Back in November a concert tour teaming up Neil Finn and Paul Kelly was announced. One show was scheduled for Perth for March 14th and fan club members (for Neil Finn and probably Paul Kelly) got a 10% discount on the ticket price as part of a pre-sale. Of course I ordered our tickets as soon as they went on sale. About a week later, a second show was announced for the next night, which was a Friday. This suited the Scientist better as he was working on Friday and I bought a second set of tickets. My plan was to either sell the first set or go both nights. My greediness got the better of me and I eventually asked a friend to join me even though she didn’t know much of the music.

Perth has been through a bit of a dry spell/drought since early summer although we did get a brief shower one day in early March. That one wasn’t enough to have any impact locally. As the day for the concert got closer, it became apparent there was a good possibility of rain for that day. Thursday came and the rain started to come down and carried on for most of the day. It was really a nice and steady rain, just the type we needed right now. Of course now the concern was whether this would carry on into the night. Most of the forecasts said yes and it rained well into the afternoon. My friend came and we started our journey into Perth while the rain seemed to get heavier all the time. I had looked at the weather radar and it looked as though the rain would be clearing at some point although I guessed it was possible for more showers to develop. When we arrived at King’s Park, it was bucketing down and we just sat in my friend’s car for a while before making the effort to go out into the deluge. The rain let up a bit so we made our move along with many others along the road where we parked. People were getting into all sorts of rain gear and carrying all sorts of paraphernalia to keep themselves covered. One group of people from the car next to us used big black plastic bags to cover themselves and it seemed to be a good idea since the bags covered them shoulders to toes. My friend had a couple of rain jackets available and I’d brought along a light jacket as it was so cool. We took plastic grocery bags to cover our feet while we sat. Then we started the long walk to the venue from the car. As we walked along, the rain let up even more and eventually stopped altogether. I pulled off the hood of the jacket I was wearing and pulled off the billed cap that was supposed to provide a bit of shelter for my glasses. At the gate, the  bag checks were pretty cursory and there were staff at the front handing out cardboard seats and plastic bags to the concert-goes. It was looking a bit more promising at this point.

We got over to the hill closest to the stage and planted ourselves in our chairs to wait. The start of the show was a bit delayed while some staff climbed onto the roof of the stage to try to remove the water sitting up there. At the front of the stage there were VIP seats where a single person was seated at the time. The guys on top started pushing water over the edge before someone must have realised the water was falling onto those seats. Next thing we knew, the lady was on her feet and carrying her belongings away before a massive dump of the water was done and staff members were going up and down the aisles, wiping off the seats. Soon afterwards the show began and we settled in for the night. We did have a bit of excitement a while later when a large branch from a tree on the other side of the venue came crashing down with a big noise. Fortunately there were no people sitting in that area at that time but it was rather close to where people would eventually be sitting. Several people from the venue rushed over there to check it out and I guess it was deemed safe as there didn’t seem to be anything roped off later on.

The first performer was Grace Woodroofe, a local artist who was unfamiliar to me. Her set ran for about half an hour or so and was quite pleasant. Next up was Lisa Mitchell who is reasonably well known in Australia. She played at the Blues and Roots festival a few years ago when I went to see Crowded House and I saw a bit of her show then. She came out in a rain poncho with what appeared to be shorts or a skirt underneath. She said she would continue to wear it in solidarity with the crowd which had many in similar gear. It’s funny how the quality of the sound on the acts improves with each performer. The first one just had a guitar and herself while the second one had a bit more plus two microphones…then the big sound of the main act. Her set was quite enjoyable and I recognised a couple of songs.  I think the rain poncho must have got pretty uncomfortable by the end of her set as it had warmed up outside, probably warmer than all day. I’d shed all jackets by this time and was quite comfortable for a while.  About midway through this act, a bunch of people moved into the dance area set up to the right of the stage. Normally I would have been there but I didn’t think my body would be very happy to be standing for hours on end for two nights running. I stayed put in my chair with my friend…My friend wouldn’t have been up to the standing anyway so it made it easier to stay . I think my body was thankful for my consideration in the end…although sitting there for hours wasn’t terribly comfortable either.

The main act came out not too long after 7:30, which was good considering the delays for the earlier acts. Neil and Paul came onto the darkened stage (aside from the low-lit backdrop) carrying lanterns to the front of stage and setting them down. With that dim light, they started playing the first song and the show was on. It was a really good show with lots of banter, much of it related to the all the rain ponchos in the crowd and the day’s weather, which also had included nasty thunderstorms in some areas. The music was absolutely fantastic and it was was wonderful to hear some of the variations done with each of the singer’s songs. Mostly they sang their own songs with harmonies from the rest of the band. But for two songs, they covered the other singer’s song. Paul Kelly sang “Into Temptation” a great song already and he made it his own. Neil joked afterwards that the song was no longer his because Paul had made put his own spin on it and so well.  Neil sang “You Can Put Your Shoes Under My Bed” and it was incredibly moving. I must admit I haven’t heard Paul’s version so cannot compare it at all yet. Most of the earlier songs were love songs and then there were quite a few slow songs before they picked up the tempo with many of their most popular songs. The crowd sang along to some of the later songs but I found it wasn’t as animated as it usually is for these shows. But it was all good in the end with two encores and finishing off with the Buddy Holly song, “Words of Love”. This is a funny song for me because I’ve only heard Buddy Holly’s version a few times. I mostly know it from a compilation of  Beatles songs I had in my early teens and I think of them when I hear it rather than Holly.

