So when I decided that I’d be going to the United States for a second time, I realised I was in a tiny bit of a pickle. I had bought tickets for shows during the week of Coachella - namely Tiesto at Festival Hall and Shadow & Cut playing The Hard Sell at the Palace. I wasn’t too worried about Tiesto, the event had sold out and I had no trouble getting rid of the ticket for the show. But I really wanted to see The Hard Sell. When I really started get Jurassic 5, I tried to get into as many of their side projects as possible - one of which was Shadow and Cut playing this brilliant set full of mashed together 45s called Product Placement. I fell in love instantly and bought the CD (Product Placement On Tour) along with the DVD and was stunned at the performance the two talented DJs put on. When the tour was announced, my jaw dropped. I bought a ticket for the Melbourne the day they went on sale, and prepared myself for an audio-visual feast, watching the YouTube videos from the Hollywood Bowl set they played.
So when I decided that I would return oversees for another year, I did what any rational person would do - I bought a ticket for the Sydney show along with a cheap return airfair on Jetstar. But figuring the concert would go late and that I would want to go to the footy the next day, I decided to get the first available plane to Melbourne (6am) and didn’t bother booking a hotel. I was going to stay up all night and have one of the better times of my life.
To sum up the day, here is a timeline of my Sydney trip, all twenty two and a half hours work.
10:30am Saturday – It seems way too early to be up given what I’m next up to, but I’m up and full of gusto. My flight was at 1:30 (which would get me into Sydney at about 2:45) at the annoying airport that is Avalon. Hey.. cheap flights right? Had a shower, got dressed and checked in to my flights online.
11:45am - I left home, time to begin the trip.
12:15pm - Driving through Werribee towards the airport. It’s surprising how many Geelong supporters are driving up for the game against the Swans, as I’m passing past many cars with scarves out the windows and “Geelong Member 2008″ bumper stickers.
12:40pm – I overtake a Volvo driver sitting on eighty in the left hand lane. I take a quick glance to my left as I pass, he has driving gloves!
1:00pm – I finally park at Avalon. I’m only bringing myself – no bags, and the only electronic device I’m carrying is a mobile phone (rare I know). I go straight to the security check, empty my pockets and now it’s waiting time.
1:05pm – Minimum EFTPOS transfer is $10, so I have to pay for my packet of Mentos, newspaper and bottle of water with what little cash I have. Note to self: Visit ATM before trip in future.
1:10pm – They have an arcade? Cool! I treat myself to a few games of Family Guy pinball.
1:20pm – It’s time to board. After waiting for most of the people to queue up, I grab a spot near the back. I’m sitting with a group of Japanese tourists taking advantage of the cheap flights who naturally start asking me questions without speaking any English. I help out as much as possible – not much but enough.
2:30pm – The captain has made an announcement. Due to fog in Sydney, only one runway is operating, which means we are taxing for a while before we can land? Right turns ho!
2:55pm – We finally touch down at Sydney airport. The staff mentions that we can turn our phones on as the plane is refuelling, so I ring my friend Emma and mention I’m going to be late for our late lunch meeting. Unlike at Avalon where I was able to board the plane from the rear, I have to wait for people to grab hand luggage and generally take a long time.
3:10pm – I skipped ahead of all those people going to grab bags and follow the signs to the railway station. I ask a member of Qantas staff what time the terminal opens, wanting to plan a return time for my trip back to Melbourne, but they don’t know and assume the place will be open at 5am. Reassuring..
3:25pm – Double Decker trains? Awesome!
3:34pm – As the train comes to a stop at Central station, a women loudly asks her friend
“Is this Central? We get off at Central?”
3:40pm – I get off at Museum station and by chance bump into Emma. She explains that the station has three entrances, so I lucked out by choosing that exact exit. Emma hasn’t decided where we are going to eat (and my calls of Seven-Eleven are shouted down), so we end up walking up Oxford Street and somehow manage up in Paddington before she chooses a place.
4:00pm – I grab a BLT and water while Emma has a lemon, lime and bitters. She asks me how it is to which I respond “oh it’s quality”. I’m mocked for the rest of the afternoon.
4:45pm – Emma has to go to dinner with her family, and I decided I’m going to see a film. Emma recommends an art house theatre a few blocks up and see Grindhouse, as it would kill a few hours. I decide to go a little more low brow and get a Gold Class ticket for Semi Pro.
