the long and winding

You know what really GRINDS MY GEARS? Lines. You can't even go and get a Sunday morning breakfast without being subjected to a bloody line up.  I once stood in line to get into Fabric Nightclub in London for 5 hours. That’s 4.5 hours longer then I should admit to and the worst bit is I didn’t get in. It still haunts me.

Last night something strange happened. A mate and I reluctantly made the decision to commit to a line that was probably going to take at least 45 minutes. Standing in a laneway amongst the dumpling houses, slowwwly shuffling a little closer to the action. The action being Section 8 and Ferdydurke, who threw a Laneway Safari party as part of Melbourne Music Week. We had the best view looking up to the balcony where the bands serenaded the sardines/people below. The place was about to pop it was so full. We had space, tunes, a bag of cheeky beers, and new besties either side of us to chat to. We were lining for over an hour but we didn't care. Good vibes. Line crew represent!

Another quality iPhone photo. Purple people playing tunes

everything's happy underground!

I went along to the label I Oh You's 4th Birthday Party which was a part of Melbourne Music Week on Saturday night.  They transformed the time warp that is Flagstaff Station into one giant d-floor with a heap bands playing through the night in half hour increments.  So they packed a bloody lot in!

The sold out event saw 700 people head down the escalators, through the Myki gates and into more fun than the station has probably ever seen.  

City Calm Down warmed the crowd up but it was Northeast Party House that really took it to the next level. Zachary Hamilton-Reeves was the ultimate front guy, jumping around and giving off loads of energy, highlight for me being their song 'Youth Allowance' which is getting a fair bit of airplay on Triple J right now.  Yacht Club DJs did what they do best, bring the crazy. At one point I think there were almost more people on the stage then off!

Flagstaff looked great - the walls were covered in silver streamers that would take flight every time a train passed through. It was a fun contrast to be in a place that usually when passing through it is a mundane and unmemorable part of your day. Bravo guys!

i’m kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air...so there

The voice, the hair, the age! Oh Lorde. The super-sixteen Kiwi made her first of two Corner appearances last night- 21 October.

The instant sell out of the shows and the fact that the tickets were sold slightly before she exploded was a reflection of the crowd. Everyone was  digging it, but seemed more curious to see what she was about. The crowd obviously had their finger on the pulse (or the mouse) to snap up the tickets but I doubt the majority were die hard fans.  There wasn't a lot of dancing to which Lorde seemed pretty uneasy about. “Come on Melbourne, stop being so well mannered. Dance!” It’s cool Girl, we’re enjoying it! Didn't you write the lyrics “I’m kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air...so there”? Anyway, I think she punished us by not coming out for an encore – Love Club and Team notably absent from her hour set.  

The backing tracks and her own backing vocals on loop left an element out of a great live show, Lorde needed more than a drummer and a guy operating a Mac behind her. It left her to work with the crowd yet she seemed very insular and we found it hard to rebound off that.  Something that will no doubt develop over time. She’s got bigger stages to fill after all! Oliver Tank’s support role seemed to have the same gap – get that man a band behind him for his live show!

Take nothing away from her talent, she is impressive and the real deal. My mind kept wandering off trying to work out what the hell I was doing when I was sixteen. Pretty sure my biggest achievements involved winning netball tournaments...I’ll tell you about that rolling high life another time. What a surreal and exciting life she is working her way into right now- a few weeks back she jetted off to perform Royals on Jimmy Kimmel, the same night Kanye performed.

I wish I photographed all the phones in the air when Royals came on, everyone was keen to get that on hashtag immediately. It would have been like an infinity mirror. Like I've said before, if a gig played out without getting footage on your iPhone, did it actually happen? Deep.

i know it's only rock and roll but i like it

Glastonbury isn't just your average music festival. *takes deep breath* The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts is a makeshift city one weekend a year. 180 000 people populate Mr Eavis' dairy farm in Somerset for 5 days of an alternate planet of FUN. You could (of course you wouldn't) spend your days exploring the fields and not see a single band.  I would go to this festival every year if I could; minor setback is it is the other side of the world. Maybe every 3 years or so will have to do. 

