The Great Escape
I’ve been to quite a few big outdoor musical events in the last couple of years, but none of them even came close to The Great Escape on Saturday. Newington Armory was a great venue (if a little cool in the evening, but there’s nothing like freezing your ass off to give you a good excuse to spend $70 on a bit of merchandising), and it was just crowded enough to have a critical mass of people, but not so crowded that you had to cue for 5 hours at every turn.
Highlights included….
No bacon served here
Absence of cops and sniffer dogs and the heavy hand of the state. As a result people drank less booze but smoked more dope and probably took more pills than they would at other events where invasive searches have become the standard. Did the world end? Not as far as I can tell. Did the whole event have a calm atmosphere completely unmarred by the pissed violent idiots you get at The Big Day Out these days? Well, yes. Were there lots of guys hugging each other saying “I’m not gay mate, but I love you!” after the Black Keys? Um, yes….
A Ride on the Sizzler
I baulked initially at the $5 price tag, but here’s a hint for those looking for value for money: be sure to ask The Carney Guy who is operating the ride before you get on, in a voice filled with trepidation, “How long does it go for?”, and you’ll get a good 10 minutes of being a human Spirograph.
The Bird
I can’t speak highly enough about these guys. If you haven’t seen The Bird, do not miss your next opportunity to catch drum and bass meets dub played on real live instruments.
The Black Keys
Did anything bad ever come out of Akron Ohio? I don’t think so. Strip the pretension away from The White Stripes and you’ll find The Black Keys. Down home and dirty, lo-fi and completely uncooked. These guys are great.
Sweet random guy who took our photo
Having taken my camera and stepped back so far that he was more or less standing in Parramatta Mall:
“Should I zoom in?”
Maxine: “Well, you could come a bit closer, that would have the same effect.”
Bernard Fanning
I didn’t actually see this because it happened on Sunday, and don’t get me wrong, I can’t bear Bernard Fanning and I think “that song” is limp limp limp, BUT….dedicating it to the poor bastards across the road in Silverwater is an OK gesture. Now, if he can just pour some of the cold hard readies he’s made from peddling his soft music to the Austalian public into funding methadone programs in prisons then the world might be a genuinely better place.
And while we’re on matters prison related, is it just me, or does the statistic from the story above of 97 out of 100 opiate addicted prisoners being reincarcerated within a year of their release tell us we’re doing something wrong?
