but I got to do most of it... it was fun, it was full on...
...and here we go...
Thursday was a day of hit-and-miss as far as work was concerned. Several
things needed doing, and most of them happened albeit not quite the way
they were supposed to, but the end result was the same and THAT is the
important thing really. Things got done and no-one was left feeling
disenfranchised. We like it when work works... even though it worked
sideways and still fitted in.
I was somewhat peeved with the last-minute SMS from someone saying that
they could not/would not be going out to do most of the things
planned/paid for for the weekend and that (at the very least from a
fiscal point of view) was bloody annoying. Not to mention that it
happens WAY too much in my opinion. Not happening again, thanks.
<lj-cut text="Thursday - KISS">OK - then there was the instant dash home
so I could get ready to meet up with Ivy and Kate for missions. Missions
successfully completed, there was then the arrival of Michelle followed
by the dash (via Gallery Serpentine to deliver the other 2 newly
purchased tickets) straight out to Acer Arena to ignore Vanessa Amarossi
and to see the one and only KISS! (The only thing that peeved me was
that there were only a finite number of Programme Books available - and
that sucked because I didn't get one). However, getting into Acer was
the easy part... getting a T-Shirt was also easy... well perhaps it was
a little crowded. Then, catching up with people we knew as they got past
security. The funny part was Michelle running around yelling "Maiden!
Maiden!" to all the KISS fans only to have her demanding to have a KISS
tattoo after the show.
Finding our seats was simple, only to be confronted by the 'Biggest KISS
Banner In The World'(TM). Honestly, the air was electric. KISS had been
here back in 1996, and before that (Paul, can you correct me on this?)
only in 1980... which was the only other time I had seen them, actually.
So I was really looking forward to the show. The lights dimmed to the
expected audience cheer, a pause, and then the chants started..."We Want
KISS! We Want KISS!" finally a voice rang out over the dimmed lights:
"Sydney! You Asked for it!..." The audience roar went up, almost
drowning out the amplified voice. "The hottest band in the world!
KISS!!". The banner dropped, and the first set of pyros went off. The
strobing KISS logo sign behind the drum kit flashed on, backlighting all
four members of the band onstage, in full regalia/armour, as they
launched into their first number, "Deuce". From that point on the show
did not stop.
For over an hour Gene, Paul, Tommy and Eric pounded through the hits
ranging from "Shout It Out Loud", through "Lick It Up", "100,000 Years",
"Love Gun" and "Detroit Rock City". Employee-turned band-member, Tommy
Thayer, took up the mantle vacated by Ace Frehley (which at times begs
the question as to, with only 2 original members left, is this still
KISS or a KISS tribute band?) and yet, Tommy produced the goods with
Frehley's signature tune "Shock Me". "Black Diamond" saw Eric Singer
take up the lead vocal. The band wove a mixture of nostalgic Glam Rock
and simplistic (yet audience enthralling) hard-hitting tunes. Gene
Simmonds breathed fire, spat blood, played his axe and flew to the
heavens (about 20 metres up to the top of the lighting rig) for a solo.
For their final number, even Singer's drumkit was elevated up past the
KISS logo, with flame pots and pyros outlining the band-members. Then as
the stage hit darkness - which left afterimages of green and red, the
audience went ballistic, demanding an encore. Of course it happened and
the inevitable encore produced an acoustic version of "Shandi" and the 2
final show-stoppers "I Was Made For Loving You" and the 'international
anthem' "Rock And Roll All Night" which had a repeat of the drum-kit
raising, along with 2 side-stages elevating Simmonds and Thayes, leaving
Paul the spotlight in centre stage (which is ironic when you read the
many rumours of his being the next to leave the band after this 35 year
Anniversary Tour).
I've read accounts of the band being weary and just going through the
motions, and their stage schtick being old and hackneyed, but from what
I saw on Thursday night, there's no doubt that these guys can still hold
their own with any band on the planet. Sure, every city they tour may be
their second home, and every city may be the 'The Rock N Roll Capital of
[insert country here]', but hell, who doesn't want to hear that? We all
do. It's part of the show - and you DO get a thrill when Paul screams
it. To be honest, who cares if their songs are nostalgic rock? You go to
see KISS for exactly that, you get just what you expect, and the
spectacle, and (let's face it) the audience hypnotising show-of-shows.