The festival is just bursting with atmosphere, everyone is your best mate. The long weekend is made up of random encounters of a wide range of people, most who end the meet with wishing you a 'happy festival'. 

Photo credit BBC Pictures

Friday the sun was out but gumboots were on from yesterday's rain. Jake Bugg was my first act to see and this 19 year old blew me away. Clearly influenced by one Bob Dylan, he earned his spot on the main Pyramid Stage and sounds more amazing live then any album can capture. Had a great dance to The Milk who my English mates were all excited to introduce to me.  Alt-J were awesome to see and played to a packed crowd.  Triangle hands in the air y'all! Chic and Nile Rodgers was one big party and at the end of the set the crowd sang to Rodgers 'Get Lucky' as he stood there looking a little dumbfounded and humbled. Pretty special!  We then raced over to Arcadia (check youtube clip in previous post) to get a good spot to see drum'n'bass Godfather, Andy C.  Was quite amusing to see all the English go into the zombie-like drum'n'bass two step that they all do. I got the hang of it in no time!

Arcadia photo credit www.thegaurdian.com

Saturday was a day full of pretty massive possibilities. Firstly today was the day I was going to see the Stones. That was a definite. The Sugarman himself Rodriguez was also on my wishlist, but he was playing just before The Stones on the far away Park Stage...therefor marked as a 'hopeful maybe'. Daft Punk were a strong rumour in which every whisper had it on solid source that they were playing Arcadia after Fat Boy Slim tonight. OK Sarah, breathe. Another surreal possibility was our crew were going to be introduced to fellow Campervaners who just so happened to be some members of the cast of Game of Thrones. The potential of this day is almost too much to handle! If all of these things happened I would be literally peaking at life and it would be all downhill from here.  So maybe it was lucky that only The Stones and Rodriguez happened of these prospects...must.keep.telling.myself. ANYWAYS back to real things and real events.  Alabama Shakes were the perfect way to spend the afternoon. Sun was shining and cider was in hand.  Rodriguez was exciting to see, and he sang all the greats I Wonder, Sugarman, Crucify Your Mind. Unfortunately he fell short of expectations but was still a buzz to see him. We then 'legged it' to the Pyramid Stage to dive in and try and get a good spot for Sir Jagger. We managed to see half of Primal Scream as a result, and Bobby Gillespie seemed all too aware the majority of the crowd were waiting for the following act. See my previous entry/love letter on The Rolling Stones for a round up of their set.  

Funday is the final day and I couldn't believe how fast the weekend went. The sinking feeling was setting in that the festival was nearly over, mixed with delight that I will soon be reunited with a shower. Sunday was great - darting from stage to stage to see a bit of everyone. VampireWeekend-Editors-JamesBlake-TylertheCreature&EarlSweatshirt-MumafordandSons-TheXx-LaidBlack. Vampire Weekend were great fun dancing in the sunshine, while watching James Blake in the John Peel tent was mesmerizing as the bass somehow washed over you. The Xx put on an amazing light show and were a lot more captivating out on The Other stage in their main time slot, then when I had seen them 3 years earlier in the John Peel tent. The night and festival finished off with some good ol' Reggae in the Healing Fields. 

So there you have it, the quickie version of something that I could bang on about for days. Glasto has played out, seemingly in fast forward, for another year and I have a few more years of saving to get there again. But it will happen! All hail the best festival in the world.

waiting for my glastonbury girl

The Rolling Stones would have to be the best band I have ever seen. The whole set is a happy blur. They played for over 2 hours, including a rendition of 'Factory Girl' specially tailored to the festival- 'Glastonbury Girl'. 

The set list was nothing short of mind blowing. 'Sympathy For The Devil' came on and a giant metal Phoenix spread its wings from the top of the Pyramid stage, and started blowing out fire. Looking around the crowd, big red flares gave the flags and air a red glow only adding to the song. Fireworks would follow. A choir then bellowing out 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' and we all knew that this was a real moment. Red confetti filled the sky as everyone screamed 'cos I try...and I try...and i try...and I try....I CAN'T GET NO!'

