Was Sport Really Better in the 70's?
Has anyone seen the movie Almost Famous, where the lead guitarist from
Stillwater freaks out while on tour and leaps off the two storey roof into
the pool?
Well that didn’t happen on this tour but at times it was painfully close.
This tale starts very early with Benny “always prompt” Drill meeting Harry
“never prompt” Snow with the Silver Slit. Not soon enough we are met by Ian
“don’t know how to use a fuckin’ alarm clock” Baddley and the rest of the
Drugs.
On board the Silver Slit for this tour we have The Captain at the helm to
guide us from Sydney to Byron Bay to Brisbane to Maroochyidore and home
again.
Arriving in Byron after a very wet drive north we settle into the Great
Northern and load in and sound check.
Once it’s time to relax Traxy, Snow, John Citizen, the Captain & I head to
the bar to get well pissed. I often try to pace myself while on tour but
this never seems to work and in no time I’ve had too much to drink and have
done a few unmentionable things to my hotel room. How rock cliché is that!
A few of us head down to the beach hotel for a few more drinks where we bump
into Latoya Jackson, being a very big Jackson 5 fan, I freak out and dont
approach her just in case one of her minders roughs me up a little.
We head back to the Northern to watch Upaid Debt rock Byron.
Forgive me if im vague about any details from here on, I cant really
remember getting on stage, but the crowd tonight were great and danced with
us all through the show.
Some members of Unpaid Debt join us onstage tonight for Prole, Matt (bass)
playing a thumping keyboard part and providing nude antics.
After the show the Northern closed and we head to a bar around the corner.
We arrive to find some people there with our tour mascot that they quite
obviously has pinched from our show, rather than sorting them out like the
Pommie thieves they are, we joined them for a drink and let them keep their
stolen goods.
Once kicked out of this bar we head back to the Northern where I recall a
drunken David Live on the ground several times.
Up early I wait for the other Drugs before we head up the coast to Brisbane.
We spend the afternoon recovering from the previous night and watching Blur
videos on the T.V. We tune in to catch Ian & David give a faaaab radio
interview at the local Brisbane station.
Later on we head off to Ric’s to set up for tonights show. Ric’s is a small but
very cool bar in the heart of the Fortitude Valley and we cram in there and
set up our freakshow.
The Show goes well and we play to a packed Brisbane crowd, afterwards we all
catch up with friends and have a few drinks at Ric’s. I terrorise the DJ
with my requests, Harry Snow has fun with the salt on the table and David
Live spots sportspeople in the crowd.
Next morning we set off to hell, nothing against Maroochydore it was just a
very hard leg of a very hard tour.
Lowlights of tonights show include Ian Baddley playing the guitar on Burger
King while Mark Tracks screamed out the vocals, Everyone leaving the stage
except Harry Snow during his drum solo and the spin-a-wheel in the band room
( it provided amusement for everyone for a very, very long time).
We leave straight after the show and find our little spot on the highway for
a little shuteye, arriving home safely Sunday night, ready to head off to
W.A on Wednesday.
Thankyou to everyone who came along, wanted to come along or didn’t even
know we existed.
Thanks & we’ll see you next time.
