the summer that was

I decided tonight to look back retrospectively on the summer of 07/08, as it has been remarkably packed with concerts and festivals.

It all started for me in the first half of October, when Regurgitator played at Night Train. I was well aware of the summer coming up and I managed to mention it a few times throughout the night. There was no fence, so front row was stageside. I managed to pinch an awesome spot on the right one person back and stayed there for the whole show.

One week later was Taste of Chaos. While it was The Used headlining, I had no interest in seeing them. In fact I blew off their set to wait in line to get the signatures of the dudes from Rise Against. That poster and ticket stub hang proudly on my wall. It was held at the Entertainment Centre which was traditionally shithouse, but at least they had the sense to have sideshows.

December was electronica of epic proportions. Beginning with Paul van Dyk’s Beach Party on the 9th, it managed to produce some of the most lackluster foresight imaginable in terms of toilet allocation. It got to the point where security broke open the fence and let dudes run out into the sand dunes to piss. I managed to take a fetching snap of the ocean while I was there.

Just four days later I was in Melbourne with some super cool homeboys to see none other than French house Gods, Daft Punk. Easily the highlight of the summer, I haven’t been the same since. The only downside is that the sheen is taken off their LPs when I listen to them, as nothing sounds as great as the real thing. Same goes for nearly every other electronic act.

January was a writeoff.

February was different; it was time for some festivals. First on the New Years’ calendar for Australians is the Big Day Out. It was a very weak assortment of acts buoyed by Rage Against The Machine. While waiting for them to come on stage (at which time I was waiting patiently on the fence) we managed to check out some other acts such as Pnau and double serves of Regurgitator and Silverchair.

After great ticket sales the year before from the headliners of Soundwave Festival in Adelaide (thanks to me), they managed to make a stopover in Adelaide. Lucky for me, the headliners this time around were my favourites The Offspring. Good stuff such as Incubus and Sugarcult were there as well (the latter of which I managed to get a signed poster of) which more than made the dirt in the lungs worth it.

Summer geographically finished around then, but April had an assortment of goodies too delicious to pass up. Ideally, V Festival would have come to Adelaide and saved me 100 dollars, but the tradeoff was individual concerts for the headliners which meant massive long sets.

The first cab off the rank was The Smashing Pumpkins on the Wednesday. Duran Duran had played on the Tuesday but that’s not my bag. Even though Billy Corgan did nothing to digress from his pretentious demeanour, it was an enjoyable night coupled with the amazing touring bassist, Ginger Reyes.

The night after over at the Thebarton Theatre was an intimate and mind blowing performance by Air – the French band. Directly compared to the crowd from the night before, even though it was a fraction of the size, there was no comparison. The crowd was receptive and appreciative and it made for an incredibly warm and vibrant environment which made the night wonderful.

Skipping from downtempo to unbuffed punk rock, Pennywise came to blow my face off later on in April. They were supported by Sum 41 who were pretty damn awesome in their own regard. I managed to come out of there unscathed as I was trying to avoid a repeat of Unwritten Law the year before, save for a little flesh wound where my leg caught the side of a chair on the way out.

And this all comes to ahead tonight, May 4th, at Fowlers. On a bitterly cold night (compared to the ~38 degree heat of BDO and Soundwave) I signed off on my albeit elongated Summer of concerts by being treated to an aggressive and amazing performance by Helmet. Add to that all members of the band sticking around after the show to sign shit and it was an amazing experience.

I feel both sad and fulfilled at the same time. Bless that Australian exchange rate and favourable economic conditions pertaining to increased disposable income. Bless.

I can hardly wait for next summer.