Well we learnt a lot on this portion of the tour... we learnt that 6 gigs in 5 days is pushing it; that fate does not approve of mark taking photos of women's breasts; that simon can shower and still be dirty; we learnt that the only certainty at a toga party is that other people's clothes will be stolen; and personally I learnt that food poisoning is no laughing matter and I should have not eaten those sandwiches in Bathurst. I mentioned all these things because they had to be mentioned but decency and professionalism stopped me from writing anything more about them.
This leg was a little different from the rest of the tour in that we drove it all. We(read: mostly I) hired a 12 seater and drove from Melbourne to Canberra, Bathurst, Sydney, Newcastle, Woolongong and back to Melbourne. The only joy from such automotive endurance derived from the stopover there and back at my favorite service station food complex: Gundagai... I think that when I finally lose it all and go AWOL, I'll be found wearing nothing but a pair of overalls and thongs, mopping the floors of the heaven that is Gundagai BP/KFC/Subway... to the amusement and aggravation of my fellow bandmembers, I find the place to have some type of unnameable appeal... I wouldn't be surprised to find, in some Lovecraft-ian twist, that Gundagai is where the wall between realities is at its thinnest and the old ones are sleeping just underneath. You'll see, you'll all see.
Anyway brief summary of this leg is as follows:
Canberra - Played at ANU Bar. The night went off. Was lots of fun. etc etc we stayed at our manager's sister's place and their cats were awesome. Burmese they were. Like little bricks wrapped in velvet.
Bathurst - Played at the CSU Uni Bar where they were having some type of toga themed party. The night was replete with excessively drunk and excessively young folk sticking their hands up each other's bedsheets. This alone may have made me violently ill that night... or those sandwiches. We spent almost the entirety of the next day on our hotel balcony overlooking Bathurst's main drag. We saw a lot of cleavage, pidgeons and a duck in the park that would approach strangers for food. Despite me exploding from both ends the night before, it was a good day.
Sydney - Well we played at the Oxford Arts Factory. Twice. The first show in the evening was to the average assortment of punters and was nice and arty and hot and fun. The second gig the following afternoon was to a mess of underagers and was probably even better. I remember seeing Marto switch into Wiggles mode as he enthralled a bevy of 15yr old girls with his antics. Very funny and slightly pathetic! Would have loved to have stayed and lapped up the idolation and adulation but we had to heap everything into the van and speed off to...
Newcastle - Trepidation occured as we loaded in, because this was the venue that the last time we came to (for the Grooving the Moo Maitland afterparty), Marto was ejected from by the bouncers for giving some much deserved attitude to the barmen. Funnily enough the same security were on and one of them in particular seemed quite fascinated with our dear dj... anyway we played the gig fine... or so we though... up until the last three songs when BANG! the whole place goes dark... somehow the sound system had blown the power to most of the venue... it was a very interesting moment as we slinked off stage and hoped it could be fixed promptly. We were able to go back on and smash out two more songs and were quite happy that the punters were pacified by our return. Went back to the unit we'd hired and got told off repeatedly by the people staying in the front unit, thanks to marto's complete inability to talk softer than 60db... especially when drunk.
Woolongong - Played at Waves... a massive venue attached to a pub/pokies emporium opposite a caravan park where we were staying. Did I say the venue was massive? By this point we all were well drained... Mark could hardly talk onstage..."Hey [pause - struggling for name of town] p-people! We've play with BAND Art Vs Science for the MONTH!" That was actually how he started the set. Very funny. Anyway, we struggled through and even got a punter evicted for sneaking into the bandroom and stealing booze. Went back to caravan park and chilled with AVS throughout the night reminiscing on what was a lovely month.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
South Australia portion of the Tour
We rounded up the penultimate leg with a gig on Hindley St, Adelaide, at the Jive Bar. An impressively retro joint; it was another affair with a balcony overlooking the stage. The first band, The Kill Girls, hammered out such a loud set, we were worried the PA would be blown before we could get on stage. A surprise appearance backstage by MC Suffa from Hilltop Hoods bolstered our confidence before we stepped on stage, and we smashed out a nice and rudely loud set. The crowd was an appreciative blend of scenesters, hipsters and Adelaide Footballers; lending an agitated energy to the room that just went off by mid-set. It was great to have so much fun but a little sad to realise how close we were to the tour ending and real life re-commencing.
