After so long without live music,this weekend I’m off to an unreal double header in Geelong:Foo Fighters at a footy ground and Midnight Oil at a winery. The Fooeys are in town to kickstart the government’s Always Live initiative,the Oils to say hello again and farewell.
That kick in the guts feeling when the first chord strikes.James Brickwood
Could it be more fitting that when the world is blowing up – war,floods,houses nobody under 40 can afford– the universal language of live music is back to unite us? The kick in the guts feeling when the first chord strikes. It drops you into the moment. Speaks to the human experience,whether it’s 60,000 people belting a chorus or 400.
It’s about a communal losing of minds and forgetting about tomorrow. It’s the best. And for me,with apologies to Peter Garrett,it’s all about Dave.
I never noticed him much until Melbourne’s pandemic lockdowns. Without gyms,I started jogging and Spotify sent me a Fooeys playlist. Soon I was dependant and the obsession grew.
A viewing of Dave’s acting on theLearn To Fly video was the antidote to work trauma. When he almost lost it playing guitar as his daughter Violet sang Adele’sWhen We Were Young,I did too. My husband and I jazzed up lockdown Saturdays with vodka and lounge room dancing toEverlong. We started calling our dog Baby Dave Grohl.
The famous Corner Hotel in Richmond. The venue for many local and international acts over the years.Gary Medlicott
It was a really weird time. Cut off from family,offices and the Virgin lounge at Tullamarine,our anchor was a middle-aged man from Ohio.
Now,he’ll be in front of us in real life. The thumping intoxication of that reality has us reminiscing about the concerts which have been the soundtrack of our lives. Yes,I’d love to hear yours.
I want to say no judgement people,but that could be tricky. My taste in music – informed by growing up in a house where Barry Crocker was on high rotation and my big sister hit us up in the car with her tape of the Bee Gees’ doingSergeant Peppers –is widely agreed to be awful. I love Barbra Streisand’sGuilty and Styx’sBabe. I still have the 12-inch single of Roger Voudouris’Get Used To It.
My husband Chris’ taste is better,although on our first date we sang Air Supply’s entire back catalogue to each other (yes,plastered). His first live gig was in 1979,rocking out with his mum at Barry Manilow. His most memorable was INXS in the 1980s at Selina’s in Coogee Bay,where he also saw Big Pig,Waa Waa Nee and the Hoodoo Gurus.
His podium finish:Chisel in January 2020 and Tim Rogers at the Corner Hotel in Richmond,doing the playlist from the Rolling Stones’ ’73 Kooyong concert.
My debut was Sweet at Festival Hall in 1975 with Dad,my plus one in later life for Don McLean (grim) and Engelbert Humperdinck (awesome).
In 1980s Melbourne,there were bands every night. The Church at Chasers,James Brown at the Metro,Spandau Ballet and Hall and Oates at that old swimming pool. Joe Camilleri,Paul Kelly,Crowded House,Kylie (in a laneway dive.) One Friday as the Gurus smashedLeilani,I vomited on Kate Ceberano’s arm in the Palais toilets.
Great times. Now they’re back. And my personal pandemic is ending as is started,with Mr Grohl. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world,he’s bringing it 20 minutes up the road. Coincidence or karma?
Dave,I’m counting on our cosmic bond to help you pick me out in the crowd. I’ll be the old duck with the same hair as Hugo Weaving inLord of the Rings,ugly crying and shouting and feeling very lucky.