My Emiliana Torrini Trip
So I decided on Monday night that I would drive down to Melbourne (well, the most northern suburb of Melbourne with a train station) on Tuesday afternoon to see Emiliana Torrini that night. I would have caught the train down and back, but the last train leaves Southern Cross station to Bendigo at 10:25m while the gig was scheduled to end at 10:45. I could have hung around in the city from 11 til 6am to catch the early train back home, but I heard doing that sucks. So driving was the plan. I left later than I anticipated, and took a couple of wrong turns, one big time and I had no idea where I was going and had to stop to ask some road workers, but I got to Craigieburn about 15 mins before I had to be there which was cool. I mostly just cranked Emiliana Torrini albums for the trip down to get psyched for that night. Train trip from Craigieburn to Flinders St took about 45 minutes.
Once I got to the Forum Theater, there was a small line to get in but it moved quick and I was in there in no time. The venue was great, rows of seats at the back, booths in the middle which would be great if you were with a group of mates, and a big floor for standing at the front. I went and got a drink at the bar and sat down at the back for a while until it got closer to the time for Charge Group to start. Made my way down to the front and sat in front of the centre mic with my back against the stage. Turns out a Big Day Out forumer who I had on msn was there but I didn't know that at the time, he was sitting in a couple of metres in front of me while I was waiting for the support act. I hadn't really heard Charge Group before but they were pretty entertaining, I really loved one song in particular that they claimed to be a new one not on their album, so I'll have to hunt that down.
(not my picture)
Emiliana and her band came on at about 9:20 and played til 10:45. Her set was riddled with cheerful banter between each song, most of which was cute or funny, often referring to the Forum Theatre as a stadium (because of the Colosseum-like statues and beams around the venue) and making us sing things back to her. At one point the band started playing a song about three times and she went to start but forgot how the lyrics started and had to ask the crowd. Some guy in the front row, just to the left of me said them and she was like 'Isn't that the second verse?... No wait... you're right." It was cute.
An example of some of the stage banter: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=iOz60Ejlf2E
The set list was as follows (Blue=Me & Armini. Brown=Fisherman's Woman. Green=Love In The Time of Science.)
Fireheads
Heartstopper
Hold Heart
Life Saver
Today Has Been OK
Sunny Road
Big Jumps
Ha Ha
Me and Armini
Jungle Drum
Birds
Bleeder
Gun
Heard it all Before
Nothing Brings Me Down
Unemployed In Summertime
Fisherman's Woman/Sea People
Beggar's Prayer
I found this from the gig I went to in Melbourne; Sunny Road: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=4AfwMgMwltc
I'm not sure where this is from but she is wearing the same dress as she was at the forum and it's the same stage set up; Jungle Drum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJK6Y6oHa2A
So she basically played every song from the new album except for Dead Duck. The good things about this set list were that Fisherman's Woman is probably the album I am into the least (out of it, the new one, Love in the Time of Science and Merman), yet she seemed to play only the songs I love from it, also the new album is great, it was good to see that material played live. The negative thing was that there were no tracks from Merman (my favourite Torrini release) and only one and a half from Love In The Time of Science. The highlight of the set was definitely Jungle Drum, Unemployed In Summertime and Sunny Road along with the between song banter explaining the origin of songs or little stories. It reminded me of the funny stories Sufjan Stevens would tell between songs earlier in the year (except not quite as random and funny). I'd say this definitely goes down in my top five gigs of the year.
Once the set was over, I made my way to the Flinders St station and headed back to Craigieburn. Ride was pretty boring, just chucked on some music on the ipod and almost drifted off to sleep. I chucked the P plates on the car and headed off, it was about 12:15 by then. I got back to Bulla and I think that is where I must have made a wrong turn because I suddenly had no idea where I was going and nothing seemed familiar. Turns out I missed the turn off to Bulla Diggers Rest Rd and ended up in Sunbury and had to ask for directions. I guess next time, just in case, I will bring a road map, but I think now I have been down there and back, I will be able to remember the way. Once I hit the freeway, it was smooth sailing apart from areas thick with fog where I could hardly see shit. Cruising along the Calder Freeway/Highway singing (badly) along to Hanson's 'Middle of Nowhere' and Weezer's 'Blue Album' reminded me of the fun I had driving by myself from Mackay to Bendigo through inland QLD and NSW.