So here we are on our way back to Melbourne. We’ve got 4 days off to prepare for the NSW leg and I’ve got to warn anyone expecting us in Canberra, Bathurst, Sydney, Newcastle or Woolongong that we are using this preparation time wisely. Look out, here we come!
So here we are on our way back to Melbourne. We’ve got 4 days off to prepare for the NSW leg and I’ve got to warn anyone expecting us in Canberra, Bathurst, Sydney, Newcastle or Woolongong that we are using this preparation time wisely. Look out, here we come!
WA leg of the AVS tour!
None of us had been to Fremantle before. It was worth the wait. Special props go to our old friend Josh who put us up for two nights…
Sorry, Josh, that we ate you out of house and home, that we forced your girlfriend to sleep elsewhere for two nights, and I personally apologise for body-slamming your air mattress; punching a hole in it the size of a cantaloupe. Yes, Josh, I’m finally admitting it was all me! Also, sorry for bringing everyone back to the apartment after the Fremantle gig for Jelly Bean fights, Mount Gay Rum and Charades until 8 in the morning.
Anyway, the following night in Perth at the Amplifier bar was just as fun even though we didn’t bring any hordes home afterwards. The place was insanely packed with bon-vivants and as we chilled after our set downstairs, the floor and support beams hold up the dancefloor were bending and flexing with every beat of every AVS song. It was the first time I’d ever seen a whole room full of people jumping in time for 45 minutes; let alone sitting perilously underneath them chatting nervously to the first band, The Voltaire Twins, who were excellent sports, it must be said. The fallout for the night was a dancefloor that looked like it had lost a war
Sorry, Josh, that we ate you out of house and home, that we forced your girlfriend to sleep elsewhere for two nights, and I personally apologise for body-slamming your air mattress; punching a hole in it the size of a cantaloupe. Yes, Josh, I’m finally admitting it was all me! Also, sorry for bringing everyone back to the apartment after the Fremantle gig for Jelly Bean fights, Mount Gay Rum and Charades until 8 in the morning.
Anyway, the following night in Perth at the Amplifier bar was just as fun even though we didn’t bring any hordes home afterwards. The place was insanely packed with bon-vivants and as we chilled after our set downstairs, the floor and support beams hold up the dancefloor were bending and flexing with every beat of every AVS song. It was the first time I’d ever seen a whole room full of people jumping in time for 45 minutes; let alone sitting perilously underneath them chatting nervously to the first band, The Voltaire Twins, who were excellent sports, it must be said. The fallout for the night was a dancefloor that looked like it had lost a war
Queensland Leg
Queensland welcomed us with sunny skies and sunnier personalities from the locals. Despite the first gig of this leg actually occurring in Coff’s Harbour NSW, this entire part of the tour definitely had the Queensland feel to it. Now none of us in HINY are braggers, we swear; but we had a real party during the Coff’s Harbour show. Together with the support band, Elke, and Art Vs Science, we drank 5 slabs of beer, 3 bottles of vodka, 2 bottles of tequila, 2 bottles of whiskey and god knows what else.
Needless to say, thanks to the generous patronage of the The Plantation Hotel we all had an amazing night. One punter’s comment still resonates, “I don’t know much about music… I just kill people I don’t like for money, I’m in the army, you see… but that was a good gig!” Brisbane was quite brilliant too, with the Zoo proving to be one of the best live venues in Australia. Mark and I snuck away after our set for a late night slurpee and discovered the rest of Brisbane was partying just as hard as us. It’s an amazing city that really seems to value its nightlife and the artists it attracts. At Noosa, we enjoyed the accommodation as much as the town’s insane roundabouts. Even our GPS struggled. Thank god for spa baths! They really helped take the edge off performing so regularly.
The spa at the Gold Coast hotel was great too but nowhere near as special as the Neverever Bar that we played at that night. It was like a dream. A long narrow bar with the stage at one end and an upper level looking directly over the stage, the place was filled to capacity and the air conditioning had broken two weeks prior: we played in a heady stupor of sweat and sound whilst a teeming mass of bodies heaved to and fro to the beat. It was a phenomenal scene and at this point, all members of the band agree, it was the highlight of the trip.
