While I am not sure about the 'cats', Mr Schweitzer - I would have to disagree and replace this with a good bottle of the red stuff or chocolate, or both - I agree wholeheartedly with the former. To me anyway, music is as much a way of escapism as a good novel, and can get the emotions flowing better than the soppiest romcom. Music has been an ever present entity in my life, starting from the time I was born when, so I am told, I was played classical tunes to put me to sleep as a bub (which would explain my appreciation today of a good piano solo or string quartet playing Brandenburg concertos).
I grew up with the sounds of early Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, The Cure, Split Enz, The Bangles, INXS, Midnight Oil, Led Zeppelin, Crowded House, the list goes on; MTV (when Richard Wilde hosted), Young Talent Time, Molly Meldrum interviews, and history making music events. Here are my top picks so far:
Sound Relief 2009 - MCG
I was lucky enough to attend thanks to a few special helpers. This day was put together in less than a month to raise money for the Victoria bushfire appeal, with a concert being held simultaneously in Sydney also for the Victoria bushfire appeal and the Queensland floods. The event was extraordinary to say the least; the attendance was outstanding and even brought some of the world's best bands out of retirement to reform for the event.
We were treated to performances by Jet, KOL, Paul Kelly, Augie March, Jack Johnson, Crowded House (this one was special), Wolfmother, Paul Kelly, Split Enz, Hunters & Collectors, and Midnight Oil. The atmosphere was peaceful and pumped, the weather was terrible, but it was one of the most amazing musical experiences ever.
Crowded House Farewell to the World - Sydney 1996
I remember well the big fuss that was being made about this event, and it was well deserved. This was to be
the last emotional performance by my one of my FAVORITE bands, with theirwww.amazon.com
original lineup, outside the Sydney Opera House in front of what looked like the largest crowd ever to have gathered anywhere. At my house, not only was this watched on the TV from start to finish, it was taped on VHS which is still around to this day. Crowded House ended the night with 'Don't Dream It's Over', very fitting, and I don't think I saw one face on that TV screen that wasn't covered in tears. Crowded House have since reformed with a slightly tweaked lineup, their latest tour being last year. Something tells me they will be spoiling us (in a good way) with their music for a few more years yet.
Kylie X - Melbourne 2008
Ashamed to say my first Kylie show, getting tickets for any of her previous was near impossible. The Kylie X tour was music and theatrical masterpiece. The sets and costumes were amazing, and her voice is astounding for such a small person! She had every single person on their feet for the entire two hours and certainly put on a forever memorable show of her latest and greatest tracks, and those she may have wished we had forgotten about. Never!
www.kyliesplace.com
Robbie Williams Close Encounters Tour - Melbourne 2006
The crowd
went crazy when he took his place on a stool and started singing Take That's 'Back for Good' (a finger to the then recently reformed band mates maybe?), and I can't say I will forget the look on his face - he looked like he was genuinely enjoying the moment - and it was at that point I got the feeling we may not see him tour our fair land again....well, not for awhile anyway. The Darkness One Way Ticket Tour - Melbourne 2005
An indulgent evening of pure GLAM. The boys swung on stage in their catsuits and leather, and put on one of the most entertaining rock shows I had seen for a long time. They may be completely daggy in a glitzy/80's/theatrical way, but boy did they know how to rock! Lead Justin
Hawkins blew the crowd away with his ridiculously high pitched vocals, and even jumped into the crowd during the show and crowd surfed his way throughout the whole venue, giving us all a very British little wave and smile as he passed. A fantastic, good old fashioned rock show.rockpopsters.today.com
V Festival - Melbourne 2009
A total 'boutique' style festival this one, with only the best of the best asked along for the tour...The Killers, Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight, Howling Bells, The Kills, Elbow, Louis XIV, even 80's fit outs The Human League and Madness...who to see first! Stand out act would have had to have been Kaiser Chiefs, or maybe I'm just biased. Ricky Wilson really knows how to work the crowd, and we were even witness to his infamous pogo stage jump and scaffolding climbing antics.
www.vfestival.com.au
My only criticism, if that, was the fact Ricky continuously referred to the $140 ticket paying crowd as "f@&*ers" on more than one occasion..."sing louder you f@&*ers" and "I can't hear you f@&*ers"...but being a rock star, he can get away with that!
Madness were fantastic fun and sounded no different to what they did in their heyday, and it was great to see the mix of the crowd there watching them - those who clearly followed them since day one, to those who looked like they completely missed out on the 80's, but enjoyed the music all the same. A fun, energetic and lively show.
And yes, I did go to watch Vanilla Ice, but couldn't see the show on account of the ginormous crowd crammed in the shed which housed the small stage. Although we did get to hear 'that song'.
I have been to a few music festivals in my time, but this would have had to have been the most well organised one of them all, with a really decent crowd unlike those of some other festivals.
Rock on!
