It’s a few days passed the end of our tour and somewhere in the vicinity of 5,000km’s passed the beginning. It may be a common theme that I talk about cramming into the car and driving enormous distances across this vast landscape, but that is perhaps because it is one of the few certainties when it comes to touring. (that and the inevitability that I will leave my wallet behind in a rural town hours from anywhere!)
So it began at 6am on the morning of Thursday January 21. We gathered at my house and proceeded to amaze ourselves at managing to pack the mounds of equipment, backpacks , “driving food” and last but not least, ourselves in to Nick C’s Magna Station Wagon, and began our journey north to Coffs Harbour.
Just passed the halfway mark between Melbourne and Sydney is the only place, we have decided, that is worth stopping at, (other than a quick throw of the Frisbee and a stretch near the Submarine which somehow got washed hundreds of kilometres inland and lodged itself in the small country town of Holbrook) it doesn’t have an obnoxiously huge golden “M” pointing towards greasy, shit food and teenagers working for minimum wage. It is at the somewhat less impressive, (compared with a strangely out of place submarine) Dog on the Tuckerbox and the only place along the way to get something decent to chow down on.
After stopping for our ritual of salad sandwich’s and juice we were back on the road.
By now we had been driving for about 8 hours, and it was at about this time we had the horrible realization, that we weren’t even half way to our first destination yet. Every 2 seconds you begin rearranging yourself. Your legs are cramping, your left buttock goes to sleep, you’re too hot, (the air conditioning comes on) you’re too cold, you don’t know which way your head wants to go, your right buttock goes to sleep…. Etc. Etc.
Anyway 10hours later we made it to Coffs Harbour. And we were still alive. Slightly bent out of shape and delirious, but alive.
The next morning we were able to swim in the ocean before an easy drive to our first gig of the tour at the Miami Tavern on the Gold Coast. It was a night of many firsts, our first ever gig in Queensland, our first gig with the new Blackchords bassist Tristan Courtney, and of course the first gig with Grand Atlantic, and Sierra Fin. It was a good first show to shake out the cobwebs, get to know one another and launch the tour.
Over the next couple of nights we played the Globe theatre, Brisbane, which in my opinion is a damn fine, beautiful old venue in Fortitude Valley. There was a great vibe going on at the globe and we were able to move around on a big stage with ease and test drive our new track “’til the day I die”. The following night the Bon Amici, in Toowoomba. a great alternative venue with a stage that is a “Little” smaller than the globe. It was a good night for some chaos, I tried my hand at being a contortionist, but once I was fully tangled up in the mic lead and 2 guitars I realised no magic was going to allow me to escape!
We were able to spend a few free nights with friends in Byron and Coffs Harbour. Swimming, getting our pasty white Melbourne bodies burnt to a crisp, getting stung by blue bottle jelly fish, sea lice, and god only knows what happened to Damians face. When he woke up abruptly in burning pain and quickly swelling Mick Jagger lips.
5 and a half hours spent in a hospital waiting room to find out that yes he had been bitten by “something” and there was probably nothing we could do about it made sure that we weren’t going to have a leisurely drive back to Sydney for our next show.
It was cutting it fine to say the least. We made it to the Bald Faced Stagg, piled out of the car, quickly got dressed in the rain on the footpath and made it inside with just enough time to get a beer and to get on stage.
The next day we were back in the car heading to Newcastle for our final night in NSW and then the long haul back home to Melbourne.
Its been sometime since playing in Melbourne, something we had definitely missed. A crowd of new faces mixed with some familiar ones came down to show support at the Curtain band room. And despite my amplifier slowly dying on stage, the tour ended with one of the most enjoyable gigs I’ve played for a long time!
Big thanks from Blackchords to all of you that came along to the shows and to Chrissie, Big Tree Artists, Grand Atlantic, Sierra Fin, Danny, Amelia, John, Pete, Mark, Jemma and Roz you guys are ace!!
Click here for Sasufi's official tour pics
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