That was the last we saw of the rain that night. It was as though the rain cleared out just in time for our show.

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On Friday the Scientist and I took off around mid-afternoon. The skies had cleared and it was a warm and muggy day. There was a chance of rain early in the day but we saw none of that around here. The forecast for the evening was to be clear and for this I was quite grateful since it made for a more relaxing outing all around.  We parked outside King’s Park and walked through the park to the venue. The Scientist had to go back to the car after we’d gone part way as we’d forgotten to bring a blanket to sit on and thought it might be useful with the wet ground. He also realised we’d both forgotten about getting a parking ticket to see us through to 6pm so was able to take care of that too. I continued to walk on and then stopped to take some photos until he caught back up with me. It was about ten minutes before the gates were due to open but we went into the venue to get our bags checked and tickets scanned ahead of time, then waited with the crowd for the “gates” to open. This didn’t take very long as they opened a bit early and we made our way across the grounds to the closest spot we could find in the grassy area. There were a couple of ladies already sitting there and we situated ourselves next to them and had a great view of the stage for sitting. We’d been given the cardboard seats again and used those instead of the blanket. They were reasonably comfortable for the time we used them.

We’d brought sandwiches from Subway to eat since our last experience of the food outlets here was unimpressive aside from the pizza. I hadn’t eaten lunch so had gotten a foot-long sub with intentions of eating half early and the rest later on…This was a bad plan from the start since we had nothing to keep it cool. As it was our sandwiches were a bit warm by the time we got there so the chances of it being edible later on were pretty low. We also had some Lebanese sweets and some chocolate to enjoy…that got a bit soft by this time but we ate it anyway.

The show started pretty much on time this night and Grace Woodroofe’s set was the same or very similar to the night before. Also, she had someone else accompanying her whereas she’d been alone on stage the night before. Turns out her family were sitting almost behind us and she came out after she was finished to sit with them for a awhile. We noticed people starting to head over to the dance area fairly early on in Lisa Mitchell’s set this time and pulled up stakes and moved over there to get a place right at the front. On Thursday people took longer to go over but it filled up quickly. This time they started earlier but it was quite a while before it looked very full there. At no point did we feel particularly crowded in either. As seems to happen as these shows, we ended up with people near us who’d already had a bit too much to drink. And they always seems to behave foolishly…talking loudly throughout the show…fortunately someone else moved between me and them and that noise was blocked to some extent later on.

I didn’t take my camera with me on Thursday night since it seemed so likely to rain and I didn’t expect to have a chance to take photos…and/or my camera was likely to get soaked. On Friday I did take my camera and this was my first chance to see how it did for concert lighting since I got it in November. Once we moved up front I took a lot more photos with expectations of many being unusable. The show began pretty much on time and what a brilliant night it was. I think having the Scientist there to share it made it so much better by itself. He knows the music and he is as much of a fan as I am of both singers. Musically I think the band was in incredibly good form. The crowd started singing along quite early and kept it up through almost the entire show. This made for more enthusiasm on stage from the band. Neil Finn later tweeted “Perth , when you get excited we get excited , when you sing we swoon.” Neil awarded us the best crowd of the tour so far and Paul seconded it. There is something about the sing-along that is so very infectious and it makes you feel so much more part of the show than just sitting passively and watching. I think the outdoor experience adds to this feeling. One fan didn’t go to this show as she’d gone to Sydney to see three shows at the Opera House. She said  the crowd sounded absolutely beautiful. For my part it made for a very magical evening. After 2.5 hours I was still wanting more and I think the band might have played on had it not been the curfews as the venue.

As the crowd dispersed at the end, we hung around at the front. Next thing I know the Scientist has gone up to one of the guys at the stage and asked about any stage set lists that we could have. After a couple checks with people further down the line, it turned out that Neil’s set list from the front of stage was available and next thing I knew it was mine. :D I am incredibly grateful that he asked for this as I am too timid to go up and ask myself. We stopped at the merchandise tent on the way out and didn’t find much aside form t-shirts and a poster and some albums for sale. The shirts were $40 and I just couldn’t justify the expense for a t-shirt….but the poster was a limited and numbered edition signed by Neil and Paul and the artist. It was $50 but I decided to get it anyway and soon had a lovely poster rolled up. I think this is our most expensive poster ever so it will require a decent frame so it can be displayed properly. It still smells of the ink used to print it and has a really cool texture to it.

Finally we started the walk back to the car. On the way we stopped at the edge of the park that overlooks the city of Perth so I could take some photos. Right about this time, a fireworks display started up and we had some extra entertainment for our night. I took heaps more photos and then a couple of the city at night before we carried on to the car. It was such a lovely night to spend with the Scientist. And for added value, my feet were feeling pretty okay this time, which is a lovely change from the agony they are usually in after standing for hours.