Kelly's World

Full of whinging, bitching, and nonsense

Browsing Posts tagged Music

On Tuesday night I had the pleasure of going and seeing Green Day play at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre. Growing up, I had a list of 3 bands that I had always wanted to see perform. Nirvana (obviously not going to happen), Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and Green Day. Getting tickets to see Green Day crossed one band off that list, and fulfilled my dream. I brought Mat with me, purely because he has only ever been to one concert before and I thought he might enjoy another one. On the way to the concert, it became apparent that I’d underestimated his knowledge of the band when he confessed to only knowing one of their songs. He was then subjected to a 15min barrage of karaoke in order to jog his memory (I’d managed to screw up my ipod and was missing 90% of their albums from it). Thankfully, he managed to recognise more of their songs, and became a bit more excited about seeing them.

I thought we would be running late since we only left the coast at 6pm and the concert started at 7.30. It takes about an hour to reach Brisbane, and normally on the way to the Entertainment Centre we would experience a 15 – 20min period of stoppage on the highway, caught in the midst of a traffic jam as everyone made their way to the concert. Amazingly, this wasn’t the case for Green Day, and we arrived at just after 7pm. We made our way inside, and settled down in the bar for some pre-show drinks. At 7.30 we took our seats.

With Mat, I know enough about him to know never to buy him general standing tickets. He hates being crowded, and being shoved by thousands of people is definitely not something he would desire. Seating is therefore perfect for him, and I was lucky enough to secure us amazing front row seats for Foo Fighters, the first (and until now, the only) concert he had ever been to. Thus he had high expectations for Green Day – front row seats just far back enough from the stage to be able to see everything. Originally I thought this was the case, but when we sat down to watch the support band, Jet, we discovered the stage was a LOT closer to our seats than we had anticipated. In fact, the stage was directly in front of us. To make it even worse, there were sound technicians on the side of the stage, blocking our view of the band. For Jet’s entire performance, I saw the lead singer maybe twice, when he jumped up, and when he walked out to the crowd a little bit. Needless to say, I was pretty devastated.

Can you see Jet? No, neither could we

Can you see Jet? No, neither could we

After they finished, we were approached by a member of the Brisbane Entertainment Centre staff. He said the stage had been set up a lot further forward than anticipated, and they apologised for our lack of a view. They offered to reposition us in the stadium to different seats to have a view, but unfortunately the only seats available were at the back of the stadium on the floor. We would still be able to see over everyone’s heads, and therefore see the performance, but we wouldn’t be as close as our current seats. In the end, Mat and I decided to take him up on the offer, purely because if we stayed where we were we wouldn’t see anything at all. We sat in the new seats, then waited for Green Day to take the stage.

The new seats were further away, but at least we could see what was going on

The new seats were further away, but at least we could see what was going on

When they eventually came out, they played their first song hard and with a lot of energy. They yelled the words Brisbane, and Australia a lot, each time getting a massive cheer from the crowd. Finally, in a down moment during the song, Billie Joe (lead singer) made his way to the side of the stage, pointed at the people sitting down in the stands, and yelled,

Stand the fuck up! This is a rock concert, not a fucking tea party! Get the fuck up!

That went down as one of my all time quotes for a concert. In that one simple statement he really set the tone for the night. I won’t go into details of songs; they played 2.5 hours worth of music. There’s just no way I could tell you each song they played and keep this blog post interesting. I can tell you they put 110% effort into every single thing they did. Every song they were dancing madly, and playing loudly. Billie Joe did a section where he performed covers of other songs, most notably, Highway to Hell by AC/DC. It felt almost unfair when he cut the song off early, and went into something else.

There were two standout items from that concert that I will take away with me forever. The special effects, and the audience partipation.

During the concert they had fireworks raining down on the stage. They had loud crackers that scared the shit out of us. They had cannons blasting out thousands and thousands of pieces of paper, each with the band’s name on it. They had flames firing up on each side of the drummer (I could feel the heat from the back of the room, I can’t imagine how he must’ve felt). Their background was city building stands which also transformed into background displays for their music. I’ve never seen flames and fireworks during a performance before, so this was pretty amazing for me.

The audience participation level was incredible. Past concerts I’ve seen a lead singer occasionally run into the crowd, but that was about it. Billie Joe really took it to new heights, and I can’t see any other band in the future ever surpassing it. He ran into the crowd and up into the stands, picked a kid from the crowd and brought him into the aisle. He then placed his guitar over the kids head (but still around his own shoulders, he was standing directly behind the kid) then proceeded to play the song using the kids hand to strum. After about 30 seconds or so, he took the guitar off again, hugged the kid then ran back to the stage. I believe that have been one of the best nights of that kid’s life – I know it would be for me if I was in his position.