5:30pm – The Gold Class at Pitt Street is the nicest theatre I’ve ever seen. A huge bar stretches from one end to the other. Unfortunately I’m not very hungry, so I order a Sprite, along with a choc top and a second Sprite to arrive half way through the film. At other Gold Class theatres I’d get a standard paper cup full of soft drink, but at this location they have wonderful glass wear, filled full of sugar water. A few more people stroll in to the bar area, and I go into the theatre and grab my seat up the back.
6:05pm – I really want to see Get Smart. It’s Michael Scott playing a secret agent – how can you go wrong?
6:08pm – Wow these chairs are awesome. Leather, with two separate buttons for reclining – love it.
7:30pm – Wow that movie was absolute tripe. Time for dinner.
7:35pm – Sushi Train is packed to the rafters and I’m hungry now. Across the road is Oporto – good enough. I grab a Bondi meal and eat it slowly.
8:00pm – I’ve still got time to kill, at least half an hour. I go across to the arcade and take a look around. I really badly want to play the UFO catchers but if I win, I don’t have anywhere to store a toy. I decide to play Wheel A Fortune pinball.
8:30pm – Time to get the train. I go down to Town Hall and pick out the station for Luna Park. $2.40 – not bad value.
8:45pm – The train goes over the harbor bridge. Great views.
8:50pm – I get off the train and follow the small crowd to Luna Park. I slowly walk around, looking at the various shops and rides and find a crowd waiting at the Big Top, the location of the concert, and get in line.
9:15pm – The doors finally open and the crowd slowly gets in, with the majority going to the bar. I head to the loo to relieve myself, and follow it up by getting my first (and only) Red Bull.
9:20pm – The merchandise is actually priced reasonably. I pick up a blue “Hard Sell” t-shirt ($30).
9:23pm – Danielsan is the first warm-up DJ and is spinning semi-commercial/semi-underground hip-hop. The crowd enjoys it.
10:00pm – Dexter replaces Danielsan and really gets the crowd going, which has built up by this time. He spins a mixture of commercial hip-hop and soul and the audience are eating it up.
10:30pm – DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist finally show up on stage and are just about to start. Shadow introduces Cut as “the real star of Juno”. Shadow runs through a number of genres to see what the crowd is interested in. They explain that this is a set “by music lovers, for music lovers”, and cue up a video explaining how the set works (and how it’s different to a standard DJ set).
10:55pm – Shadow & Cut finally get into things and the crowd is surging towards the front, with people pushing past me to catch up with their “friends”. The set for the most part is side one of The Hard Sell (Encore) CD but is awesome to see and hear live. The visuals behind the screen keep you abreast of what’s going on – switching between portable cameras located near the decks and pre-recorded video footage based around 7-inch records and jukeboxes.
11:16pm – Gilligans Island Theme over Stairway to Heaven. Lovely.
11:40pm – DJ Shadow asks the audience “Do you want the full show? Because Perth got the full show” and the crowd responds in the only way they know how to – by cheering loudly. “The next set is like a rollercoaster, it goes slow, speeds up, goes really fast, then slow again” explains Shadow.
11:55pm – This video game scratch session is cool – Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Q-Bert; all with visuals mixed together from the video games themselves. Awesome.
12:30am Sunday – Cut Chemist has one more thing to show us – the ol’ portable turntables that were used back in the Jurassic 5 days. Cut and Shadow scratch up over Metallica’s Enter Sandman to finish the show, before throwing posters out to the crowd.
12:40am – On my way outside, a young guy has collapsed and is convulsing on the concrete. Two paramedics are attending to him, but the crowd leaving is more content on watching. I make a quick getaway.
1:00am – I’m looking for the taxi rank and having no luck. To make matters worse, the trains have stopped running back to the CBD so everyone is now looking for taxis… joy.
1:10am – Crowds of people are looking for taxis. A girl notices that I’m doing the same and asks where I’m going, and asks if it would be okay to share a cab. I’m all for it. We talk about the show and how much we enjoy Shadow’s work while taxis without passengers fly by.
1:15am – The girl rings her mobile to book a taxi and is told it will be 15 to 20 minutes. In the next five minutes another taxi comes by and we steal that one.
