Lou Reed at The State Theatre

What a night. My heart actually went a little bit funny on two occasions during this gig. It was weird. I have been to better gigs. I have been to gigs that have meant more to me than this one. But there were a couple of moments during this one that I will never forget. When the man himself stepped onto stage and opened his mouth to let out that weird vocal for the first time, I wasn't quite prepared for it. My heart skipped, jumped and lurched for a second. On this opening night, he played the whole of Berlin from start to finish, while my ragbag bunch of new and old friends and I stood at the back (our tickets were 'standing room only'), hideously tired but feeling that our night slumming it (see previous blog) was completely worth it. Especially as my ticket was only $25.

Anyway, if the Berlin part of the night was great, then the encore was amazing. Me and my gang literally ran from the back of the theatre to the front, and found ourselves just a few feet away from the craggy old legend. It was pretty emtional. There were tears, not least during Sweet Jane (see photo below). The second moment of the gig that will live with me forever was when Anthony (as in 'and The Johnsons') sang. I couldn't help feeling that he had been criminally underused during the main section of the night, so when he was allowed to take on some of the main vocal work during the encore, it was an absolute joy. If anyone has a more amazing voice then I have yet to hear it. Just like it did the last time I saw him perfrom, the sound that he expelled made me shiver with excitement. Jaw-dropping. He is a wonderful freak of nature, and a treasure to behold.

And that was it. People left the venue beaming. Holly described it as the greatest experience of her life. An equally tearful Kirsty was lucky enough to get the plectrum that Reed used during the gig. Millie, well, she was still crying with joy in the street afterwards. For me, it was the culmination of one of the most memorable 24-hours of my life.

Now, to bed.

Queue For Lou

People who criticise us at BobbySix.com for never having to buy tickets for gigs might be interested to know that I spent the whole of Wednesday night on the cold, hard concrete of Martin Place lining up to buy tickets for the Lou Reed gig which was to take place on the Thursday. It was the first time I have ever queued overnight and it was a thoroughly rewarding, if entirely knackering (it is now Sunday and I still haven't recovered) experience.


I arrived at 9.40pm, expecting to be the first person there, yet there were already 15 people ahead of me (including a Big Issue seller), and therefore I was worried that there weren't going to be enough tickets to go round. However, after 3 nervous hours, a representative from the Sydney Festival kindly came along and told us that we were all safe to get tickets. The mood in the line was joyous.

The night went surprisingly quickly, as my friend Millie and I met a whole bunch of new people, who soon became buddies. There was a great sense of togetherness amongst the 25 people who were there all night. People drank, played cards, strummed on a guitar, created art on the floor in chalk, chatted and generally had a nice time.

At about 2.30am, some jobsworth idiot from the council (with the worst haircut ever, incidentally - a kind of greasy ponytail) came along and took photos of all the chalk drawings, while talking seriously on a mobile. 10 minutes later, there were 3 cleaning vehicles and a whole heap of City Rangers there telling us we all had to move because the streets needed cleaning. It was like we were some threat to society with our small pieces of chalk. Idiots. Anyway, after much fuss they managed to totally drench the pavement, meaning we couldn't sit down for about an hour. Thanks for that. God knows how they reacted when they noticed the washing up liquid in the fountain which caused massive clouds of bubbles to float through the city.

As the morning drew ever-closer, the lack of sleep became more of an issue. I began to feel very sketchy indeed. I started getting my words all mixed up when I spoke, and as the sun rose, I grew pale as a ghost. I started to hallucinate that the Big Issue seller was telling me the same story about Split Enz for the 6th time, but then I realised that I wasn't actually imagining it, and he was telling me the same story again. I can relay it for you, word for word, if you like? No? Ok.

Throughout the whole night, I managed to get a massive 10 minutes sleep between 6.40am and 6.50 am, before getting up and trying to avoid the insipidly irritating girl who was attempting to juggle lemons and do cartwheels. I vowed that if I ended up sitting next to her at the gig, I would walk out or kill myself, whichever was quicker.

By this time, I was delusional, and spent many minutes trying to jump in the air and land at exactly the same time with two of my new, young friends. I don't know why I was doing this, but it became very important to me at the time. Millie was also losing the plot, wandering aimlessly around Martin Place with a vacant look on her face.

However, the end was in sight, and by 8am, spirits were high. By 8.10am, they were even higher, as I had a ticket for the gig in my tired little paw. I felt a real sense of achievement.

All in all, it was a night that I will never forget. The camararderie, the friendliness of strangers. The knowledge that every person that I had spent that long night with would all be merrily headiung to the State Theatre in a few hours to see a person that they were prepared to lay on a pavement all night for. It is a feeling I can barely describe. Awesome.

Words by Rob Townsend. 

Introducing your new favourite band...

Last night I went to the Annandale to see Bridezilla. I was once again left utterly convinced that they have a fantastic future in front of them. With every show that passes I see more and more to make me think that they are going to be massive. They have the potential to achieve whatever they want.

On this particular occasion they played to what I imagine was their biggest crowd, as the grubby yet charming Annandale was pretty packed by the time they took to the stage. It says a lot about the band that they can draw punters in at the stupidly early time of 8.30 and make them pay attention to their set. Most opening acts are lucky to get a handful of disinterested punters half-watching as they chat to their mates. But Bridezilla had the room transfixed. I only hope that promoters don't continue to put them at the bottom of the bill in the hope of drawing the crowds in early. This band has paid its dues, and deserves to start getting some decent slots.

Growing in confidence with every gig, the quintet put on another awesome show, and the row of photographers at the foot of the stage will have been delighted to see that all of the band looked typically stunning as they belted out half-an-hour of indie-folk.

I see a lot of bands. A lot. I can't tell you the last time that a band have connected with me like the painfully talented Bridezilla. Let them into your world.

Make friends with them here: http://www.myspace.com/bridezillaa