Well that was something, eh?
Drove up from Canberra with my wifey and parked closer to the city to avoid the nightmare of Newtown/Enmore parking. After a delicious shish kebab from Sultan's Table (if anyone saw a tall bald guy and his better half eating kebabs (oo er) out front of the Enmore while Contrive played, that was me), we headed in and had a bit of a listen to the second half of Contrive's set... really not my thing, to be blunt. And very loud indeed - louder than Dev and co. and unnecessarily so in my opinion. Good luck to 'em anyway.
So we headed out back to get some merch. Had my cash in my hand only to find that there were only medium and small t-shirts left! ARGH! A couple of things to say about that: 1. It's awesome that the merch sold so well, and 2. From the looks on the faces of dozens of fellow larger folk around the merch table, there was a missed opportunity to makes some extra bucks there. I'm not sure what the situation is, but I know I'll put my hands up if some extra tour tees are printed or otherwise made available for sale online. My Ro-designed 2000 tour tee needs a companion before it disintegrates completely!
Headed back in and got a spot about midway, centre. Not too jostled for position at all, apart from one very drunk guy who I "accidentally" nudged a few inches to my right, and some big dude who seemed to want to hug me for some reason, despite there being enough room for everyone. The mood of the crowd was pretty festive and it was great to see so many Dev t-shirts, particularly all those Ziltoids! The pre-show music was amusing, and it was good to see at least SOME people got the joke. Metalheads dancing to Barbie Girl never fails to entertain.
So the boys come out and basically played a very up-tempo, loud and brash show, which was very entertaining indeed. Hearing quite a few Ziltoid tracks was an experience - it all came across very, very well live - fast, loud and funny. The Greys was just beautiful, and a real show highlight for me. Namaste was intense, just as I remember it from a decade ago. Earth Day was a treat and got the crowd involved and Devin's banter was of his usual high standard - a cut above the vast majority of musicians. Other than The Greys, personal highlights were the likes of Life, Om and Seventh Wave representing the "older" stuff so well. And if I take away one memory in terms of individual songs, it will be Ki. Won't spoil it for others, but the way Dev went about it was superb - intense and personal and had the crowd transfixed. Apart from some bovine entity behind me who thought her moronic conversation was more important. But I digress.
Ki is such a beautiful song - it may have just been me, but it gave me a sense of "listen up guys, because this is where I want to take things in the future". I hope to see a full show of more reflective, personal stuff on the next tour. It may just be where my sensibilities are heading as I get older, but the likes of Ghost, Ki and the acoustic show concepts suggest that's where Dev's muse may be pointing him too. If so, hurrah I say. Oh, and Bend It Like Bender? Not a huge fan of the album version, but loved it live and it works as a closer - gotta love leaving with a smile on your face!
I also have to make mention of Ryan's drumming. Ryan, you rule. Your drumming on this tour deserves its own thread, so that's just what we should do!
We got home at 5am after an arse of a drive home, with a ringing in our ears and smiles on our faces - thanks Devin! Thanks boys!
Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 12:35 pm
