I was going to post this a bit earlier but Since I've seen both U2 & Pearl Jam in the space of a week, I'll do this all at once.

U2 played AAMI Stadium in the Kingdom last Thursday night to a crowd of 60,000 odd, which is the biggest concert turnout since Dire Straits played to 50,000+ way back in 1986 & as big as U2 are, I would have preferred a DS show. From that, you can deduce that I'm a casual fan of U2 (& a Mark Knopfler groupie!), so I have a few of their cd's & dvd's but I was still quite excited about joining in with the 6% of the city attending. I managed to get a good seat & knew that I wouldn't have a view up Bono's nose like those in the semi-ellipse, but having an elevated seat meant I was going to see a hell a lot more in my height challenged capacity. To those who complained that they couldn't see what colour pick The Edge was using, what did you expect in a stadium?!?



Was it a good show? Yeah, & quite spectacular from where I was, but the ability of a really good band was missing. Anyone who has seen the Vertigo Live from Chicago, has pretty much seen the show from AAMI Stadium, which is disappointing because it needing a spark & something completely unexpected to get the crowd going. We'll not mention the big finale with the song Kite, which ended up not floating away but either getting caught in the lighting rig or being captured by a fan (as reported).



If the show had ended after the first encore, which included amazing versions of Zoo Station & The Fly, everyone would have been happier than the rather flat second encore.

Crazy Huh!

Pearl Jam on the other hand played two shows at the Entertainment Centre, worked though 53 tunes of which only 6 songs were repeated during both gigs. Now that's nothing short of impressive!

I was around eleven rows from the stage in the middle with a crowd which bounced with their arms in the air for the duration. That's certainly not a criticism because I did the same & at the end I only have one true regret - I wish I could have scored a ticket for the first show! Thankfully, both shows will be available for download in a few days.



Ed has apparently been a bit ill during the Australian tour but I only found that out after reading it on a forum today. He sounded in top form & seemed to enjoy the show, as did the rest of the band. Mike McCready had a great night, playing a massive solo during Even Flow & throwing picks in every direction. Side note: I just saw one of Mike's picks on Ebay for $50. The seller says it's rare, but considering how many he threw last night, I would say they're quite plentiful!

A couple of t-shirts later & my current season of concerts is over until February next year when Eric Clapton rolls into town.

 

I'm going to bang on about Melbourne for a few more posts yet, basically because I have heaps of photos, so strap yourselves in!

We stayed directly on Flinders Street, directly opposite the railway station of the same name. Due to my various contacts, such a place made it easy to walk to the concert at Rod Laver Arena & is pretty central to both the city & the banks of the Yarra.

The following is a bit of artwork which I'm positive used to reside in front of the Melbourne Art Gallery along with another which I spotted in front of a restaurant later in the day. It certainly stands out more where it resides now.




























From this same point, looking up the river gives a great opportunity to see the two tallest buildings in Australia. The Rialto Towers on the right & Eureka Tower, the tallest residential apartment block in the world at 300 metres, on the left.



Looking right from virtually the same point gives you this cool view of the city. The square in the middle, yeah, I don't know why they put it there either!



While standing in this area, what sounds like someone dangling wind chimes inside your skull draws your attention to again turn right. A series of computer controlled bells are another artwork which can be programmed to play all types of compositions. What was being played while we were there seemed a bit too random, but they do provide a nice screen with the heralded Melbourne Cricket Ground in the background.



I'm thinking a few night shots & then Federation Square for the next couple of posts.

 

I've waited ten years to have a proper copy of Crowded House's last performance on the steps of the Sydney Opera House back in 1996. The 24th marks the anniversary, but I've been watching my copy since Saturday.

I have a cassette tape which has been worn through to the point that I had to copy it to preserve it's integrity. It was a recording taken from the simulcast off the radio.

I missed what was being shown on the telly that night but finally it doesn't matter anymore.

 

Billy Joel made a good excuse to visit Melbourne last weekend. Since he wasn't going to head over & play in the Kingdom, I had to travel.



Flying is something I've only done a couple of times before & considering I get travel sickness at the drop of a hat, being above the clouds has never affected me in the slightest. It is scary in some respects, because I always have that fear in the back of my mind that I'll get that sudden hot flush & tingling in my hands which will push me close to the edge. In mid-flight, you can't just ask the pilot to pull over so you can get some fresh air. So far, so good!



My sister has been banging away on piano for decades replicating the many tunes of Mr Joel, so I can't remember anything in the set that I wasn't singing along with. She flew in from Canberra burnt & sore from the smogless atmosphere of the political capital.









Okay, so those last three are from my mobile phone. I thought there would be more security on the door than there was. No checks at all! If only I'd known.

For a guy aged 57, Billy has all the energy of twelve year old playing kiss chasey! Amazing night & a great mix of old & older tunes (nothing new from BJ since "River of Dreams" back in 1993). The audience enjoyed every moment & although it seems to be quite passé, "Piano Man" is the only possible song which could close a Billy Joel show, with the help of 15,000 people in accompaniment of course.

We spent the rest of the weekend wandering, so there's more to come...

 

Consider this the second half of a project which was out of control for five years.

As a whole, my old blog documented a fair whack of what was going on in my existence, but not everything. So, ultimately it gave glimpses but not a full picture.

& pictures are exactly where this is headed.

If I can't shoot it, it won't end up here. Simple!

Sure, it can (by definition) cover only those events in which I'm holding an image replication device, but it will be a lot more fun to look at than copious amounts of text!

A new camera & a darn big archive on my computer may as well be put to good use.