Turns out driving down and back only cost me around $22 for fuel and $5.50 for a return train trip from Craigieburn to Flinders St while taking the train down and back would have cost $30. Bit of a shock that driving was cheaper. Overall it was a pretty fun trip. I'm looking forward to driving down again for the next concert.
Once I got to the Forum Theater, there was a small line to get in but it moved quick and I was in there in no time. The venue was great, rows of seats at the back, booths in the middle which would be great if you were with a group of mates, and a big floor for standing at the front. I went and got a drink at the bar and sat down at the back for a while until it got closer to the time for Charge Group to start. Made my way down to the front and sat in front of the centre mic with my back against the stage. Turns out a Big Day Out forumer who I had on msn was there but I didn't know that at the time, he was sitting in a couple of metres in front of me while I was waiting for the support act. I hadn't really heard Charge Group before but they were pretty entertaining, I really loved one song in particular that they claimed to be a new one not on their album, so I'll have to hunt that down.
(not my picture)
Emiliana and her band came on at about 9:20 and played til 10:45. Her set was riddled with cheerful banter between each song, most of which was cute or funny, often referring to the Forum Theatre as a stadium (because of the Colosseum-like statues and beams around the venue) and making us sing things back to her. At one point the band started playing a song about three times and she went to start but forgot how the lyrics started and had to ask the crowd. Some guy in the front row, just to the left of me said them and she was like 'Isn't that the second verse?... No wait... you're right." It was cute.
An example of some of the stage banter: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=iOz60Ejlf2E
The set list was as follows (Blue=Me & Armini. Brown=Fisherman's Woman. Green=Love In The Time of Science.)
Fireheads
Heartstopper
Hold Heart
Life Saver
Today Has Been OK
Sunny Road
Big Jumps
Ha Ha
Me and Armini
Jungle Drum
Birds
Bleeder
Gun
Heard it all Before
Nothing Brings Me Down
Unemployed In Summertime
Fisherman's Woman/Sea People
Beggar's Prayer
I found this from the gig I went to in Melbourne; Sunny Road: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=4AfwMgMwltc
I'm not sure where this is from but she is wearing the same dress as she was at the forum and it's the same stage set up; Jungle Drum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJK6Y6oHa2A
So she basically played every song from the new album except for Dead Duck. The good things about this set list were that Fisherman's Woman is probably the album I am into the least (out of it, the new one, Love in the Time of Science and Merman), yet she seemed to play only the songs I love from it, also the new album is great, it was good to see that material played live. The negative thing was that there were no tracks from Merman (my favourite Torrini release) and only one and a half from Love In The Time of Science. The highlight of the set was definitely Jungle Drum, Unemployed In Summertime and Sunny Road along with the between song banter explaining the origin of songs or little stories. It reminded me of the funny stories Sufjan Stevens would tell between songs earlier in the year (except not quite as random and funny). I'd say this definitely goes down in my top five gigs of the year.
Once the set was over, I made my way to the Flinders St station and headed back to Craigieburn. Ride was pretty boring, just chucked on some music on the ipod and almost drifted off to sleep. I chucked the P plates on the car and headed off, it was about 12:15 by then. I got back to Bulla and I think that is where I must have made a wrong turn because I suddenly had no idea where I was going and nothing seemed familiar. Turns out I missed the turn off to Bulla Diggers Rest Rd and ended up in Sunbury and had to ask for directions. I guess next time, just in case, I will bring a road map, but I think now I have been down there and back, I will be able to remember the way. Once I hit the freeway, it was smooth sailing apart from areas thick with fog where I could hardly see shit. Cruising along the Calder Freeway/Highway singing (badly) along to Hanson's 'Middle of Nowhere' and Weezer's 'Blue Album' reminded me of the fun I had driving by myself from Mackay to Bendigo through inland QLD and NSW.
Turns out driving down and back only cost me around $22 for fuel and $5.50 for a return train trip from Craigieburn to Flinders St while taking the train down and back would have cost $30. Bit of a shock that driving was cheaper. Overall it was a pretty fun trip. I'm looking forward to driving down again for the next concert.