Welcome Home

On Friday morning we got into town about 6:30 in the morning. We were lucky and got the emergency exit seat, so some room to stretch the leg. I noticed though there was more space in the first class area, they could have upgraded us to there, then we would have been really lucky!

An easy flight though, we had some storms as we left Bangkok, but we got flying and came into the airport on time. We are now going to spend a week in Sydney, staying with my Grandma, to keep things on "holiday mode". No point in going back to work immediately, I also saw on the weather yesterday, it was -5 in Canberra. That would be a bit too much of a shock to the system.

It was very cold when we arrived back in Sydney. Cold and freezing, holding nothing. We got the train, which is the biggest rip off in the world. Why pay $15 for the same train, that takes you to Campbelltown or wherever else. By the time we got in it was peak hour, so there's no space to sit down. What a deal.

It was nice to get back to Grandma's and get a good rest. It was my birthday on Friday so we caught up with some friends and got a mean steak at the Landsdowne. The next day we went to "Bastardfest" at the Sando in Newtown. We saw Ignite The Ibex, they were on first up. I put a link to a story I did about them in BMA last year.

They were good, with a pretty strong response for the 1pm timeslot. We went for a bit of a walk and caught up with our friends Viv and Bret. We will stay with them a while once we get back to Canberra. Hopefully by that time, the weather will have warmed up a bit.

We got some mexican for lunch, and had a dessert in a bookshop/cafe. By the time we got back to the Sando, Bane of Isildur were playing. They sounded alright. They were your typical warpaint wearing metal gurus.

My friend Paddy told me later on he had been sitting in the back room while these guys were getting their faces on, and old Kelly, the sometimes 4th guitar player of I Exist, sometimes Blunt Magazine guy, was playing some Grinspoon songs on the acouy. I said the best part would have been if while the blokes were putting their paint on they started singing along....since since, since since you went away, I hope you had a better day. Tried to call round the other day, instead I had a go kart. Go Kart.

I Exist were next up, playing on the smaller stage where we had seen Ignite The Ibex earlier on. I linked to an article I did with them in BMA a while ago too. They had a good showing as it's not so often they play at purely "metal" shows, even though they have a very metal sound. Although Extortion were also on the bill. This fest, Bastardfest was probably the closest thing in the last few years to the great Metal For The Brain events, which were always a real highlight of the year.

There was certainly a similar amount of sweaty long haired blokes, and I think the scent of all these packed like sardines into a room, was probably not good for my health. Remembering that I was in hospital just one week before, I was feeling not so great, so decided to give a miss to the rest of the evening. We had paid good money, but the main bands I wanted to see had already played, so why not just go home. Most of the other bands I had seen before anyhow.

So now we are here in Sydney. We have bought a weekly ticket, so we might as well stay around for a week. We had a nice walk today, through the gully behind Grandma's house, down to the Gore Creek reserve which eventually flows into the harbour. This was a good test for my ankle, and I think a success, so we would be able to do some more walks throughout the week.

A Death In The Family, The Nation Blue, Grand Fatal- The Sando

Went up to Sydney last night for a bit of a show. It's been a long time since I've been to the Sando, and it's sure changed. Come to think of it I've only been to one show there, Hard Luck, White Male Dumbinance and some others played there in 2007.

I got a car not too long ago, so I decided to fill it up and take a Canberra gang to Sydney. Haven't done the up/back drive before and I'm not so sure I'm that keen to do it again.

I picked up Dave from Woden at 4, then we went up to get Julian and Reuben at their leafy inner north family home, before picking up Jonathan in Bruce once he had finished at work. We got some snacks from the shop there in Bruce and Jonathan picked up at his work in Bruce. Didn't get lost in any of these places, made good time getting around to each one.

We picked up some snacks from the Bruce shops and Jonathan grabbed some ales for the blokes in the back, we were off. Actually went quite smoothly, didn't have any troubles with traffic and we were in Sydney in around 3 hours. Drove into Newtown and there was a park as soon as we came into King St. It was an easy park so I took it, meant there was a bit of a walk, but I wasn't planning on spending hours driving around for a park.

