Sam Shinazzi

Tour Diary

Melbourne April 2002
Friday 12th April 2002

During the month of April I was housesitting the family homestead and was sole carer for Fred the cat. I was also booked to play with The Pernice Brothers and The Lucksmiths in Melbourne. My brother and sister-in-law would take my place whilst I was away.

10:30am - Caught the train to the airport. It was my maiden voyage actually. The new airport train shuttle looks great and obviously serves a great purpose but must I really pay three times the price of a regular ticket? Compared to the Olympics 2000 the station was like a ghost town. I walk ten minutes to the Virgin Blue terminal and check in. The promoter has spelled my name wrong on the ticket but it is not a major problem. My stage gear(guitar leads etc) is my only carry on luggage and it gets some unusual looks from the security guys operating the x-ray machine. It is documented elsewhere about my Ffear of flying; suffice to say I HATE it and that it terrifies me. I call my friend Teri who is a seasoned traveller. She promises me that it will all be okay. I don't believe her.

12:30pm - The plane takes off and I think of my loved ones.

2:00pm - It seemed like forever but I touch down to a cool Melbourne. The walk from the plane to the general terminal is long, but it is there I meet my good friend CC. We drive back to her and Shayne's place which is close to the inner city. I like Melbourne's inner city because it is mostly green and resembles traits of the suburbia that I have grown up in. CC and I walk to JB-Hi Fi. I'd never been to such a discount store and I bought The Eel's 'Electro Shock Blues' and REM's 'Up' for a very cheap price.

CC and I leave around 5:30pm and head to Brunswick Street. I've been here many times in the past two years; just when I think I am becoming familiar with this famous street I realise that I am indeed lost. We drop my gear in at The Evelyn Hotel. I had never been here, let alone played. It has a seperate bar for drinking and playing pool; next to that is the actual venue which is long in an almost rectangular shape.

We meet Allyson from Spunk who is very nice and obviously a great mate of my buddy Aaron. CC and I have dinner down the road at a place called The Hideout. Reminds me of a modern version of Arnold's from Happy Days; a restaurant/cafe/bar open most hours. I eat a plate of pasta and we grab a Hideout lollipop on the way out. Virtually next door is Polyester Records which I have raved about before. Bought Jason Walker's album. Call home and speak with my brother to check in on Fred. He is fretting, in a bad mood and only emerging for food. I am worried but hope he will be okay.

Back at The Evelyn The Pernice Brothers have arrived and are soundchecking. These guys are very particular about their sound (keep in mind Thom is an engineer) and they are trying out some sampled drums which they didn't do last week in Sydney. As the Brothers struggle with their sound onstage I catch up with Tali, Mark and Marty from The Lucksmiths. These guys are so friendly. Infact, with the Lucky's, Pernice Brothers and The C-Minus Project all doing a couple of shows together, Aaron (the promoter) was calling it 'The Nice Guys Tour'. It was an added bonus; not only to play with two wonderful bands but the fact that it was all so easy ... no ego or competition.

Whilst Lucksmiths soundchecked I briefly chat with Thom Monahan and Peyton Pinkerton. Joe Pernice then joins CC and myself as I write out a rough setlist. CC was on holiday in Perth and saw Joe perform his only solo show of the tour. They chatted over there so he was surprised to see her in Melbourne. The three of us talk for a while and then I soundcheck. It's about thirty minutes before doors open. I meet Stuart Morris (Morro) who is doing sound and tour managing for the Melbourne leg. Morro is a good man with plenty of stories and does great sound.

I use Shayne's Maton acoustic and am counting down the days until I own one myself. I sit with Shayne and CC near the mixing desk for another twenty minutes. People are early which is always good. My voice feels kinda scratchy (see previous rants about such things) but it's just jitters. Still, I see Tali Lucksmith at the bar and ask him what I should be drinking for a tender throat. He tells me port is the go but for some reason I stick with whiskey, my traditonal onstage drink.

As I start my set there are probably fifty people in the venue but after the first song punters steadily flow in until I can see a rather healthy crowd. People sit right down the front and I was very happy with not only the amount of people but the respect and focus they gave me. Ended up playing to a large crowd.

My set consisted of:
Town Where You Were Born
Night For Rememberence
Wyoming (dedicated to Lucksmiths)
Goofy
My Friend and a Free Day
August 17 (Peabody cover)
You're Home I'm Home (request)
House Near Bridge
Tiger's Tale (with CC Hua)

'You're Home I'm Home' was a request which I gladly played, 'August 17' is a Peabody song I play more often than they do and CC sang with me on 'Tiger's Tale'. Overall I thought it was one of my best shows (I seem to say this about all the shows on this site; I guess I pull out all the stops for the big shows). I'm glad it did go well because from the stage I could see Joe Pernice watching the set. Infact after I was done Joe was the first (backstage) to tell me how much he enjoyed it which simply made me glow. What a compliment. The other Brothers and the Lucky's all praise me. Does this tour ever have to end?

I grab the first of many beers from the band room (and what a joy it is to have a band room) and meet up with my old dear friends Laura and Raelene. I'm introduced to Ty (Laura's boyfriend) who is very friendly. Catch up with Aaron, Vi, Andrew and his mates.

