Well, my whole remorselessly cynical/critical mask just fell off, didn't it? It must have been my jaw dropping the floor that did it.I don't usually allow myself to get excited about upcoming gigs in Melbourne: keeping my expectations hovering somewhere between the ground floor and the basement is the only way to be pleasantly surprised, most of the time. But how often do two gigs like this hit town, two days in a row?
First on stage this Thursday is Virgo Four. Tig and Blake - with whom I had a ball doing the ssgs xms prty in December, and more generally of Two Bright Lakes fame - have just done a bang up job putting together the Sugar Mountain Festival. I wonder how they find time, considering all the reports I hear of them playing at house parties on the weekend... neatly and nicely for those of us in the +61 3, this also means a Virgo Four sideshow this Thursday at the Toff in Town. It's an early gig, from 8pm, I think, and will be supported by Tig's live/Detroit/amphetamine-n-solvents abusin' Speed Painters, and others. If you read this blog and don't know Virgo Four, well JFGI/... just act like you do – and come along.
Then, on Friday (Pete takes a big, deep breath) we have: not Function. Not Regis. But Sandwell District. The handsomest man in techno AND the best dressed man in techno. Together. And playing for as long as they fucking well want to play. In the Mercat Basement. I'm going to get my hyperbole wand out and tap it in time as I say: I don't think there is a better techno gig happening anywhere in the world on this day, and for once it is in Melbourne. Thank Jahweh for the statistical majority of Deadmau5 fans; now we have Sandwell District playing in Melbourne on a proper rig for a proper amount of time. Sandwell District are playing in Melbourne. Did I mention that... ? anyway... anyway... many many thanks to all the involved peepz for taking soloaction and making this happen, against initial odds... Gig info and some sets/linksI hope to see you there. In proper techno geek style, I will be wearing New Balance shoes, jeans, and either one of the two Stefan Marx t shirts I own. Please come say hi. Visually, it is said that Paul 'Hotflush' Scuba looks like the evil lovechild of Chris and I. 'Cept I am much prettier, naturally. And more excited...
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Lucky, lucky you. I was hoping there would be a Sydney sideshow, but Sandwell District are doing Creamfields Syndey on the Saturday. Much as I would love to see them (and boy, would I), I can't subject myself to that, even if there are a couple of other half decent/historically interesting acts on the lineup. Enjoy!
ReplyDelete@ daragh: so... check last min. plane tix prices? Could be cheaper than entry to creamfields and a couple of (probably bad) burke and wills...
ReplyDeleteIndeed... tempting! A quick look at webjet indicates 250 bucks to get there and back at reasonable/doable times... can probably double that by the time other expenses are thrown in... if I didn't have a European jaunt happening very soon (plus the Labyrinth fund just opened), or had planned properly I'd be on it. Dammit! Although that said I'll still have another look tomorrow night...
ReplyDeletewell pc i'll definitely see you at sd...maybe at v4 too if i can find someone to go with.
ReplyDeleteadd these to scuba last thurs and it's been a pretty good week really.
@ daragh: webjet isn't always cheapest. Try airline by airline, and don't forget Tiger, even though their motto is 'we treat you like an animal'
ReplyDeleteA good friend of mine almost got all Siegfried and Roy with 'em after last time.
@PC - thanks, hadn't thought of that. Checked but it's still looking like it'll work out around that pricen - if I had the holiday time to take Friday off I could organise it cheaper but I don't have a single day spare this year. If I had 400 bucks spare I'd be all over it! I've been known to do that sort of thing before :) The way I see it, that's a half of my ticket to Japan in September, and I reckon that's gotta be the priority while I'm living on this side of the globe!
ReplyDeleteShould have planned better, I didn't even think to look out for a Melbourne sideshow, I'll be doing that in future!
tickets bought for tonight.
ReplyDeletei'll be the tall guy with the curly hair nursing a sore shoulder at the bar.
come say hi.
mind blown. what a divine coincidence sandwell are doing a melbourne sideshow just as i come back down from sydney for the semester break.
ReplyDeletesee you there,
Stephen C
YES YES YES YES Melbourne!! SO excited for friday.
ReplyDeletesupposedly a version of a track i made for virgo was performed for them live for the first time in melbourne, along with a shout out about me doing it...
ReplyDeleteanyone catch this? i'm already enamored with the thought of that happening, but now i'm really curious.
yep eric.
ReplyDeletethe last track they played....was sweet as....
@ Eric: I can re-confirm that, yes. Was quite surreal, :)
ReplyDeletewell hot damn! hopefully it sounded good and had the booty's shakin'! :-P
ReplyDeleteCan confirm booty shakin'
ReplyDeleteThat was probably the best party I have ever attended. I love the Mercat basement as a venue; good setting, amazing sound. And the supports were on-point. All the boxes were ticked.
ReplyDeleteSandwell? Words can't describe how wonderful that (near) six-hour set was. It will probably take a few days, at least, to process what I experienced. Function and Regis were really into it, and the punters fed off that vibe. I don't know what it will take for a party in Melbourne to surpass last night's. Or whether such a thing is possible!
Sounds like Melbourne had it in spades over Sydney this time around, just for a change.;)
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately last night's Virgo show at the Civic was poorly promoted and subsequently poorly attended. When I showed 15 mins prior to the advertised start time (midnight on a Sunday), they'd already played most of their set. The twenty mins I caught were great though, had a chat to the guys after, they didn't seem too phased to be playing to 10 (really into it) people, and apparently are coming back Dec/Jan this year. Hopefully a better effort next time around...