We went into the Sando paid our money but nothing was on yet, so we went up the road to Green Palace for dinner. It's an all veg restaurant, I think most options are vegan. I went there one time before, the food was cold and terrible but this time it was a lot better, had a green curry mixed with some black pepper ~beef~ and rice. It was good stuff, however we did walk past every kind of place under the sun to get there. Between the car and the Green Palace it was probably over a kilometre.

Back to the Sando and Grand Fatal were into their last song. I've never seen them before, but I quite liked their sound, probably because I only watched one song, it was just straight ahead rock. It seems this band has been around forever though, and never really gone anywhere.

It wasn't actually long until The Nation Blue were on, and they were in great form. I don't know a lot of their songs actually, but I really enjoyed the set. They were pretty wild with their equipment, a lot of play the guitar behind the back, headbutt the microphone, throw your guitar onto the ground and try and do a kickflip with it. You know, same as everyone else...

They were loud, there were plenty of singalongs from the crowd, it was a rocking set, I really liked it. I was also quite happy with my position, I was a bit toward the back, with a part of the wall to rest on, still with nothing much obscuring my view. I quite like the new setup of the Sando, a lot more opportunity to actually see the band for a start, and I also like the brick surface, gives it a kind of industrial feel. It also felt like a place where The Nation Blue should play.

They played a show at Tuggeranong skatepark with House vs Hurricane or someone. I didn't go, I just thought the environment would be horrible. From what I've heard I'm pretty sure I was right. I've only seen The Nation Blue once before, it was a long time ago with Thrice, Hot Water Music and Alkaline Trio. I don't think I really liked them actually, but my tastes have changed a bit since then.

It wasn't a long break and A Death In The Family were playing. I don't know a whole lot of their songs either, but I have seen them a bunch of times and enjoyed it each time. I'd been wanting to see them again for a while actually and have been listening to Small Town Stories quite a lot of late. They've released an EP since then, but i haven't heard anything of that.

Anyhow, they kicked things off but there weren't that many people in the room. A friend in Melbourne actually told me that he went to the show last week there and barely anyone was there to watch ADITF. I think they took people by surprise setting up so quickly and they all came into the room in the first couple of songs with a beer in hand.

Through the set, they were just really tight. The songs I knew, it was almost note for note with the recordings, the sound was loud and clear actually. They get some great sounds with their three pronged vocal attack. Eventually it was all over, another great set from a top Australian band, and they played this weird soundbite, which was quite incredible, it was all about the values of the word "fuck" and it's many different uses and how it should be used more often as it is so versatile.

Soon enough, we were on the road again. I headed up King St, Dave suggested going all the way to Cleveland St and then cutting back across, but this seemed like a long way around so I negotiated the backstreets of Newtown. They were incredibly narrow and generally filled with bins spread all around the road, I'm not sure how the garbageman does his run at all.

Eventually we popped out of these alleys and were not blocked by a no right turn sign, we were away. Heading out of Sydney we were accompanied by Break Even's The Bright Side and then Young at Heart.

A stop at Marulan provided only a closed Hungry Jacks and a horrible roadside place that was full of terrible children returning from a ski trip or something. We went onwards through this crazy thick fog. It really slowed down the speed of the trip, I could barely see anything.

We were coming into Canberra eventually, the fog was still thick, couldn't see much, WHACK, into a Kangaroo. Just a few k's from home, after driving 500 of them, and into a kangaroo. Someone told me the stats say that's where most accidents occur and it not such a surprising stat. I was feeling quite shaken up, but the car was still in reasonable shape and we were not hurt. Couldn't say the same for the Kangaroo, but it could have been a lot worse, one of us could have been hurt. In the end that roo would probably fall victim to one of these "kangaroo culls" that they have in Canberra.

I dropped everyone off, then I felt as if I could sleep forever once I got home. It was a great show but those final minutes real changed the talking points of the evening.