I stand down the front for the Lucksmiths. I am a fairly new fan (a year or so?) and it is a treat to see them in their hometown. Despite their quirky image and upbeat music I can hear some deep, beautiful lyrics. The crowd is near capacity and will be the biggest Pernice has played to in Australia. The drinks rider is large tonight; sometimes playing solo has its benefits. Backstage Joe asks me if he can use Shayne's Maton as a spare guitar, to which I replied that he could probably use it as his main guitar if he wanted to. A big smile beams across his face but he asks me to go doublecheck. Shayne is right near the back next to the mixing desk and it takes me a few minutes to reach him. The place is packed. At first Shayne and CC are waving at me to say hi but I make my way through the crowd to get their approval. Backstage I wish the Brothers a great show, then watch them from the front corner. Small talk with my Melby friends and occasional well
wishers who enjoyed my set. Sell a few CD's too.

The Pernice brothers play a beautiful set. 'Grudge****' kills me as usual but the whole thing is brilliant. Before 'Cronulla Breakdown' Joe thanks me for coming down to play and then says something positive about my set. I am later told he doesn't say this type of thing that often. Either way, it is a moment to keep.
I talk with young Andrew and his friends afterwards. CC, Shayne and I go backstage. We chat with the Brothers and the Lucky's. We grab a photo with Joe and then head back to CC and Shayne's. Late night drinks and TV follows.
Around 3am I hit the hay. I have my own room which is nice and whilst I don't get that much sleep,it is at least a peaceful rest.
It has been a long but great day. Content.

Saturday 13th April 2002
Wake around 10am and shower. CC is up and we have coffee together. She gives me strict written instructions on how to catch the train into town and where to go. I am meeting Angie and Ewen at Flinders Street. CC offers to drive but a) this girl does enough for me and b) this is all one big adventure so I may as well carry on with it. Keep in mind that I get lost in my own house. I walk down the long green street and find an ancient looking train station. It takes me a while to work out Melbourne ticketing and zones but I eventually take a punt.If I get into trouble I will plead "Tourist!".

The train is full. The AFL (Aussie Rules) is like a religion down here and I talk to a fan of the Essendon Bombers. I tell him that in Sydney when two sets of rugby league supporters are together it can get ugly, yet here I am amazed at their friendly nature. Sydney has the better game but maybe Melbourne has the better supporters?

I await Angie and Ewen for twenty minutes and continually wonder if I am in the right meeting place. Again AFL supporters flow around me and I even see some Melbourne Storm league fans. I hug Angie upon arrival and we head to Chinatown. Compare gigs with Ewen who last night played in Snout. He informs me he is now in Dan Brodie's band as well. We walk a while until Ewen picks a great old Chinese Restaurant. No frills and established for fifty years or something. I eat plenty and have a lovely lunch with good friends. Very relaxing and something we should do everytime. Angie and Ewen are off to a Melbourne Storm game. Unfortunately I have to catch a 4:30pm plane so it is impossible for me to attend. (If I had known I was in for the delay from hell I would have gone to the game).

Somehow I make it back to CC's in one piece and on time. I pack my belongings, say goodbye to Shayne and we head off to the airport. I check out the Westgate Bridge and long for a camera. CC drops me off and I thank her profusely for everything. As I check in someone from Virgin Blue informs me of a delay. At this stage it is only an hour. I watch some AFL with a whole bunch of people on the airport TV but cannot understand their fascination (no offense). Drink coffee and have a sandwich.

The delay keeps getting put back but there is nothing that can be done. Apparently a passenger in a wheelchair clipped some part of the plane, then there was bad weather. It ended up being a three hour delay which doesn't seem so bad in print but whilst it is happening, yikes. I call my brother and tell him to call the airline later for a confirmed time of landing. When eventually we get on board, we proceed to sit there for another forty minutes. I become very nervous.

Then two sky marshalls packing pistols walk briskly onto the plane and start talking to a guy about ten rows behind me. "What's going on here?" I think to myself. They leave him on board (always a great feeling, a suspect man on your flight) and then upon take off the guy next to me goes into full prayer mode! Leaning forward with his eyes tightly shut and crossing himself, I start to wonder if this is a joke my friends have scripted. No disrespect to the man who I believe was of the Muslim faith, but my nerves were shot as it was without him being next to me expecting the worst.

Probably the funniest moment which actually made me feel slightly better was when I noticed four rows ahead of me to the left the identical twin of Osama Bin Laden. I kid you not, he was the same age and had the same beard, face and head attire. I smiled and knew that it couldn't get any worse. Post September 11, I was going to be alright.

At 8:45pm I stepped off the plane, picked up my bags and met my brother in the parking area. I swore and cursed but in the end I realised that I had been fortunate enough to have such a terrific (albeit short) trip away. My brother told me Fred the cat had been less grouchy and all was good when I held the big fella (Fred) in my arms again.

Had dinner, watched the last of some footy then my brother and sister in law went home. Caught up with Fred, had a bath and spent the rest of the night cosy in my suburban home watching the premier league; just the boy (Fred) and I.

Thanks to Aaron C., Alison, The Pernice Brothers, The Lucksmiths, CC, my Melbourne mates, Dave and Jenny for a memorable trip.