Got a drink? Cereal in the bowl? Settled? This is gonna take a while.
I live in the country these days 2 hours drive from Melbourne near the southern tip of the Australian mainland. But I still like going to gigs. The Hothouse Flowers gigs in this iteration come highly recommended in this parish and they had sold out 2 shows with a third and final announced. It was a Tuesday, not the best day ,but fuck it. After some wines and discussion with Mrs Wells I booked the tickets.
This was a while back and 3 days ago a reminder popped up for a gig that both of us had forgotten about. Mrs Wells arced up and was a scratching so I enlisted a mate in town ,not a fan but hailing from Sydney he had never been to the Corner so OK.
Come Tuesday, the weather forecast is 34 degrees before an evening storm. For the informed, this is a recipe for hayfever hell. The storm releases pollen by the shit load which travels ahead of the storm on the fierce north wind.It’s a bastard and it was. On top of this,while sitting outside some grit blows into my eye. The good eye. The other is wonky after a operation for cander of the tear duct/ lacrimal sac. Yes it is a thing. A shower, diving into the crystal clear sea – nothing dislodged it. So one eye weeps coz it has no tear duct, the other has grit in it and both are going Niagara Falls due to hayfever.
But I have a gig to go to, I’ve arranged it with my mate and a turntable to drop off for attention along the way. Catch is I have to drop the T/T off before shops closing which is 3 and half hours before the gig. As I drive the gritty doesn’t improve and even with car air conditioning the pollen assault continues. I seriously contemplate stopping off at hospital for emergency treatment – the wait can’t be too long , should make it to the Corner in time….but I decide against it. How about taping the gritty eye shut? Hmm not a good look.
So I end up in town at 5pm weeping like a fan of the runner up in the footy. I order some dinner with still another 2 hours free. What to do? It is swelteringly hot and my eyes are at war with me. Fuck It. I go back to my car parked on the main road, turn the aircon up and go to sleep in front of the passing parade. I wake up, eye pacified and hayfever abated – or so it seemed. Into the gig for this stripped down iteration of the Hot House Flowers. As expected a heavy attendance of Irish fans of the original band. So they’re older, haven’t been to a gig since the Hot House Flowers were in their pomp.But the band are still pretty good even though Liam’s voice was pretty ragged at times.
What about the eyes you ask? Well good, then not good, sore then a bit less sore, torrential then just moist. Fuck knows why. Sometimes I am watching with one eye closed other times two, other times both shut. but the band are good and if they can entertain me in my abject state they’ve done ok.
So the gig ends and it is out to the chariot. The storm has hit and it is pissing down. For 2 hours all the way back to Inverloch. The kip helped the tiredness but the vicious evil natural elements are assaulting my eyes again. A tearful 2 hours later I arrive home.
Mrs Wells stirs. How was it? “Fucking exhausting”
https://imgur.com/a/mnsJvkp
Never seen electric bass and double bass playing together.
Clip not my show.
They’ve done that two bass trick for decades.
Indeed – John Steven’s Away comes to mind, the “Somewhere in Between” album is particularly good at demonstrating it…
Think I misunderstood, retro – you meant that HF have been doing the two bass trick for decades?
I did mean that, @fitterstoke
All the same – this is grand! And the introduction to ‘Spirit Of Peace (Tribute To Elvin Jones)’ is two bass heaven…
Never seen them before.
Coltrane’s band too of course.
And Herbie Flowers on Uncle Lou’s Walk on the Wild Side. Overdubbed, of course, as Herb didn’t have four hands (but did get two session fees).
Herbie used to play double bass in the Sussex Yeoman, a tiny pub in Brighton, every Sunday evening jamming with a couple of different music students each week in the mid 90’s. I think he lived in Ditchling, he used to stand outside his cottage there hosing down cyclists doing the annual London to Brighton ride. Diamond geezer.
Thanks for the review @junior-wells. You made your eye travails come alive somehow, sounds very unpleasant.
You sound like the Afterword equivalent of Ray Liotta describing his day at the end of Goodfellas before he gets busted.
Glad you got to see them (sort of) and thank God you enjoyed it…
Sounds awful, Junior. Mind you, I’m squeamish about eyes at the best of times – I’m astonished that you were able to drive at all!
Blimey, some night. I’d have binned it but fair play for getting home, (I’m assuming it was your home you arrived at?)
The main worry driving home for car and animal is the rather large and solid nocturnal wombat. Normally I drive on cruise with a foot hovering over the brake. No way I’d have seen one last night.
My eyes were ok, but I once hit (and killed) a deer travelling home from a Brian Wilson concert in rural Connecticut (was living in upstate New York at the time). Was horrible. I wouldn’t do such a drive these days
We hit a roe deer on the way back from my wife’s school Christmas party. Poor bugger cartwheeled down the road in a flurry of fur. Shortly thereafter both deer and car expired, one from the impact, the other from the insurance write-off.
But how was the deer @vulpes-vulpes?
Sorry, had to be asked…
I love a nice piece of venison, but we didn’t stop to investigate, as the steam issuing from the radiator told me that we needed to crack on home without delay.
Oddly enough, a few years ago a very similar thing happened when I was out for the evening with some pals down in darkest Dorset. On that occasion we did stop, and hauled the poor thing’s carcass into the back of our van and took it with us – two of our party being the sons of a local landlord we wondered if he wanted to hang it and butcher it, but that was a no-no from the point of view of following pub regs.
In any case apparently a lot of the wild population of deer carry a heavy parasite burden anyway, which is one reason why the venison you can buy in shops will mostly be farmed rather than wild.
Well, you did ask.
I am fully informed! Thank you!
Parasite Burden – TMFTL
You need to gut ‘em there and then as well.
I am a bit late to reading this thread but I’m most impressed that a deer went to a Brian Wilson concert. Probably a good way to go if it was a big fan of the Beach Boys.
At the old place I posted a thread about what is the road kill in your part of the world. Was many and varied.
Deer, turkeys, skunks, raccoons, groundhogs, rabbits and if you are really unlucky a moose
I enjoyed the tale of your epic journey to and from the gig, Junior.
I’m delighted that that you still have that desire to go and see a gig despite the terrors of the NOCTURNAL WOMBATS. You are a brave chap.
A very compelling tale indeed! You have a real talent for writing – ever thought of becoming a professional communicator? 🙂 And thanks again for the spare ticket! Good to see some chat here about the two bass line-up.
Been there done that, as you well know.