But Billie Joe didn’t stop there. He also brought people up onto the stage. Two were just standing up singing along with him for a few seconds, but then “Welcome to Paradise” came on. After searching to see who knew the words, he got a woman on stage. He then handed her the mic, and invited her to sing the song while he just hung about in the background. Again, what an experience for that person. It would have definitely made her night. Her singing sucked, but she really worked the stage. She went and visited each of the band members, singing along with them for a bit, before getting flustered and forgetting part of a verse. She recovered, and finished that particular section. Billie Joe then thanked her, and looked for a guy this time. A man was brought up on stage, and same deal. He was handed the mic and left to his own devices. He rocked it HARD! He got the crowd jumping, and ran around the stage playing with the band members. At one point you could see Billie Joe laughing and cheering the guy on. At the end of the song, he took the mic back then made the guy stage dive at the end of the stage. Brilliant.

Even when Billie Joe wasn’t pulling people on stage, he wasn’t forgetting about the audience either. Between songs, they amped the crowd up by pointing to particular sections, asking them to yell. Or Billie Joe sung a tune, and made the audience replicate it. He really got us all involved, and didn’t let anyone sit down for the entire duration of the concert (if you tried, he would point at you and yell “get up” until you stood up). At the end of the night my legs were exhausted from dancing, and I knew I had to get up in 5 hours to catch a plane to Sydney, but I didn’t regret one minute of it.

It’s funny how at the end of each concert I’ve been to I always walk out thinking it was the best concert I’ve ever been to. But really, I can’t see anyone surpassing this (though my first big concert, Foo Fighters in 2005, will always hold a special place in my heart). Billie Joe was right. On Tuesday night, I went to a rock concert, and not a fucking tea party.

I expected today to be the hardest day of them all. I would be jogging home from work, and would also be visiting a friend who just got a brand new iphone 3gs. True enough, when I realised I would be jogging home without my iphone, I began stressing about a replacement music player. My 80gb ipod classic wasn’t ideal to go jogging with (at the risk of killing it), and there was no way I wanted to jog without music. Diving through my desk drawers I hoped there was a chance I still had the nokia handsfree kit (the nokia has the ability to play fm stations). I didn’t find the headset, but instead found a small 1gb Telstra Velocity mp3 player I had received while working at the UDIA Congress in Brisbane a few months earlier (thanks @JonoH). I almost wet myself with excitement when I realised I had music. That moment was the first time I’d truly felt the pressure of going without my iphone.

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Every year I make a list of things to accomplish during the year. It’s not resolutions as such, like the usual “eat healthy, lose weight, get a new job” blah blah. It’s a list of things that I’m going to challenge myself to try, to make sure that each year I feel like I’ve actually achieved something. Given that we’re now almost at the end of the 7th month of the year I’m well overdue in an update to my 2009 resolutions.

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RaveSafe

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When I was at Big Day Out this year I had the pleasure of running into my mate Stu. Noticing his fluro yellow vest and that he was holding a water sprayer, I was shocked to find out he worked as a volunteer at music festivals doing “crowd care”. Long story short, the next time I saw him I hit him up to get me a spot doing the same thing and he came through. I am now happy to say I am a member of the government sponsored “RaveSafe” crew.

SoundWave 2009 was my first event working with RaveSafe. Basically they volunteer their time to make sure that everyone at the festival stays safe and have a good time. They offer a range of services, from spraying the crowd with water to keep them cool to offering water and a place to lie down for those who have overdone it. Ravesafe can also help with basic things, like navigation around the festival, where to find a schedule, and even sunscreen.

Their efforts tend to be controlled towards those who have taken drugs or consumed alcohol. Although there’s a police presence at the festival to try and prevent people enter the festival with illegal substances, realistically you can guarantee there will be hundreds (if not thousands) of festival-goers that have taken/drunken something. The best part about ravesafe is they are totally trust worthy – if they help someone who they know has taken illegal substances, they’re not going to run to the cops, they won’t phone the parents, and they won’t release a press statement (slight exaggeration there of course). To put it simply, RaveSafe are there to try and avoid people leaving the festival in ambulances. It’s this trust factor that I believe is in RaveSafe’s favour – people are more willing to go to them to help because they know they won’t go to jail.

