Less than 24 hours after Crowded House performed their magic at the Entertainment Centre, a little band from the UK called Muse did the same.

I can't begin to say just how much I've been waiting for these guys to play here & it sure was worth waiting for. The doors opened quite late & the sound-check could be heard from outside the venue. I assumed security would check everyone entering using metal detectors etc, like they did for Pearl Jam since all the railing etc had already been setup. Due to the delay with opening the doors, no one was checked, which is unfortunate, since I had left my camera in the car thinking I wouldn't get in with it! To compensate, here are some crappy mobile phone shots! Let me say, the lighting rig for Muse is nothing short of huge & it's used to full effect!



I bought my ticket after waiting for some decent seats to be released & after a couple of weeks of waiting for each allocation of seats to be made available, I gave up on finding the perfect spot & just bought what was left. Since I had row "A" in the balcony for Crowdies, I thought row "GG" for Muse in the same balcony would be a rather crap seat. It turns out row GG is the very first row of the balcony in the VIP allotment! From what I heard, the concert was a sell-out, but from the number of empty seats it certainly wasn't. Someone's got something to answer for in this city as this isn't the first time it's been hard to get tickets & rows of seats end up with no one in them. Hmmm.



Muse play with an amazing intensity & thankfully someone managed to bootleg the show in it's entirety from the audience. A recording is the next best thing & it's been playing on my computer since.

Time for a set list;

Take a bow
Map Of The Problematic
New Born
Butterflies and Hurricanes
(Map Of Your Head mini teaser!!)
Supermassive Black Hole
Citizen Erased
Ruled by secrecy
Feeling Good
Sunburn
Hysteria
Fury
Starlight
The Groove (instrumental)
Time Is Running Out
Stockholm Syndrome
Dead Star/Hyper Music mashup
Plug in Baby
Knights Of Cydonia

The endings to quite a few songs led to jams of other songs. The intro before "Supermassive Black Hole" was a teaser of "Map Of Your Head". The "Dead Star/Hyper Music" actually ended the main set before the encore & the intro to "Knights Of Cydonia" was the little signature tune from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.



Chris head-banged his way through the show & Matt navigated the many cool effects built into his Manson guitars. All the while Dom pounded his clear drum kit in his awesome left-handed manner.

My conclusion to the show... Yes, it was everything I expected & more, but I think I need to see these lads from Britain again & again to get the full amount of what happened on stage into my head. Looks like I'll just have to wait until the new year when the DVD from their Wembley shows is released.

 

I read someone else's blog regarding the Adelaide Crowded House concert & understand the confusion. What's with the greyhounds!?!

Okay, at the start of the first encore, a bunch of greyhounds run across the stage & other the Neil & Nick mentioning greyhounds as pets, it's a rather obscure moment. If I hadn't gone to the sound check I'd be wondering the same thing.

Greyhounds as Pets (GAP), is an organisation which encourages people to consider retired racing greyhounds as pets. Apparently, they are quite affectionate & calm dogs who get along with everyone & are not high strung like most people think.

Yes, it didn't really come across during the show, but that's the explanation.

 

I've taken this whole week off because I've got too much going on & don't really feel like suffering work & feeling sleepy for a few days. It's been the right choice since the weather's been incredible & the music I'm seeing is even better.



Crowded House played the Entertainment Centre on Tuesday night to a packed venue & a hours beforehand I was one of twelve lucky individuals to catch a few songs played at the sound check!

Thanks to Peter Green from the Frenz Fan Club for organising the exclusive little viewing & seeing a couple of songs not played during the concert. Setlist for the sound check;

Everything Is Good For You
You Are the One to Make Me Cry
Transit Lounge
There Goes God
In my Command

It was good to hear the band without a crowd & just playing without any pressure. Matt Sherrod who has stepped up to fill some big shoes is doing an amazing job & manages to drift off in sync with the rest of the band when they decide a song should go somewhere it previously hasn't. A bit of "Funky Town" led into "Transit Lounge" & they ended a song with a fair portion of a cover. I'm killing myself to remember it & if I knew which band performed it, I'd know it the title instantly for sure!

"There Goes God" hasn't been played on tour & was requested at a prior sound check but not played. It's a favourite of mine, so I was pretty happy to say the least when they gave it a go.



The main show setlist;

Private Universe
World Where You Live
Don't Stop Now
Fall at Your Feet
Say That Again
Walked Her Way Down
Transit Lounge
In My Command
Silent House
Hole In The River
Don't Dream It's Over
Pour Le Monde
Message To My Girl
Distant Sun
Weather With You

Locked Out
Something So Strong
Four Seasons In One Day

When You Come
Not The Girl You Think You Are
Better Be Home Soon

This was my first Crowdies show & six months ago I would never have considered I'd get a shot at seeing the band live, especially after their breakup show back in 1996 on the Sydney Opera House steps. Now, excluding the late Paul Hester, they are back together again & sounding damn fine.

A couple of surprises were included; "Message To My Girl" hasn't been played on the Aus tour so far & it's a bit unusual for a Split Enz song to make the set. Neil played it solo & melted the crowd with such an unexpected song.

"Not The Girl You Think You Are" was originally supposed to be "You Are the One to Make Me Cry" according to the setlist. The change followed an old Crowded House tradition of the audience throwing paper planes onto the stage with song requests. Neil held the unfolded plane which read "Not The Girl". He made mention that whoever made it couldn't be bothered with the full title. He knew what they wanted anyway & subsequently played it!

I'm not sure the songs off the new album "Time On Earth" really hit it off with the crowd. "Transit Lounge" had sound effects for the airport public announcements & plane flyover during the song, but were hard to make out in the concert, but sounded really effective during sound check.

Since "Time On Earth" was originally envisioned as a Neil Finn album, the current Crowded House line up only played on three songs from memory. The lads go into the studio to record their sixth studio album at the end of the year & based on the fact they sound like Crowded House used to (if that makes sense), it should be a better album full of renewed energy.

Overall, an awesome experience & a big day which should be hard to forget!

 

I've had the revelation before, but every now & again it's worth revisiting to prove your own conclusions.

I'm talking about night clubs & long gone are the days when I would even suggest going out to one. In the last few weeks however, I've been out & about with friends of varying ages & have walked through the doors of such establishments.

The experience generally consists of; standing in line, paying a cover charge, a walk down some tight stairs into a dark, pulsing basement full of sweaty teenagers, ear splitting "doof doof" music & the spending of considerable amounts of money for a small amount of drinkable beverage.

Clearly, my idea of a good weekend get together with friends has changed & waking up without a croaky voice & being able to hear has become more of a priority. I still love the occasional noisy place with bands & a bit of dance music, but being able to slide into another room to recalibrate the senses is something nearly impossible in a night club. Hell, even the bathrooms in clubs usually have speakers in the corners of the ceiling so no one misses any of the action out on the floor!

I suppose it's one of those experiences in life that you just have to go through when growing up. Unfortunately, very few of those times are memorable. Having drinks spilled down your back, getting elbowed in the head by an over-eager dancer, & have you ever been to a club when a girl hasn't been crying from a break-up?

All the memories came flooding back & with a ringing in my ears as I left, walking past the queue still trying to negotiate their way in, I keep hearing that little voice "You're too old for this!". Indeed at 32, I am too old to not realise that behind it all, some club manager is squeezing just a few more people in over & above the legal capacity & short serving the drinks just to score a few extra dollars.

I wake with blood-shot eyes & a desperation for something fried & vow "never again". Well, at least not for another ten or so years!