MY AUSTRALIAN BRUCE BLOG (I know you have all been waiting for it!) Greetings everyone, the dust has settled, Bruce and the band are safely back home. Time for me to reflect on my 12 days of Bruce (12 days, 3 states, 4 venues, 6 shows): MELBOURNE: was so happy to finally join the tour instead of posting setlists. Arrived on Friday afternoon and received a lower number than I anticipated. Met up with Victor who had kindly agreed open his house to me for the 3 days I was in Melbourne. We went to the Corner Hotel Friday night with some fellow Tramps for dinner. Show 1: Roll call number 185: Had a sign request in my head ready for Brisbane depending on how things panned out. Halfway through the show it would not be needed as Australia was given its first ever album show, the whole of BITUSA. While many people would consider this to be the standout of the show, I loved hearing Darkness but the show stopper was Factory. A song very fitting given the recent announcements from Ford and Toyota’s about their intention to close the plants here in Melbourne effectively putting thousands of people out of work over the next 2-3 years. It was a short song that spoke volumes. Eddie Vedder also made his first guest appearance of the tour dueting on Highway to Hell and Darkness. Show 2: Roll call number 63: Roulette, Lost in the Flood (one of the sign requests I made for the Sydney Wrecking Ball shows) I was amazed by these two songs. It totally blew me away that we got another album show, this time BTR. Meeting Across the River, although many people skip it on the record, live with Curt’s trumpet, it just shines. To finish off the show with an acoustic This Hard Land was just mesmerizing. SYDNEY: did the mad rush to Sydney, there were many flights earlier than mine, so was thinking a number between 150-200 would be likely. Was amazed at my number. Where were you all? Show 1: Roll call number 28: Show opened with an Easybeat’s cover, Friday On My Mind. Everyone went wild, even though it was only Wednesday! We were rewarded with our third album show. I was blown away, by Something in the Night, another sign request from 2013 WB shows. It seemed like I was a tour early with all my requests. If this is true next time look out we may get Thundercrack and Bishop Danced! Another great shout out to an Australian band, this time INXS when they played Don’t Change. The band must have loved playing a really fast tempo song as they seemed to get stuck in a gear and Born to Run gave everyone a workout. Bruce stopped it and started again to no avail and as he said at the end “It’s the fastest we’ve ever played that Motherf#$er!” The excitement reached fever pitch with the appearance of the pump organ and a beautiful version of Dream Baby Dream (the only appearance in Australia of this song) to finish the night. HUNTER VALLEY: okay road trip time, off to wine country. The hardest logistically to travel to and around. Both shows were decided by lottery which gave everyone a bit of time to catch their breath and relax. Thanks to Caroline who got me to the Hunter and graciously offered me a place to stay. Love to you and hubby. Show 1: Lottery was kind to me this night and we were bumped up 30 places. Drinkin’ Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee by Stick McGhee opened the set to welcome us all to Hope Estate. A few people took it to be an invite to drink a little too much wine which dampened my experience. Murder Inc had me screaming along with Trapped mid set. American Skin had most of the crowd listening respectful. Unfortunately a few people decided the beginning of The Wish was a great time to chat, they were hastily told to shut up by many of us. The Wish was the standout highlight of the night for me. Show 2: Lottery was unkind and was bumped back 90 places, which didn’t matter as I had decided to head to the back of the pit and let the drinkers have the front. Show started with another call out to the wine locale Eric Burdon & War’s “Spill The Wine“. Michelle playing Bruce’s foil for the song. What got the crowd excited was the double from TOL, Brilliant Disguise and Human Touch. Pay Me My Money Down had everyone singing along, Sandy had us all swaying thinking of summer and Ramod had everyone dancing and laughing. The highlight was an acoustic version of I Wish I Was Blind followed by Thunder Road to finish off the night. BRISBANE: flew up for my last show of the tour. Dreading the humidity I knew was waiting and preparing for my final days of roll call. Julie you were my place to stay and if I was a more humid loving person we would have had a blast, but I needed air conditioning. I can’t thank you enough for the offer of a bed and place to stay. Kim, thank you for your expert driving and navigating. Show 1: Roll call number 38. Sitting outside the auditorium doors was hearing Staying Alive by the Bee Gees had us all wondering. Bruce and a disco tune, would he dare? The answer was yes. He transformed the song, gave it strings and a feel that certainly had us dancing along. He picked a few signs from the crowd and we got half of the songs from Greetings. We then had the choice of more song requests or the entire Innocent/E Street Shuffle album. We ended up with our fourth album show and I received another song request a year late, Wild Billy complete with Garry on tuba. We had our own version of NYCS with extra strings. The ladies were outstanding and Bruce said they had only learnt their parts that afternoon. Eddie Vedder joined Bruce again for Highway to Hell before an acoustic Thunder Road and then he was gone. HIGHLIGHTS AND DISAPPOINTMENTS: Meeting people I had been chatting to for months on Facebook. For the hospitality of Victor, Caroline (and hubby) Julie and Paul, your offers and help were greatly appreciated by me. Kim (and Presslea) and Jenny for friendship and roll call rides, the Broooooce ladies, Brad and Jim your lovely infectious fun at Hunter 2 that night was the highlight of the pits for me. To Karl, I hope you get back on your feet (or in a car) soon. Graham, you ran the lines fairly and equally, thank you. Suzy it was wonderful to meet you. Phil, Marion it was nice to briefly see you again and to finally meet Serge. Disappointments were only from people who were too busy getting what they could at the detriment of others. The nastiness I saw and the select few who felt they were better than others. Overall, a brilliant time. Now we just need a couple of years to save and get ready to do it again because Tramps like us …
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 14:52:39 +0000
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