For example, it’s becoming increasingly common for sniffer dogs to present at the entrance lines to the festival. To avoid detection, people are taking numerous pills, or drinking excessive amounts of alcohol before they enter. Their line of thought is “take it all now, don’t get caught, rave on inside”. Unfortunately they don’t factor the risk of overdosing into their plans. The people I work with at ravesafe have assured me it’s not uncommon to get very serious cases first thing in the morning. In fact, I’ve heard one story of a girl at Summer Field Dayze who had almost an entire bottle of vodka before lining up. She passed out while waiting to get in.

After working at one event I’m amazed by just how tiring it truly is. Here was how my day at Soundwave panned out:

  • Arrived 1.5hrs before the gates open to set up the room – involves blowing up mattresses, laying sheets and pillows down, filling up water jugs with water, tables and chairs, setting up tables with sunscreen, schedules, ear plugs etc etc.
  • Walked around the event to locate water points (to fill up spray bottles during the day, and also direct people on where they can get drinks from)
  • Handed out our schedules for the day. We find out how many teams there are, and where we’ll be during the day. Basically we have teams split up with groups patrolling the stages with water sprayers. They’ll spray the crowd to cool them down, and look for any people in need of help. One group will be located at the RaveSafe HQ handing out free water. The bosses will always be in HQ looking after anyone in the chill out room so that way we know where to find them if we need them.
  • Had a team discussion where we ask questions, get reminded of what to do/what not to do, and signs to look for
  • Finally the gates opened, and people flooded in.
  • We patrolled the grounds (and danced to the music of course) until our first break just after lunch.
  • After a break, we take HQ duty for an hour.
  • Back to patrolling the grounds until our second break for dinner.
  • HQ duty, then patrolling. By now it’s dark so it’s not really necessary to take the water sprayers, but just generally keep a look out for people.
  • Finally the festival winds up, and everyone goes home. Except for RaveSafe.
  • Anyone left in the HQ that are drunk/drugged we try to find a way for them to go home.
  • Clean up – pack up everything in HQ (usually involves soiled sheets from people during the day), put it all back on the ute, and go home.

By the end of the day, we’ll have been at the music festival for 14 – 15 hours. We’ve been on our feet the most of the day, and while we make it look easy, it sure as hell isn’t. The day after we’re usually extremely exhausted with very fatigued bodies.

So why do I do it? Firstly, a selfish reason. I plan on joining the Queensland Police Service, and need to prove my contribution to society in the form of volunteer work. RaveSafe is voluntary, hence why it works for me.  Secondly, I get free entry to the events, and provided everyone is generally well behaved we get to enjoy the music too. Thirdly….mmm, read the second point again.

I know it’s wishful thinking that people might be well behaved, but hey…it might happen! At least at Soundwave I got the chance to sit on the grass and listen to Nine Inch Nails in the cool air, and at the end of a long hard day in the sun, that makes it all seem worthwhile. I’ll be sure to post about my experiences at the future festivals I go to – no doubt there will be some interesting stories to tell!

I started thinking tonight about how a lot of the Christmas songs we hear are about snow, having a white christmas, and sitting by the fire. It’s certainly not like that in Australia!! Here we’re used to sweating, having bbq’s, lots of swimming in the pool or the ocean, and sunburn.

Santa has a change of attire when visiting Australia

Santa has a change of attire when visiting Australia

Originally I twittered the question of whether there were any Aussie Christmas carols anyone knew of (two replies about Rolf Harris and his song “6 White Boomers” – itunes link), and after starting to do a little bit of research it was clear it would need a blog post. Hence I present to you, a comprehensive list of songs available in iTunes that’s truly representative of an Aussie Christmas! Even if some of them are slightly bogan’ish.

  1. 6 White Boomers – Rolf Harris
  2. Aussie Jingle Bells – Bucko & Champs (there’s actually tons of versions of this song on iTunes)
  3. 12 Days of Aussie Christmas – Bucko & Champs
  4. Album called Aussie Christmas with Bucko & Champs by Bucko & Champs
  5. A Very Merry Aussie Christmas – Ticklish Allsorts
  6. Australians let us Barbecue – Bucko & Champs (had to mention this one – to the tune of the anthem)
  7. Album called True Blue Aussie Christmas by Dimmer Twins

And that’s enough for me tonight! I must say, I was quite surprised…I actually didn’t think there would be that much but I was pleasantly surprised. Not that it converted into purchases or anything. I just can’t work out whether it means that there’s more “novelty” albums out there that I expected, or I’m just not up to par on the Christmas albums!

Bonus link – an app in the App Store for Australian Slang, appropriately named “Aussie (Australian) Slang

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