1:35am – I explain why I have come to Sydney and how I’m flying straight home in a few hours. The taxi driver is very talkative and loves Melbourne. He asks if I know the distance between Eden and Melbourne, to which I respond “sorry, not sure”.
2:00am – I arrive at Star City right on 2am. By luck, I stumble upon the poker area and check out the list. 80NL, 200NL and a few games not running. I stick my name on 80NL and wait – only thirteen people ahead.
2:35am – I have read Bluff Magazine back to back and decide to take a walk, looking at the table games. I get an SMS – my seat is ready so I head back to the poker area ready to play.
2:40am – I look at my meagre $80 starting stack and realize I will have my work cut out for me. The guy to my right has at least $800 and most of the other stacks at the table have at least $200.
2:43am – These players are beyond terrible. $800 stack makes it $35 to go from the middle position and the button calls. Flop comes Q-6-4, two diamonds and bets out $20, before being called. The turn is a ten of clubs and $800 stack bets out $75. The button calls (and is all in), flipping over ace-jack spades. The big stack shows red nines! The river rags and the button goes busto, before reloading. Hmm free money tonight!
3:06am – A fight breaks out at the table between two players. On a board of T-2-8-9 two diamonds, a young asian guy has put another young asian guy (wearing an Aussie Millions shirt) all-in. Aussie Millions guy has T8 diamonds for two pair, plus a flush draw, while young asian guy has red queens. A jack hits the river and the following exchange takes place:
YAG: Yeaaaaaaah! *WSOP victory style cheer*
AMG (looking at YAG weirdly): I have two pair!
YAG: Straight!
AMG: Two pair (now pointing at cards)!
YAG: STRAIGHT!
AMG finally realizes his hand has been sucked out on.
AMG: Fuck you you fucking monkey.
YAG: Shut the fuck up!
AMG: Let’s go outside right now.
YAG: Fuck you!
AMG (walking away from the table): I’m gonna get my friend to beat the shit out of you, watch out.
3:11am – AMG’s friend walks over to the table. YAG remarks “Is that his friend? I could beat the shit out of him!”
3:45am – I lose a pot when I get a guy to stick all his chips in with KQ against my AQ on a QTx board. He hits a king on the turn and says he is sorry… argh.
4:10am – The guy to my right pays my top pair off with second pair. “If I had to lose to anyone, I’m glad it’s you and not $800 stack”.
4:25am - $800 stack is down to about $250, spewing money into pots by overplaying pocket pairs. No son, your sixes are not good on an AK38 board.
4:27am – We get a new dealer to the table that is clearly tilted by how slow the game is going. I’m playing ABC nit style poker, so I speed up my folding.
4:40am – I decide to finish up and am down $7 for the session. Hey it killed some time right?
4:50am – After struggling to find the exit where the taxis are, I finally find it and get a taxi to the airport. The driver takes a quick route through Mascot and the whole thing only costs $23. I’m stunned and give him $30, to which he gives me $5 change! I tell him that it’s a tip and he’s super happy.
5:10am – After going through security, I walk through the near-empty terminal. Only McDonalds and a coffee shop are open, and I feel like a danish real bad. I end up with a bottle of Coke and a packet of chips, and watch some of the Indian Premier League cricket on tv.
5:40am – I take a seat on the floor near the gate of my flight and some Welch backpackers sit near me. I look around and see that the majority of passengers do not speak any English and wonder how many people know where Avalon is…
6:15am – Drinks trolley comes through, and I have the perfect morning snack – a can of Coke and a blueberry muffin.
7:03am – The plane touches down early and opens from the back – double bonus!
7:10am – I pass all the suckers waiting for bags, pay for my parking and near-on run to my car. It is freezing and my car is covered with frost.
7:25am – I begin the drive home, feeling alert as ever.
8;30am – I arrive at home and tell my mum that I’m hopping into bed to watch tv.
8:35am – I fall asleep.
Was the day intense? It sure was, and I loved every second. Would I do it again? Certainly!
One Response for "Twenty-two and a half hours in Sydney (or how I learned to love DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist)"
Twenty-two and a half hours in Sydney (or how I learned to love DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist)…
So when I decided that I’d be going to the United States for a second time, I realised I was in a tiny bit of a pickle. I had bought tickets for shows during the week of Coachella - namely Tiesto at Festival Hall and Shadow & Cut playing The Hard …
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