wafblog v3.0

So I had a draft again that I forgot to publish and have since done a bunch of other things so I don’t remember what I was going to write about. Oh wells. I really should stop doing that and just post stuff up as I write it. Sometimes though, it takes time to edit the post and make sure it makes sense and I’ve put in the stuff that I wanted.

Had a fairly busy weekend, although it’s nothing compared to how busy this week will be. The RAS Christmas Party was on Friday night. The new grads are invited as it gives us a chance to meet people in an informal setting, which is a great idea I think. It was fun, although I always feel a little out of place at those type of functions. I can never truly relax as I feel I’m being judged by people, which I probably am. You can never really let your hair down, and any ‘party’ is still work. You’re still networking and all that sort of thing. Still, it was enjoyable and I can’t complain about the free food or free booze :P I also got to catch up with Danny and Chez especially. They’re always fun to hang with (=

Went to Homebake on Saturday. It was the first time I’d ever been, so I was pretty excited and everything was like ‘awesome!’. The taxi driver kept mixing up the name, and he called it ‘The Big Bake’ which I thought was really neat. Mike and I got there a little late, so we had to wait in lines for ages… Manda wasn’t impressed ): But, we made it in time to see ‘Parkway Drive’ which was the first act we wanted to see anyways. Now, I’ve always been into moshing and the general ’slam dancing’, but I’ve never ever seen a circle pit or the whole ‘rush’ thing. Apparently it’s popular with more heavy metal type bands. I suppose ‘Parkway Drive’ are heavy enough for it. So anyways, the four of us were standing there waiting for the band and as soon as they started, everyone took like 4 steps back. We didn’t know what was going on, but were soon aware of the ‘crazy’ people in front of us running around in a circle in a somewhat erratic manner and then falling over the people who were standing around. I don’t really see how the circle pit can be much fun as it looks like you’re more likely to be trampled to death than anything else, but each to their own I guess. Maybe it’s more fun when you’re completely tanked on alcohol. Luckily, this was the only show that had one of these.

‘Parkway Drive’ played well and it was definitely good to hear some heavy music (= We stuck around for ‘Little Birdy’, which I hadn’t heard of, but Manda had. They were pretty awesome too. A little bit popsy, but the songs were catchy and kind of cute. Between the time they finished and we went to get food, it had turned overcast and was soon pouring down with rain. That was a bit of a dampener, although it didn’t dent my enthusiasm any. Heard a little bit of Toni Collette’s band in that time, but not enough to get a real feel for them. Plus I was cold and drenched at the time, so wasn’t really paying much attention. We did go to see ‘Butterfly Effect’ and luckily the rain had let up by then. I’d heard a few songs by them, and I expected they would be a good live act… I was totally blown away by them though. There was no stupid circle rush this time, and you could just stand there and totally enjoy the music. There were some idiots wearing ‘anti emo crew’ t-shirts that were pushing and shoving us from behind, but even that couldn’t ruin the performance. In some ways, this was probably my favourite band on the day. They were THAT good, and so much more than I had expected. I don’t know if I’d listen to their songs a lot (on the train or whatever), but certainly it’s given me a new appreciation for them anyways and I wouldn’t mind hearing their album in full. We were all pretty beat by the time they finished, and with it raining so much we decided to heat out of the venue in search of a bathroom and possibly some shelter. We ended up sitting (and sleeping) in Travis’ car for an hour while we waited for the rain to subside. That kind of didn’t happen. But I don’t think anything was really going to deter us from seeing ‘Eskimo Joe’ and then ’silverchair’. I’m not really a big ‘Eskimo Joe’ fan - the last (and first) song by them that I really liked was that sweater song, and they never play it anymore :P However, it turns out they play that ‘hello, hello’ song which I do like. And of course, I’ve heard Black Fingernails, Red Wine on the radio. There was another one that I recognised but I forget now. In any case, their music is easy to mosh to and generally likeable. Some of the slower stuff was a bit… hrm… but that might have been just because I wanted to mosh. Plus there was the fat dude in front of my who kept leaning back into me. I can’t really blame him thouigh, he was doing the same thing Mike was - protecting his girlfriend from crazy moshers. The rush at the end of the ‘Eskimo Joe’ set was pretty intense. The number of people trying to get out of the pit, combined with the number of people trying to get in meant that we were shoved around a lot and it was very rough. We ended up moving to the side to avoid the centre crush before ’silverchair’ took to the stage. Unfortunately, being short is a great disadvantage in these sorts of events, as everyone else is bound to be taller than you thus blocking your view of the stage. I jumped up a few times to catch a glimpse of Daniel Johns and later on Mike lifted me up a couple of times so I could see the stage for a bit. I should say that, silverchair are the reason I went to Homebake this year, and they are also the reason I managed to get Manda to come along. I guess I had high expectations for them and I was a little disappointed. Mainly because they played a lot of their new stuff, and I’m more of an ‘old school’ fan. After hearing them play their new songs, I’m unlikely to buy their new album. Considering this is one of the bands that got me through high school (yeay for angst!)… but you know, sometimes bands change their sound and that’s just where the creative forces are taking them. We ended up leaving the mosh pit before the end of the set, but once out, were able to see much more of the stage from the side. I was very very glad they played ‘Freak’, and there’s an awesome feeling you get when there’s like 10,000 people singing along to the song at the same time as you. It really is quite undescribable.

All in all, I’m really glad I went and it was an awesome experience. I got to see the bands that I wanted to see, and you can’t compare to seeing a band live. However, I’m not sure I’d go again unless the line-up had some really great bands in it. The crowds that the festival attracts, along with the paranoia of having to make sure you’re not getting rolled and won’t be pushed/shoved/elbowed/crushed in the pit can detract from the general experience. I’m fairly sure I only survived unscathed because I had people around to protect me. There’d need to be some really great bands to make me brave that again.