Happy birthday, italiano—don’t celebrate too hard, you should be saving for Z.

Z commences tomorrow, July 1st. Photograms taken from the trip will be featured in the inaugural volume of Lachlan has a Digital Camera.

Props to Kryz for taking care of most of the travel arrangements. A winner is you.

I picked up some travel attire today including a space-age, water-proof, wind-proof jacket. I hope it’s theft and misplacement proof.

There’s about a dozen travel outfitters on Wickham Street, all adjacent to each other, and they all do very good business. This is an example of what one might call the McDonald’s Effect¹ .

Feels good to be travelling again. If you think it is cold in Brisbane at the moment, spare a thought for us landing in Christchurch tomorrow evening. Recently it has been as cold as –5°C, although it should stay above freezing when we are there.

¹  Obviously, I’m not talking about the same McDonald’s Effect whereby no two countries with a McDonald’s restaurant have been at war with each other, nor the one describing the idea that McDonald’s homogenises foreign cultures and makes Japanese people obese. This is a different one.

Sealifepark (with Iron On and Turnpike)
The Healer, Brisbane, Australia
Thursday, 5th June 2003

It’s refreshing to go to a gig where the majority of the audience is comprised of the band members and their friends.

Iron On were first up. A little research indicates that this is an “indie-rock” band. I’ve always wondered what that is meant to mean, and I can now say I’m closer to knowing than ever before.

They sound a bit like Pollen (where are they now?) would if they had a chick do some of the vocals. A ‘young’ band, closer musically to promise than to fruition. That said, it’s about time someone was having a serious go at doing this kind of music again, and Iron On have some pretty good ideas, so I’m keen to see what else they’ve got.

Turnpike are a three-piece of the “ten thousand monkeys” genre. Give ten thousand monkeys a guitar each, and so forth. On a long enough timeline, random distorted guitar ramblings consolidate themselves into something you can slap a time signature on and call a tune. See also: Rival Flight.

Sealifepark are close to what I think the ideal grunge band would be, without actually being one. They seem to hint, by way of songs like Strike III and A Clean Slate, that they are capable of flying off the handle, albeit with some restraint. For the most part though, this is slow and dreamy, Sunday morning waking-up type music.

Lee’s voice is as great live as it is on disc, and the musicians have a unique sound that is skilled but not robotic. That said, I’m not sure there was any huge benefit in going to see them live. The song list was kind of short, considering they have about three albums worth of material. Still, it was good value for money and a damn sight better than sitting in front of the telly at home.

Rating: **½ two and a half asterisks.

De La Soul
The Arena, Brisbane, Australia
Saturday, 31st May 2003

De La’s first time in Brisbane was keenly anticipated, selling all available tickets with ease. One guy roamed the queue outside, offering $100 for a ticket. Not surprisingly, he was left wanting.

Being a relatively new fan of the group, it was also my first time.

Some of the songs included, alluded to or hinted at were: Potholes In My Lawn, Me Myself And I, … “Saturdays”, Ring Ring Ring, Ego Trippin, I Am I Be, Breakadawn, Itzsoweezee, Pony Ride, Stakes Is High, U Can Do, Oooh, Thru Ya City, I C Y’all, All Good?, Bionix, Baby Phat.

De La’s stage paradigm is not so much a collection of distinct songs, rather a stream of consciousness where parts of different songs effortlessly segue into each other, punctuated regularly with appeals to the audience to move their arms around in a certain manner.

This is where Maseo really shines. His beat is smooth and flawless; scratching and other turntable novelties sound like they actually belong in the music. I’m all about Maseo over here.

Rating: **** four asterisks.