend have been cancelled!
No comments:
Post a Comment