Monday Zero

I saw Nine Inch Nails last Monday night, at the Metro. I was pretty happy that the gig even happened... there were cancellations of some of the Sydney gigs, and Trent Reznor walked off stage at the first Melbourne show.

But, despite all that, the gig went ahead. And oh, what a gig it was. Probably the best NIN gig I've been to (I've seen them at Big Day Out and Rod Laver Arena)... the sound was fantastic, it was a smaller venue, dramatic smoke and lighting effects, the band played really well and Trent seemed to be re-invigorated, after what sounded like a bad few days. A real mix of a set list, from across pretty much every album and EP, from Pretty Hate Machine and Broken through to the new album, Year Zero. NIN even played Into the Void, Only and Dead Souls, which would have probably been three of the tracks I was really hoping for. And it was a solid, non-stop 100 minute set, with the only lull in the middle where one or two instrumental and slower tracks brought down the momentum of the rest of the set. But, hey, it was still an awesome show.

However, it took me so long to write up this mini-review because, quite frankly, if I hadn't waited a while, this would have just been an ugly rant and rave post. And I'm not going to waste my time doing that. Suffice to say, Melbourne crowds, just like Melbourne drivers and Melbourne pedestrians, are rapidly becoming some of the rudest, discourteous, impatient and arrogant people around anywhere. So... to the three people we counted all night who actually bothered to say "excuse me" as they pushed past/through us, thank you, you are in an every-shrinking minority. To everyone else who pushed/shoved/elbowed/shouldered/stumbled/staggered straight into us, go away now please.

(And no, this was not in the mosh pit, this was up the back, away from the jumping around... where the civilised folk should be).

Rock the blog

Where is my mind?

Well, to be accurate, my mind probably keeps drifting back to the Pixies gig last night at the Music Bowl.

Fanboy time... they were pretty awesome, probably one of the few remaining acts in my catalogue of favourite bands that I hadn't yet had the chance to see live. They played an efficient set, song after song churned out.

Loud, soft, loud. But that's how they are.

Definitely a few goosebump moments, hearing a few particular tracks (Debaser, Monkey Gone to Heaven...) and seeing the reaction of the crowd to each song. We had great seats (yep, seats at the bowl - thank you Ticketmaster pre-sales) slightly to the right and two rows back into the second block of sets... better than the front sets, because we didn't have anyone in front of us; a nice, uninterrupted view for all of us, tall and short.

Wasn't sure how they would sound... Frank Black (is that his name these days, I can't keep up?) "talked" the first few lines of Bone Machine as the gig started, so I was worried how the rest of the set would sound - but no problems there, especially some of his screams. Was Kim "as cool as Kim Deal"? Yeah, although she didn't have much vocabulary beyond "thanks". But what definitely got me worried was when one of several inflatable beach balls got up and stage and Monkey Gone to Heaven got stopped because "the Pixies draw the line at beach balls". Fair enough too. I was seriously stressed that they would just walk off... but instead they had a conversation about how to restart the show, and then really loosened up.

Can I just say though, best of the V Festival... cheapo "festival" of the year. Minimal food choice, a single ridiculous bar area without much of a view (sardine tin, really - lucky I didn't bother going in)... a bunch of friends having a picnic in the park could almost do better. I suspect many punters were turned off by the price, despite having the Pixies on the line-up... it certainly didn't seem full at the bowl. They would have still made a mint though over the two nights. The two things that summed up the non-music aspects of the festival...
i. a guy who walked in ahead of me and I heard say "oh, I thought it was sponsored by Channel V", and
ii. the afore-mentioned beach balls messing up the Pixies... officially sponsored beach balls, complete with corporate logos of the festival sponsors.
Seriously, you idiots...

We're in this together

Last week I was sad. This week I'm happier. Why? Because, this band...



...is not only releasing a new album, Year Zero, in April, but they are also touring Melbourne in May.

I will DEFINITELY be in town for this.

Swings and roundabouts...

Bringing sexy back

This makes me want to cry.

Eagles of Death Metal, live on March 16th @ The Palace.



They're bringing the sexy, and I won't be there.

Damn Noosa for the allure of holiday goodness. Once again, the universe is out to get me; can't have fun without a trade-off.