First off - thanks to everyone who came out to see me play on my 5 Aussie 08 dates - I had a great time, and the reception at each party was awesome.
Sydney was excellent, but getting there was NOT. I was pretty bagged when I got in...I learned my less
on - for the final time - and thats to just pay the extra coin and fly direct. I flew Van to LAX, which was a pretty short hop, but LAX takes a year off my life every time I'm there. The Wolfgang Puck's is the only place that serves edible food but it looks like a kaleidoscope vomited on the walls and it gives me a headache. Burger King there actually serves something they call "Fresh Apple Fries" which look like "Freedom Fries" (french fries for those uneducated the national penchant for dumping on the French) and comes with a "Low Fat Caramel Dipping Sauce." It really made me uneasy so I ended up just killing time looking for an open wireless network and marvelling at the array of animal jerky.
I did a stopoff in Auckland as well, which was (happily) quite uneventful. Its the 4th time I've been to New Zealand but I've only ever seen the airport - quite depressing really. Getting in at 10 AM was, as always a shock to the system but I stayed at a wicked hotel called "The Establishment" and I managed to unwind before the night which was great.
After popping by a univeristy to do a quick guest interview on ffrew's radio show, Simon from Title fight headed down to the club, and it was bpouring. Laundry was a little quieter than I'm used to but the bucketing rain didn't help things at all....the club is usually rammed and a total sweat pit which is obviously lovely but that wasn't the case that friday. The mixed blessing about nights like this is that they usually turn into hardcore gong shows and that friday was no exception. I got introduced to the pleaseures of Agua, a coca leaf liquor that became a a regular feature of my nights out...kind of sweet, easy to drink, hell in the morning.
The impossibles played a great set that night. They're some of laundrys go-to guys when it comes to opening DJs and they really do a great job - mashups and boots galore and a huge range of sounds. To me, their sets sort of feel like what I'd be playing now if I'd stayed doing just big beat stuff, and thats a total complliment from my point of view as I love that shit, but just rarley find it workable in my sets anymore.
After a bit of rest I managed to get up and out in the morning for a breakfast of sushi and kimchi, and then hopped on a Jetstar flight to Melbourne. To Australia's credit, their budget airlines really are budget airlines. They dont mince words - unlike most airlines I've flown on, you pay for everything including soda, tv, etc etc....the next logical step would be to make the seatbelts ptional rentals. Was not comfy.
My good friend Sal grabbed me up from Avalon in Melbourne and we went out with her partner Warren and friend Lauren to a backpackers club where Sal (dj name lil stormer) and Warren (dj name brain - together brainstorm) play sets of rock and party music to the globetrotting crowd. Was a really good time! Lots of Ac'dc etc., and some Swedish oz-rules football team who were endlessly entertaining as the night went on.....the capped off the evening by repeatedly doing flying tackles against a couch in the backroom.
Oz is full of funny signs and this one was excellent:
Basically it states that theres a 6000 dollar fine for serving alcohol to a drunk person, and its illegal to have drunk or quarrelsome people on the premesis.
Please bear in mind this is a bar.
VERY odd.
That said, I saw a sign in Sydney stating "No smoking, penalty 20 dollars," so who am I to comment on the relevance or real-life applicability of aussie by-laws...clearly they have theirown system and it works for them, though I can't really picture people being breathalized on the way INTO a pub.
I got to hit two radio shows while I was in town, doing Nick Thayers show on the Tuesday if I remember correctly and Kiss Fm's The Drive on the thurs.
I played 2 shows in Melbourne and managed to get somewhat blotto at each one, which was excellent! Alia is a great little club with wonderful staff, and an uncomfortably small booth that does give you the distinct advantage of being almost a part of the crowd. I love places like that!
Got to meet a few breakbeat messageboard regulars including llupa, who was fairly easy to identify out of a crowd thanks to the dreads. One of the most satisfying sets I've had in ages......followed up the following night by a boat party!
Boat parties are always ace but this one was really really good....lots of great sets, people dressed up and moshing out, jellyfish and the reflection of the moon in the water, floating bits from the toilet going by.....well, ok, maybe thats not a selling point, but the tunes were awesome.
The last time I played on a boat was in Paris at a place called Batofar, which was a little more stationary than this. We didnt get out too far and were booted onshore at about 11 when it was time to head off to one of the most surreal "afterparties" I've ever been to. If the boat got a big thumbs up, the afterparty at a place called LaDeDa got a bit of a thumbs down. Would have been a good time except for the fact that it was like shoehorning one party into another. The average age of the crowd on the boat was about 27 or so I'd have guessed, and when the party moved into the club (average age probably 19) I think a good chunk of the crew felt a little zonked, or at least underdressed, and so it was time to migrate to a house party, which was a very satisfying change.
Sal and Warren's place was actually the inspiration for the album title "3 Years Of Sunrise" (my new full length
peoject) as it's been 3 years or so that I've seen dawn come up over the lemon
trees in their backyard. They have a great pad - the perfect party house layout, and lots of surreal plastic animal heads on the walls etc.,
and it was a great nightcap (dawncap?) to be able to sit out back and listen to about 6+ hours of post club verbal diarrhea, which I certainly added to.
Dinner with my friends Howard and Sophie is another regular event in Melbourne for me, and although I'd really liked their previous house, their new one is brilliant, and includes a great outdoor aviary for their rather playful parrots. I got groomed. I also managed to get an early night of rest, mostly as a result of my teaching Howard the joys of mojitos, in a far, far too enthusiastic manner.
My Melbourne stay was capped off with a great night out of sushi and beef sashimi....
I always love Melbourne and can't wait to get back there.
Perth is a long haul in Oz, and this was certainly the most grueling Perth trip I've had....I arrived in at about 4 pm and flew out at 8 am to Brisbane the next day. Perth show was a great catch up. I got to stay with Karl Sav who has come a LONG was as a producer in a pretty short while, and got to see my old friends Gaz, Lucy and Ian, and Mali, Jez and the rest of the 1am crew put on a great show with lots of champagne and mosh-pit action.
I was pretty zonked in Brisbane but the Moon Bar @ Empire was the best I've ever seen it. I thought I was sort of cursed in Brisbane - every time I'd played there before it was rather lackluster but this time was WAY different. Sang from Adicts hosted Rob Reng and I that night, and did a great job.
The place was packed and Reng's mix of Polka and Circuit House really worked the crowd into a frenzy. I was looking through my iphone the next day and found a note to myself saying "i stood in a pile of vomit." This is always the sign of a good night.
In all seriousness, this was a perfect cap to the tour - a REALLY great vibe, and one hell of a fun crowd to play for. I love nights where you start off wondering if you're going to make it through alive, and by the time you're playing the only thought on your mind is how much fun its going to be to rock the crowd.
As I mentioned before - a perfect cap to my set, and it left me so happy that I went off and tried to trash Ryan from Bitrok's apartment. I failed.
Thats about it really!
A great tour - one of my fave times I've ever had in Oz, and a horrible trip back (another 26 hours with layovers). I sat beside a kid who played with the light the whole way back, and the man across the aisle had really serious BO - though it could have been the odor of club grime from me reflecting off him.
Thanks to everyone who hosted me and came out to see me - I had a wonderful time and I'll see ya next year!
