Woke up with a cold, the day before my U2 concerts.
Had an sms go off from Andrew upstairs to tell me that someone had smashed one of my rear lights.
Suggested I try K Mart auto on the corner of Dandenong Rd and Chapel St in Prahran - apparently they're very good.
Whitepages online is useless... type K Mart and it begins at A??? Go figure!
And lastly, that stupid feckin' McDonald's 'Make Up Your Own Mind' campaign. I know the burgers aren't made from "100% Australian Beef" so why try to sell me that bull. Isn't there some irony that the campaign is called "Make Up Your Own Mind" and yet they're "telling you" the "Facts"?
Billy Joel Andrew Murfett, Reviewer November 13, 2006
There was an unambiguous, old-fashioned charm to Billy Joel's first Melbourne shows in almost nine years.
There was an unambiguous, old-fashioned charm to Billy Joel's first Melbourne shows in almost nine years. Unlike most nostalgic tours, there was no bothersome new album to plug - just the umpteenth "greatest hits" compilation.
There were no big-screens either; just a professionally staged, no-frills arena show, brimming with AM radio hits. Well, there was the occasionally spinning piano, which swivelled on stage to save us from viewing Joel's vast bald spot.
While musicals featuring compositions from artists such as John Lennon and Bob Dylan have failed recently, Movin' Out, a Twyla Tharp-created dance narrative set to Joel's songs, was a Tony Award-winning three-year-long Broadway hit. If nothing else, it emphasises the enduring appeal of his immense back catalogue.
His decision to again tour Australia came after a staggeringly successful US tour. It's not that he needs the money, either. One of Joel's New York residences is on the market for $37 million-plus. These days, the 57-year-old moves only a little slower about the stage, and after a slightly sluggish opening stanza, he kicked into gear.
"We're getting all of the shitty albums out of the way first," he solicitously noted.
The sold-out throng was far from an exclusively baby-boomer crowd. Youngsters weaned on Joel by classic hit stations also shamelessly sang along. They were given some outstanding highlights, too. Joel's excellent backing band helped supply superb renditions of New York State of Mind, Allen Town, An Innocent Man and We Didn't Start The Fire, among others. One surprise in a show unsurprisingly short on them, was a roadie bestowed the charming moniker of "Chainsaw" and who sported a generously sized abdomen, providing a bizarre, but first-rate high point with a roaringly earnest reading of AC/DC's Highway To Hell.
The conclusion, which incorporated three encores, was charmingly old-fashioned. As Joel soaked up the applause and feigned modestly, he could not conceal his genuine gratification.
He wrapped up, of course, with his signature song - and one of pop's guilty pleasures, Piano Man. There was no hint of pretension as 15,000 fervently sang along.
On Sunday night, I had the opportunity to catch Billy Joel in concert again. I dare not think how many times i've caught him live over the years, but it began with my mother taking me out to Kooyong Stadium to see him in the late 80's and has continued since then. Nowadays though, I like to take my mum with me and shout her for the many times she did the same for me as a child.
I did have to laugh afterwards though, as I said to my mother before the show that all I really wanted to hear was two songs, 'Summer, Highland Falls' and 'Vienna'. Both are album tracks, fairly obscure and non-singles. 'Summer, Highland Falls' comes from his 1976 album 'Turnstiles' (more famous for 'Say Goodbye To Hollywood' and 'New York State Of Mind') and the other from 1977's 'The Stranger' (better known for 'Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)', 'Only The Good Die Young', 'The Stranger', 'She's Always a Woman', 'Just The Way You Are', 'Scenes From An Italian Restaurant'... in fact, nearly everything else on that album was a hit...)
Not too long into the show, Billy says to the audience, "Ok, i'm going to give you an option... either you can have 'Summer, Highland Falls' (YAY!!! Picture me clapping excitedly)... or 'Vienna' (um... 'YAY!!!'... me confused but still clapping excitedly).
'Vienna' won out in the end, so I still win as either would do, but then I was really pleased that much of the show seemed to be focusing on non-single album tracks ('Everybody Loves You Now', 'Zanzibar', 'The Entertainer') while still mixing it up with the hits that he really has to play. I have to confess, I could happily not hear 'An Innocent Man', 'Uptown Girl' or 'Allentown' again, but they're mainstream favourites and I guess people would feel cheated if he didn't play them. I did get told by a work mate on Monday that during the Friday night show, he played 'Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)', which I would've LOVED to have heard, but you can't get them all. The program also mentioned them rehearsing 'Sometimes a Fantasy', which I would've loved as well... but hey, it was still a fine show that went for something like two and a half hours, so I definitely felt I got value for money - just disappointed I could only get to one show!
I have the U2 concerts this weekend to look forward to. Thankfully, i'm getting to go to both nights so I hope they spice up their set a little differently each night, although they tend to in order to keep it interesting for them.
Still no new news on the home. Pre-signed Saturday and just waiting to hear back from the real estate agent to find out if the vendor accepts and to hear back from Trevor to see if St George Bank are going to be kind enough to give us the money!
What a great long weekend we've just had. So good, i'm actually wishing I didn't have to go to work tomorrow. But I do. :(
Saturday was spent all very civilised; a little bit of shopping and relaxing before heading over to Jimmy's to have a few drinks for his birthday. We didn't stay too late, especially since we were all going to catch up early the next day to go to a day dance party - Crash Palace.
Ant was so excited, he got up shortly after 6am on Sunday morning to go to the gym and get himself ready. Me, I prefered the sleep in approach, awaking around 8.30ish and getting myself ready before the guys arrived shortly after 10am.
The party was being held at The Men's Gallery which is a bit of a booby joint for straight lads. Part of the excitment was being able to take over a new venue we had never been to before, and I have to say we loved it. I did comment on the fact that I would almost consider changing my sexual orientation for that venue but then realised that it was exceedingly gay to want to change your sexuality over decour. It was such a massive venue though, and you could hear the gay squeal from a mile away when you worked up stairs to find a giant catwalk in the middle of the room with poles on each side. The front rooms were all very housey and fun while the back rooms were all very trancey - and the interjoining laneway was equally housey and fun. Great vibe... great crowd... just really, really good. They even had this energy drink called Speed that tasted no where as vile as what Red Bull or V do - very cola-esque.
Leaving the party at 7pm, we ran into some old friends of mine out the front who I invited back to our house (to save on cabs) so that they can freshen up. We ended up leaving home again around 9.30pm, but not before I had convinced my friend James from Manchester (better known to the world as remixer Project K) to come and join us. We headed around to Viper Room for the recovery there - grant, Viper is not one of my favourite venues, but we did stake out a corner and pretty much make it our own. The music was quite mixed there too, going from occasional club classics (D:Ream, Gloria Gaynor, The Communards) through to contempoary classics and a few more obscure. In the end, we stayed till it closed and left around 2am.
The last couple of days have been very low key, staying at home and relaxing, watching DVD's and just generally resting up before work. Watched The Da Vinci Code today which was borderline intriguing but just a bit on the long winded side.
Best I get off to bed - off to work tomorrow and want to be able to do a good job there - big meeting coming up soon and i'm stil not entirely sure how i'm going to be able to do it. I'm sure i'll figure something out though!