Victorian Leg
The Victorian leg was our next chance to fly the Hercules in NY banner. Supported for the run by co-Melbournites Foxx on Fire, we followed AVS to Ballarat, Geelong, two Melbourne Gigs and Mt. Buller. Having the home ground advantage, we kept the rock-star life to a minimum as we returned home to our loved ones after each gig but the usual HINY absurdity manifested itself. In Ballarat, after soundchecking at the Korova bar, Mark and I went and bought arguably the worst Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toy ever but only after the poor toilet facilities forced me to break into a neighbouring construction site to use the port-a-potty provided. Simon spiced up his afternoon before the gig at the East Brunswick Club by teaming up with the AVS boys and trying on a few choice selections at a neighbouring costume shop. I wish I could show you pictures, but the shop owner hit the roof, the minute the camera phones were whipped out. Apparently her designs are trademarked and the costume counterfeiters of the world were eager to get their hands on her latest prototypes. This of course paled in comparison to the insanity of the Mt Buller gig. Being on a Ministry of Sound bill was exciting enough,
but as we careened up the mountain in an old 18-seater that was tipping over on the sharper turns, we suspected it would be an interesting night ahead. From the cage that soundman Drew had to work in,
to arguably the best band room ever (complete with bar, buck-hunter and NBA jam arcade machines and a central fireplace)
, and the eager beavers breaking into the venue THROUGH THE ROOF, it was a surreal experience that culminated in both HINY and AVS having a dance-off during Miami Horror’s DJ Set. Let’s just say the punters were impressed.
but as we careened up the mountain in an old 18-seater that was tipping over on the sharper turns, we suspected it would be an interesting night ahead. From the cage that soundman Drew had to work in,
to arguably the best band room ever (complete with bar, buck-hunter and NBA jam arcade machines and a central fireplace)
, and the eager beavers breaking into the venue THROUGH THE ROOF, it was a surreal experience that culminated in both HINY and AVS having a dance-off during Miami Horror’s DJ Set. Let’s just say the punters were impressed.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Art Versus Science's Eiffel Tour... Launceston and Hobart shows!
Well, back in Melbourne now, but we just finished our first leg of the Art Vs Science tour. AVS are lovely chaps; met them on the Groovin the Moo Tour in May and we were pretty blown away when they offered us a national tour supporting them.
Anyway, in honor of such stuff, I hope I can commit to actually finishing a blog about a tour, unlike that one solitary Groovin the Moo entry above.
Leaving Melbourne on the Friday around lunchtime, we landed in Launceston at 2:30 and with an overloaded hire van, made our way to the aptly named Hotel New York, where we were to be both playing and sleeping that night. Launceston is a lovely townish, not-yet-a-city kind of place with an impressive array of 24 hour car-parks that cost $12 to park all day at, whilst the fine for parking on the street is $20.
We met up with Dan, Dan and Jim from AVS and loaded into the venue. Whilst they soundchecked, we did a quick reconnoiter of the town finding a Coles Supermarket which catered poorly to ethnic dietary requirements, like Dolmades, Pickled vegetables and Vienna Loaf. We headed back to the Hotel New York with our swag in tow and proceeded to feast on our vittles as AVS played a best-of medley for soundcheck. Lovely stuff.
Time for our soundcheck and it all went smashing. Sandwiched between the fat synth sounds on my foldback and the piercing Marshall amp that Mark strums away with, I cursed myself for forgetting my earplugs. Anyway, it all sounded rather large and impressive, so we headed to our rooms for some pre-match r&r.
Coopers Lager is an impressive beer I must say, and quickly becoming the go-to beer for band riders it seems. Anyway, it is a terribly easy beer to enjoy and sheer exertion of will had to be enforced to prevent me from r&r-ing too much before it was out time to go on.
We decided to check out the opening act and meet some of the locals. They were all lovely folk and already the offers were spewing forth to come back to so-and-so's place after for this, that or the other. Needless to say, we were already a bit too tired for "this"; mark and I steer clear of "that" and "the other" is almost always strictly out of the question.
So we get onstage and the crowd appears out of nowhere for our dancey intro, Hercules Force. They get into it and special kudos goes to the poncho-wearing Mike for his consistently furious dancing and the mid-song accolades he afforded us. (He also later invited us back to his place for a spell of "the other", but like I said, we really can't do that, especially as the tour has only just begun and we have a whole month to make such mistakes.)
So we play the set we planned and by the time we've finished, the crowd seems well and truly primed for AVS. I think it was Mark who said it best when he described us as the crowd's "fluffer"; gearing things up for the hot dance sex that would ultimately occur between AVS and Launceston, just 20 minutes later. Needless to say, they went off, and the singles "Flippers" and "Parlez Vouz Francais?" caused the whole building to fit spasmodically, most notably the latter of the two. i've got to say my personal highlight of the whole night was their impromptu cover of DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's "Shake the Room"... it was revelatory. These Art Vs Science boys are talented boys indeed... wise beyond their years.