Yeah.</lj-cut>
<lj-cut text="Thursday - HELLFIRE">Finally, with Michelle running about
demanding that everyone buy her a KISS tattoo for her backside, we hit
the cab for a rapid-fire turnaround at The Fortress to get ready to lose
my hair at Hellfire. Frank kindly picked us up from home and we jetted
into the city. Rebecca, Barbara & I got there in time (just past 12) to
catch Rin outside and plan what we would do. Got inside and spotted a
number of people who had made it (some who said that they originally
couldn't, which was great, and some who weren't sure but who made it
anyway - which was also great :)). Of course, having gotten there just
past 12 meant that we were due to be on after the 1am virtual
crucifixion show (for more details about that one, see the entry in the
Hellfire Blog). The Crucifixion Show went off, and then we waited for
the triage to be done (I really DID mean a crucifixion, you know). Then
we were due to be on but had a little delay until about 2am-ish (due to
a minor medical issue with a patron) which wasn't so bad, really. Both
Rin and TJ dropped their tops, and got onstage, as Frank and I set up
the clippers and stool etc... a topless Barbara, resplendent Bec and
becorsetted Gill wandered and exhorted the crowd to cough up funds, and
Master Tom gave a stirring intro. It really is my yearly haircut, and it
was a little shaggy (especially having just bounced it up and down to
KISS all evening). So, onto the stage I go and Rin takes to the hair. TJ
grabbed the other clippers and started on the other side. Amid the
cat-calls of "There's Gargamel!" (when I had a tonsure shaved off) and
Rin supplying me with a comb-over, the style of which would make any
Geography professor proud, I was finally left with a rat tail which sent
Master Tom into fits of giggles on the microphone and then it was all
gone. Shaved. Bald as a ... well... a bald-person. Dr Evil would be
proud. Of course it would have been great to have raised "one million
dollars" - and somewhat apt with the shaved head, but we did take in a
wonderful $425 which goes to Leukaemia Research. We retired to the
disabled toilets where the final shave part was done, and all smooth and
shiny was I. I figure that this year we were down a little on the shave
dollars because we had that small medical issue which pushed our start
time back, not to mention getting there a little late due to the KISS
show. Still the generosity of the Hellfire crowd is well known. We
stayed until the end, and then spent a good 45 minutes trying to get a
cab from Oxford Street back to The Fortress, not an easy task on a Good
Friday morning.</lj-cut>
Friday was a day of leisure. Nothing to see here apart from sleep,
geeking and so forth, move along.
<lj-cut text="Saturday - MELA DOLCE">Saturday was a nice day of waking
up and getting ready to head into Central Station to catch the 2pm train
to Katoomba with Gill and Barbara to go and see Mela Dolce. Firstly
there was the amusing game of 'Find-the-Gillian' at Central Station,
then the trip through Blacktown, where we found Barbara and then the
trip up to Katoomba, which was pleasant enough. Getting out at Katoomba
made me realise how much I'd missed the place (I was last there about
20+ years ago) and how much I had missed the weather. Yes, I absolutely
LOVE Katoomba weather, and if the city were closer... I would live
there... Shush you! Anyway... we checked into the Carrington, then went
for a wander about the Katoomba Street bookshops. Got back in time to
get a few messages from Paul and Herbie (about photo-permission for the
evening) and then to get changed to head over to Tres Elies. Tres Elies
is a small-ish venue 2 doors from Katoomba Station. I'm not sure about
the connection it has to Tres Elies Greek restaurant (just up the road)
but it's a nice small homey venue with a bar/bistro attached to the
band/performance room. Saw Marissa & Paul out the front and said 'Hi!',
then the 3 of us had dinner there (I liked the lamb shanks, whereas
Gill's was a little too oil-swimmy for her liking). The show was delayed
a little due to the sudience being late - and being a small venue this
seemed to be OK. Up rocks Megan and Mikey, Debs in all her glory and
Catherine, Herbie turns up with something in a large bag (a prop so I
was told) and then Frank and Rin arrived (driving up from Sydney). So,
the performance goes off and indeed it did go off. It was great and one
seriously has to see Debs performing pole-dancing to appreciate exactly
how awesome she is. The show went on for about an hour, in 3 parts, with
The Surgical Sideshow performing the middle part. They were great and a
lot more polished than they were when I last saw them :) I think they'll
be a troupe to be reckoned with in the future. For that matter having
seen Mela Dolce (which is the name of the troupe overall) perform, I
think that they will quickly make a name for themselves (if indeed they
haven't already). Book them, for they are made of awesome. They have a
MySpace, and footage of the show (I think it was shot by Barbara) is up
there. I also have pics I shot of the night on my Facebook, too. After
the show, and much dancing of Frank, Gill, Barbara and Rin, we repaired
to the hotel room for trashiness and late-night craziness (did I mention
that the hotel room had a spa?). </lj-cut>
<lj-cut text="Sunday">Sunday was a morning of waking up, in one piece,
checking out, wandering the shops for a little while, getting some old
SF paperbacks published in November 1961, and heading to the train to
journey back to the City and get there by late afternoon. This of course
meant getting home, doing some cleaning, and then collapsing for the
evening. I was really looking forward to getting off to Batcave, but I
was really too tired to go. Thus was Sunday.</lj-cut>
<lj-cut text="Monday - The Royal Easter Show">Monday morning I woke up
to find one billion messages from people asking why I wasn't at Batcave
the night before... damn that having turned the phone down so I could
snooze. So, waking up in time to get a shower, feel relatively human,
and head on into The Royal Easter Show. I tend to go every year (though
I did have a hiatus there for a little while in the late 80's and in the
late 90's - just before it moved location) and this year I missed my
usual Easter-Show buddies. However, the company was pleasant and I did
get to go and see a lot of the things I normally would have. I could wax
poetic about the Show, but it was simply a lovely way to just cruise
through the day and see the things I wanted to see. I got showbags and
wandered the show area, saw the Arts & Crafts, talked to the Foxtel guys
about IQ2(!!), saw the Parade, and the Polo, and the Dog Trials. Finally
had time to visit the kittun-judging, saw some cows, met up with Jon &
Dustan, then spent some time with DK and then headed off to the Members
Stand to have a drink and then have dinner in the Members Restaurant
(membership has it's perks). Three songs performed live by 'Viper' and
finally it was time for [switches on echo-chamber] Extreme Korruption.
