Sunday, January 22, 2006
BIG DAY OUT INDEED
so mark asks me at the last minute if i'd be interested in going auckland, to the big day out - an all day festival concert with a plethora of bands with something for everyone in the lineup. for me, it was The White Stripes that bent my head in the 'yes' direction. i had seen them once previously down here in wellington and really enjoyed their show.
as quickly as humanly possible i nab myself some air new zealand tickets and then call the hotel where mark and mona lia are staying and book a room. BLAM! i'm sorted for the gig. plunking down that kind of cash for a last minute gig probably wasn't the wisest choice seeing as i'm still a good two months away from seeing another paycheck but i didn't want to regret not going.
i'm actually really glad i went and i'm sure there is at least one other person who is equally glad. just after i situated myself amongst the other human sardines all wedged together near the front of the stage, i noticed something odd...a weird pressure at my feet. i turned to look which actually took some effort. i quickly realized that there was a flacid lump of girl flesh passed out next to me on the ground and all i could think of was The Who concert where people were trampled. she was unconscious and very very limp...not to mention fairly heavy. i pushed the crowd back and created a space around her then grabbed an arm and began to try to stand her up. total rag doll impersonation was her response. all the while chaos is surrounding me and squeezing me from every angle, fighting me. others near her eventually got a clue after my yelling for assistance. we heaved, we pulled, we yanked, we pushed and eventually her limp body made an escape from the human pressure cooker that is the front of the stage. it felt good to be able to help someone in need like that.
after the limp girl episode, countless others were heaved overhead into the safe zone in front of the wall. the first of which jumped up nicely and landed squarely on top of my head - where i was so appropriately keeping my sunglasses. CRUNCH/CRACK!*&$# ... OW!! crap! i reach up and grab the glasses which are now in two pieces, soon to be three. i shove them in my pocket then reach up to see if i'm gonna have blood rushing down my face. i'm in luck, no blood which means i can stay and enjoy the rest of the show. the pain dwindles and i enjoy the show from about 5 people back from the wall. great view although i was a bit disappointed at the choice of songs this time around. i much more enjoyed their wellington performance and i have a feeling it was probably due to a more upbeat and energetic set list....and for those who were there and wondered what that 5 minutes of feedback was all about, it was brought on by a broken string or that's what i can surmise from where i was standing. jack did not seem happy about that.
the upshot to all this and very much to my surprise is that my sunglasses came out unscathed. they've got these lovely pop-off arms which i reinserted back into the frames. i was away and laughin. a huge thanks to mark for inviting me...it was well worth the cash outlay. no regrets.
ps: seeing the rock icon IGGY POP was pretty cool too.
pss: the web is up and i'm wireless at the house now! ahhhhh........
so mark asks me at the last minute if i'd be interested in going auckland, to the big day out - an all day festival concert with a plethora of bands with something for everyone in the lineup. for me, it was The White Stripes that bent my head in the 'yes' direction. i had seen them once previously down here in wellington and really enjoyed their show.
as quickly as humanly possible i nab myself some air new zealand tickets and then call the hotel where mark and mona lia are staying and book a room. BLAM! i'm sorted for the gig. plunking down that kind of cash for a last minute gig probably wasn't the wisest choice seeing as i'm still a good two months away from seeing another paycheck but i didn't want to regret not going.
i'm actually really glad i went and i'm sure there is at least one other person who is equally glad. just after i situated myself amongst the other human sardines all wedged together near the front of the stage, i noticed something odd...a weird pressure at my feet. i turned to look which actually took some effort. i quickly realized that there was a flacid lump of girl flesh passed out next to me on the ground and all i could think of was The Who concert where people were trampled. she was unconscious and very very limp...not to mention fairly heavy. i pushed the crowd back and created a space around her then grabbed an arm and began to try to stand her up. total rag doll impersonation was her response. all the while chaos is surrounding me and squeezing me from every angle, fighting me. others near her eventually got a clue after my yelling for assistance. we heaved, we pulled, we yanked, we pushed and eventually her limp body made an escape from the human pressure cooker that is the front of the stage. it felt good to be able to help someone in need like that.
after the limp girl episode, countless others were heaved overhead into the safe zone in front of the wall. the first of which jumped up nicely and landed squarely on top of my head - where i was so appropriately keeping my sunglasses. CRUNCH/CRACK!*&$# ... OW!! crap! i reach up and grab the glasses which are now in two pieces, soon to be three. i shove them in my pocket then reach up to see if i'm gonna have blood rushing down my face. i'm in luck, no blood which means i can stay and enjoy the rest of the show. the pain dwindles and i enjoy the show from about 5 people back from the wall. great view although i was a bit disappointed at the choice of songs this time around. i much more enjoyed their wellington performance and i have a feeling it was probably due to a more upbeat and energetic set list....and for those who were there and wondered what that 5 minutes of feedback was all about, it was brought on by a broken string or that's what i can surmise from where i was standing. jack did not seem happy about that.
the upshot to all this and very much to my surprise is that my sunglasses came out unscathed. they've got these lovely pop-off arms which i reinserted back into the frames. i was away and laughin. a huge thanks to mark for inviting me...it was well worth the cash outlay. no regrets.
ps: seeing the rock icon IGGY POP was pretty cool too.
pss: the web is up and i'm wireless at the house now! ahhhhh........