As etiquette dictates, the goings on after a gig are best left undescribed; and I assure you that if i continue with this blog, anything absolutely amazing will be recounted in due course; but the rest will just have to be left to your imagination... the only useful information I can proffer is that opposite the Hotel New York is an all night Indian Take Away that I would insist everyone in Launceston should eat at religiously. The butter chicken was the very picture of perfection and were I still in Launcestion I would just forget about the naan, the rice, and the rogan josh and simply buy a tub full of that lovely sweet buttery goodness and devour it anon.
------
So we are awoken by our manager around 10am and start gearing up for the drive down to Hobart. Locked and loaded we make our way but split up from AVS' van upon the discovery of Campbell Town and the immensely large log that was awarded to the town in recognition of its Foresting during the 1800s. The gift itself seems absurdly redundant; "Hey, Campbell Town, we hear you've been logging. Great work. Keep it up. In recognition of that, here's a log. Enjoy"... anyway I took particular fascination with this dead carcass of a thing if no one else did. Eventually I was dragged away from it and we continued heading to Hobart.
We arrived just as AVS was starting their soundcheck; we hung about in the Republic Cafe/Bar and geared up for our own soundcheck... the soundie was a peaceful old soul, Neil, who pottered about at his own pace but could definitely make the room sing. Anyway the guys all left the bar to go to the accommodation, whilst I stayed behind watching the gear and japanese cartoons simultaneously. (NB if anyone reading this was involved in the creation of Naruto Shippuuden eps 119-120 then you have earnt my absolute respect. I cried like a baby at the end of 120).
Back to the gig, it was obvious that this venue had sold out well and truly by the sheer number of lads and ladies trumpeting through the place whilst the opening act did his thing. By the time we got on stage, the front of the crowd was squeezed so hard up against the stage they kept falling forward and knocking the monitors over. One ever-enthusiastic little filly even raised her arms so quickly and energetically above her head, that her breasts popped out the top of her strapless dress and out for all and sundry to notice... to mark's extreme displeasure, his attention was focused elsewhere at this time but I must admit the view did impair my concentration for a few moments and almost made up for the same girl accidentally disconnecting the power supply to my keyboard during the next song.
We finished up with this responsive and irrefutably awesome crowd and careened off stage just waiting to see how Art Versus Science would fare with this kind of energy. Needless to say, they rocked it. Several people were escorted out of Hobart's Republic Bar that night, for what seemed generally to be a case of enjoying the festivities a little too vigorously. We finished the night off by hanging out with the bar staff (including the charmingly charitable "Frenchie") after the bar staff had left, and making our way back to the accommodation for a reluctant drive back to Launceston airport the next day.
In hindsight we should have brought cameras to help convince you that what happened above was not a lie. Unfortunately none of us did so, but here are a couple of shots of myself getting acquainted with the rather imposing log in Campbell Town. Enjoy.
Anyway, in honor of such stuff, I hope I can commit to actually finishing a blog about a tour, unlike that one solitary Groovin the Moo entry above.
Leaving Melbourne on the Friday around lunchtime, we landed in Launceston at 2:30 and with an overloaded hire van, made our way to the aptly named Hotel New York, where we were to be both playing and sleeping that night. Launceston is a lovely townish, not-yet-a-city kind of place with an impressive array of 24 hour car-parks that cost $12 to park all day at, whilst the fine for parking on the street is $20.
We met up with Dan, Dan and Jim from AVS and loaded into the venue. Whilst they soundchecked, we did a quick reconnoiter of the town finding a Coles Supermarket which catered poorly to ethnic dietary requirements, like Dolmades, Pickled vegetables and Vienna Loaf. We headed back to the Hotel New York with our swag in tow and proceeded to feast on our vittles as AVS played a best-of medley for soundcheck. Lovely stuff.
Time for our soundcheck and it all went smashing. Sandwiched between the fat synth sounds on my foldback and the piercing Marshall amp that Mark strums away with, I cursed myself for forgetting my earplugs. Anyway, it all sounded rather large and impressive, so we headed to our rooms for some pre-match r&r.
Coopers Lager is an impressive beer I must say, and quickly becoming the go-to beer for band riders it seems. Anyway, it is a terribly easy beer to enjoy and sheer exertion of will had to be enforced to prevent me from r&r-ing too much before it was out time to go on.