Set list:
Jumpin’ Jack Flash

It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It)

Paint It Black

Gimme Shelter

Glastonbury Girl

Wild Horses

Doom And Gloom

Can’t You Hear Me Knocking (with Mick Taylor)

Honky Tonk Women

You Got The Silver (with Keith Richards on lead vocals)

Happy (with Keith Richards on lead vocals)

Miss You

Midnight Rambler (with Mick Taylor)

2000 Light Years From Home

Sympathy For The Devil

Start Me Up

Tumbling Dice

Brown Sugar

ENCORE

You Can’t Always Get What You Want (with the Voce Choir and members of the London Youth Choir)

(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (with Mick Taylor)

up all night to this song

Mum, I'm an internet hit! 1.37 is my microsecond of fame. We managed to get right amongst it at Arcadia being just next to one of the legs of the structure, waiting waiting waiting for the Daft Punk rumour to be true. At least the fireballs kept me toasty! This clip is one of the hundreds of reasons that Glastonbury is the best festival in the world.

start me up

Excuse me while I gather my Glastonbury thoughts. Stories from the Motherland to come; in the mean time let me tease you with some moments.

such sweet nothing

This morning's like a version was absolutely cracking! Something for Kate cover Calvin Harris (feat Florence Welch), Sweet Nothing.

 

'cause I try and I try and I try and I try

And I get satisfaction! After hours upon hours of clicking refresh and getting virtually kicked out of holding pages and payments pages...I had a rather huge victory last night. I GOT A TICKET TO GLASTONBURY! Just when I was giving up hope. I'm pretty sure I am the happiest girl in Australia today!

http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/line-up-poster/

to say the least i'm into you

Chet Faker and Flume at Festival Hall emphasised the fact that I am getting older. All ages gig with lots of little party people blowing their tops and frying their brains to man of the moment Flume. My heart stayed with Chet though...Cigarettes and Chocolate was my favourite tune to put on this summer. The beard has got talent yo!

you can't start a fire without a spark

The weekend was quite an anticipated one, with a slight stalker vibe on my behalf. Two nights in a row of seeing Vance Joy at the Northcote Social Club each being as good as the other.  A friend couldn’t make the Saturday session so I was more than happy to chaperone her the following night as well. The first of his sell out shows was perfectly scheduled for a Saturday night which never seems to happen, so I was excited at the prospect of not having to show up to work on the other side.

The crowd all seemed excited and proud to see him up there and I was really blown away by James Keogh’s ability to belt out the big notes! His dry-humoured banter keeping everyone giggling like school girls throughout. The guy has got presence and I got a crush #marrymevancejoy

I enjoyed it most when the full band was playing, lots of slow builds and powerful endings.  It was great to hear ‘From Afar’ such a raw song that turned my attention to him in the first place. ‘Playing with Fire’ was also a personal fav and he did a great cover of a Bruce Springsteen classic 'Dancing in the Dark'.  Finishing with ‘Riptide’ had everyone bopping and feeling good.

There seems to be a bit of momentum now, with Vance Joy supporting acts such as Julia Stone, Of Monsters and Men, Ben Howard and now Bernard Fanning. He has just been announced at Splendour too. Exciting times and completely deserved!

right here, right now

The Lumineers crept up on me. My lovely friend gave me a ticket for my birthday to this very sold out show at The Corner. The perfect present because at the time of sale I couldn't justify forking out the cash for the show. I don't know whether the fact the lead Wesley and the cellist Neyla reminded me of a couple of mates from my London days, but I could not keep my eyes off either of them! 

What I really liked about this gig is they took control of their own show and asked everyone to put their phones away, even stopping mid song to repeat themselves when some didn't abide. Maybe some people actually realised the music still plays when it is not being documented on their iPhones. Who would have thought!

They also dove deep into the audience for a song, again asking everyone to just enjoy being in the moment and to keep the phones away. They came right over to us with my friend holding a xylophone for Jeremiah.  Stelth swung off the top of the table behind us with the accordion. Great stuff!  They really made you feel a part of their show.

I hope that more bands ask the crowd to put away recording devices and just enjoy the show. It should just be common etiquette and hopefully it will start to go that way over the next year. We shall see!

And now for the most amazing video you will see today...