Sam Shinazzi

Tour Diary

Melbourne May 2004
Melbourne December 2004

Tuesday 21st December 2004

It's not often I catch interstate planes late at night but tonight it is a red eye flight I am boarding. Cricket superstar (and more importantly, Sharks fan) Glenn McGrath boards business class which is pretty cool. I enter economy naturally enough. At 10:20pm we take off. I read about Kevin Williamson in a book I bought off Ebay, drink a beer and I eat cheese biscuits. I do anything to avoid remembering I am 30,000 feet above the ground. There is no one next to me which is kinda good. I mean, I’d love a friend or a pretty lass next to me, but still, I appreciate the space to freak out on my own.

My dear Melbourne friend and webgal CC picks me up which I am forever grateful because it is now midnight. I spend the night in her and Shayne’s granny flat / shed type situation. I read more about the genius of Williamson. I pick up my mobile phone but realise it’s too late to call anyone. I discover a little radio so I turn the dial until I find a Melbourne sports radio station which has talkback all night. Lately I have needed a radio on to sleep at night, so I do my best to get some kip. I am not all that successful, but that’s okay ...

Wednesday 22nd December 2004

Out of bed at 8am to have breakfast with CC and Shayne but they’ve already left for work, so I hit the hay again. I wander down the road with instructions from CC's to the nearest shops. Have a beer in the local, a pie up the road and wander back to the house. Shayne has the new FIFA 2005 game so I am set for the next few hours. Change strings, make some calls.

Around 7pm we get to the Empress, where I am playing with awesome Canadian troubadour Hayden and the lovely Holly Throsby. I drove Hayden to his show in Sydney only days before, and have known Holly quite well for a year now so it is with great pleasure that I catch up with them at sound check. Even cooler is that Aaron from Spunk Records is down for the show. He is my friend. One of my best friends actually.

Dinner with Melbourne mates Laura and Ty. Burger, chips and salad for me. Great to catch up with these lovely people. Quick sound check. (Too quick as I will find out later). Punters start arriving. Some familiar ‘Minus heads, some newbies. A lot of people awaiting Hayden, including some tourists from Canada. Holly also has her own crew, with her brilliant album doing good things over the past month or so. The lights onstage were so bright and close to my head, but it was kinda cool in a way because I could open my eyes and not see a soul when I sung.

My set was something like:
Night For Remembrance
My Friend and a Free Day
Until Sunrise
Until I Almost Died (Blake Babies cover)
Goofy
Birthday
Scotty Come Home
House Near Bridge (‘Stringman’ by Neil Young interlude)
Christian Brothers (Elliott Smith cover)
Out of the Question

I had trouble with the sound coming back from my foldback, so I wasn’t completely into my set. I did sing my heart out though, and people bought some cd’s off me and I got some drinks bought and pats on the back so it must have been ok. (Listening back to a recording of the set it was much better than I thought which is pleasing).

Sit down the front for Holly’s set. The lights are still bright for her, and because I am sitting down the front she keeps looking at me and smiling. I could get used to that. She plays a really strong set as usual. She is my friend and I am super proud of her. The crowd really digs her too.

Must be close to sold out by the time Hayden gets onstage. Holly joins my friends and I down the front. Hayden is in great form. He writes such sad songs yet has such a positive persona on and offstage. He makes plenty of jokes and tells great stories. I should point out that he also writes some beautiful songs as well; love songs if you will. He plays mostly tunes off his latest ‘Elk Lake Serenade’ and his first album from eight years ago ‘Everything I Long For’.

Something bizarre and awful happens. The one asshole-drunk guy out of the whole crowd was being a nuisance inbetween some songs. About halfway through the set, he pushes past us and for no apparent reason kicks in the foldback as hard as he can, smashing glasses amongst us and the foldback into Hayden. As he ambles backwards I grab his collar and swear loudly at him. It suddenly goes all quiet and I feel 200 sets of eyes on me. I push him away out towards what I am hoping will be security or someone who will take care of him. My friend Aaron (Melbourne Aaron) and Shayne tell me not to bother beating the crap out of him, but I really felt like it eh. I felt protective of my friends and my new friend Hayden, who was up there singing his soul out. He doesn’t deserve that shit; we don’t deserve that shit. Hayden is such a professional, he just carries on with a quick joke and more songs. Hayden truly wins everyone over again and again. He used my harmonica. We have shared spit. Sorta.

I am semi-drunk by now. Pleasantly mind you; not kicking foldback or anything! Hang with Aaron (Sydney Aaron) and Holly. Meet Mickey, a very enthusiastic Canadian. Talk with the nice owner of the Empress. Melbourne Aaron drives me around to Brunswick St at about 1am, where we eat at the Kebab factory which is where he always seems to take me. But it is good food for this hour. The street is packed, probably due to Christmas and partying. Melbourne tends to party all night though which I admire. Get back to CC and Shayne’s around 3am. Hit the hay around 4am.

Thursday 23rd December 2005

More FIFA 2005 around 11am. Melbourne Aaron picks me up and we head to Camberwell. Check JB Hi Fi. Eat at this tavern place around 3pm. Vegetarian pizza and beer. CC arrives home from work and we head to their local bowling club where Shayne has been for a work function. We have cheap drinks, and then I play my first ever game of bowls with Shayne, CC and their mates. It takes me a few throws to get the idea. Believe it or not, the winning shot comes down to me. Believe it or not, I make the shot! It was like something out of 8 Mile or Rocky or Mighty Ducks. I curved the ball to the right and it came all the way around to get the closest to the little yellow ball. It was a great feeling.

7pm CC drives me to the airport. This girl is so generous. She and Shayne play as a duo called Go You Huskies. Check them out.

I check in and then wait for boarding time. All of a sudden I have some sort of allergy attack, I think due to the heat of the day (around 35 degrees; not as bad as Sydney heat though). I am sneezing and blowing my nose like it’s the end of the world. I go to board and my ticket won’t go through. The lady says that I am on the next plane which seems kinda weird. Nevertheless, I wander off to check the departures screen, but the listed flight on my ticket isn’t up there. I check my itinerary and I am definitely on a 9pm flight, so I go back and show this to the lady. She is mystified, and then I hear my name being paged to get to the departure gate! I tell her “That’s me they are calling” and she looks as embarrassed as I am. Turns out I had the wrong boarding pass out. Here is a tip for young (and not so young) travellers. Always dispose or put away your original flight boarding pass. I was trying to show the Sydney-Melbourne pass when I should have had out my Melbourne-Sydney pass. I am the last to board the plane, allergy attack and all. Wouldn’t you know it, I am sitting next to a beautiful businesswoman and have a whole flight to get to know her. But I can’t, because I am blowing my nose and sneezing. I want to just crawl up somewhere all alone.

I had a ball on this little ‘tour’. Thanks to everyone who helped and made it possible. Check out Hayden. He rules.

Sam - December 2004