We decided to check out the opening act and meet some of the locals. They were all lovely folk and already the offers were spewing forth to come back to so-and-so's place after for this, that or the other. Needless to say, we were already a bit too tired for "this"; mark and I steer clear of "that" and "the other" is almost always strictly out of the question.
So we get onstage and the crowd appears out of nowhere for our dancey intro, Hercules Force. They get into it and special kudos goes to the poncho-wearing Mike for his consistently furious dancing and the mid-song accolades he afforded us. (He also later invited us back to his place for a spell of "the other", but like I said, we really can't do that, especially as the tour has only just begun and we have a whole month to make such mistakes.)
So we play the set we planned and by the time we've finished, the crowd seems well and truly primed for AVS. I think it was Mark who said it best when he described us as the crowd's "fluffer"; gearing things up for the hot dance sex that would ultimately occur between AVS and Launceston, just 20 minutes later. Needless to say, they went off, and the singles "Flippers" and "Parlez Vouz Francais?" caused the whole building to fit spasmodically, most notably the latter of the two. i've got to say my personal highlight of the whole night was their impromptu cover of DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's "Shake the Room"... it was revelatory. These Art Vs Science boys are talented boys indeed... wise beyond their years.
As etiquette dictates, the goings on after a gig are best left undescribed; and I assure you that if i continue with this blog, anything absolutely amazing will be recounted in due course; but the rest will just have to be left to your imagination... the only useful information I can proffer is that opposite the Hotel New York is an all night Indian Take Away that I would insist everyone in Launceston should eat at religiously. The butter chicken was the very picture of perfection and were I still in Launcestion I would just forget about the naan, the rice, and the rogan josh and simply buy a tub full of that lovely sweet buttery goodness and devour it anon.
------
So we are awoken by our manager around 10am and start gearing up for the drive down to Hobart. Locked and loaded we make our way but split up from AVS' van upon the discovery of Campbell Town and the immensely large log that was awarded to the town in recognition of its Foresting during the 1800s. The gift itself seems absurdly redundant; "Hey, Campbell Town, we hear you've been logging. Great work. Keep it up. In recognition of that, here's a log. Enjoy"... anyway I took particular fascination with this dead carcass of a thing if no one else did. Eventually I was dragged away from it and we continued heading to Hobart.
We arrived just as AVS was starting their soundcheck; we hung about in the Republic Cafe/Bar and geared up for our own soundcheck... the soundie was a peaceful old soul, Neil, who pottered about at his own pace but could definitely make the room sing. Anyway the guys all left the bar to go to the accommodation, whilst I stayed behind watching the gear and japanese cartoons simultaneously. (NB if anyone reading this was involved in the creation of Naruto Shippuuden eps 119-120 then you have earnt my absolute respect. I cried like a baby at the end of 120).
Back to the gig, it was obvious that this venue had sold out well and truly by the sheer number of lads and ladies trumpeting through the place whilst the opening act did his thing. By the time we got on stage, the front of the crowd was squeezed so hard up against the stage they kept falling forward and knocking the monitors over. One ever-enthusiastic little filly even raised her arms so quickly and energetically above her head, that her breasts popped out the top of her strapless dress and out for all and sundry to notice... to mark's extreme displeasure, his attention was focused elsewhere at this time but I must admit the view did impair my concentration for a few moments and almost made up for the same girl accidentally disconnecting the power supply to my keyboard during the next song.
We finished up with this responsive and irrefutably awesome crowd and careened off stage just waiting to see how Art Versus Science would fare with this kind of energy. Needless to say, they rocked it. Several people were escorted out of Hobart's Republic Bar that night, for what seemed generally to be a case of enjoying the festivities a little too vigorously. We finished the night off by hanging out with the bar staff (including the charmingly charitable "Frenchie") after the bar staff had left, and making our way back to the accommodation for a reluctant drive back to Launceston airport the next day.
In hindsight we should have brought cameras to help convince you that what happened above was not a lie. Unfortunately none of us did so, but here are a couple of shots of myself getting acquainted with the rather imposing log in Campbell Town. Enjoy.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Groovin the moo, townville!
Wow. Too much tequila and I've suddenly decided you all deserve a tour Blog, so here is. We're side stage at the hilltop hoods set at groovin the moo in townsville. It's the first time they've done their new stuff and to be honest It's pretty tight. Should go off. Anyway there's an afterparty to get to so i better wrap this up. Stay tuned for photos from the event! Hope this Blog thing works out. Cheers, antonio from h.i.n.y.
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