Well it was a little tame because the heavens opened up and some of the
stunts couldn't be performed. It was quite funny to have the announcer
say that it was a little too dangerous for Danger Man to come out. The
Motorcross bikes couldn't perform their big jumps because the ramps were
wet... but we DID get motorcross long-jumps, Holden precision cars,
balancing bobcats (the machine kind), fireworks, and lasers. I took a
few pics, and they're on my Facebook too (though I should probably put
most up on Ringo, or Photobucket). Thus returning to the house, chatting
with Donna for a bit, and heading off to the land of Nod. </lj-cut>
Now, normally a weekend would end off when work returned, but no...
<lj-cut text="Tuesday - H.I.M">Tuesday was a day of work, quite a bit of
work actually, as I have some reports to finish as well as having some
staff on an audit, which is quite a busy thing to oversee at times. Yet
also, it was an evening of going out to see H.I.M, on their Venus Doom
Tour, at The Big Top at Luna Park. Work finished, and thence a quick
shower and change and then off to meet Bekk, who was happily looking
forward to seeing H.I.M ever since they announced their show last year.
Now, I am only familiar with a couple of their numbers, but I was more
than happy to go along and be educated :) I headed onto the train at
Town Hall (having people move out of my way, because I'm a scary bald
man in black), had a random girl tell me that she loved me on the train
(which was really all kinds of random), joined the black-clad throng at
Milson's Point Station, trekked down the hill and caught up with Bekk in
time to hurry up and wait in line for about an hour. Peachy. The random
'I Think I Love You' girl passed by as we were going in (she was also
going to the show with her boi) and we got through with minimal "You
can't take that into this venue" comments - though they did try to get
my camera banned, they didn't because the lens was the right size
(apparently they are trying to ban any camera with a removable lens
because they are deemed 'professional' - actually many of the small
digitals take better and closer pics than your average SLR-Digital
cameras these days). Still, I got it in, once I flashed some ID... I
love my licence... and were in time to hear the support band McQueen.
I've not heard them before, but they were really very good. An all girl
group from England, they really stopped the audience cold. They were
somewhat like the love-child of The Runaways and Suzie Quatro, but with
a more modern rock-edge to them. The Band (Leah Duors on Vocals, Hayley
Cramer on Drums, Cat de Casanove on Guitars, and Gina Collins on Bass)
knew their audience and interspersed their set with reminders that they
knew the crowd was here to see H.I.M and they played to that knowledge,
which is something the crowd really appreciated. They weren't there to
be sassy, they were there to play rock to a specific audience and play
rock they did... kind of a Goth-Rock, but without added Emo (it makes
sense to me). I liked them so much I bought the album, and it seems that
they had gotten over their jet-lag from Perth (I asked them about that
at their signing in between their set and H.I.M. Anyway, Bekk, with no
ID, couldn't get alcohol, which pissed her off no end - the thing I LIKE
about The Big Top is their 'alcohol corral' where you enter, drink and
have half of the floor to yourselves. The thing I DON'T like about it is
that you can't mingle with your non-drinking friends. Still, at an
all-ages gig you need some alcohol-control mechanisms, and this is as
good as it gets in an enclosed venue. Then the lights went down and the
volume went up and the members HIM strolled onstage. Remember that H.I.M
was here last year and gave a more than well-polished performance
replete with chandeliers, mist and heartagrams galore. This year the
stage was more reminiscent of a Tubeway Army gig from the 80's (although
with dimmer lighting with changing colours), but that combined with the
mist and back fan-lighting gave it an almost sepulchral feel. The
audience reactions, especially those from the non-drinking age, showed
that even though numbers appeared to be down from last year, the emotion
and audience receptivity was well up. Guys in the audience were fans,
and girls were also fans and/or were in tears - something I haven't seen
a lot of in this present day of music fandom. If I had one complaint
about their set, it would be that the beanie (to me) wasn't really
representative of the goth-emo look, and I think it looked perhaps a
little too grungey-casual for what I was expecting. That being said,
that's the only thing I can really fault for the gig. They played a
great set of about an hour, hitting their best from the past 6 albums
and giving the audience what they were there for.</lj-cut>
Thus the best way to end the 'long weekend' on a musical note - with
discovery of a new band (for me) and expansion of the ol' musical
horizons.
Overall it was a good weekend indeed. Good company, good things to do,
fun times... yeah :)
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