Last night I had a blast; I visited The Standard again with Shadow, my trusty camera, and I saw an eclectic lineup of bands:

• The Money Go Round
• The Griswolds
• Hey Geronimo
• March of the Real Fly

Having only known the Griswolds from being a supporting act for San Cisco, I wasn’t too sure about this show. I bought a ticket because they were cheap ($13) and because I was already familiar with the venue. Since I felt comfortable that they wouldn’t hack off my arm for bringing a camera in, I saw that as a good opportunity to attend too. On the night I was yawning like a nutter and I sat outside the bar while people smoked, until I couldn’t take the boredom and I just walked around for a bit. I now don’t mind going to gigs alone, at least while inside the room when people can talk to you. But the time you spend waiting beforehand gets dull when you’re going to gigs at small venues like bars. No one’s waiting in a line and people are usually in their own groups. I don’t like the getting-home aspect. Train rides are pretty lonely. :P

I felt pretty awkward just sitting on a bar stool near the front of the stage. I felt like I was honestly there to take photos. Well, that’s one of the main reasons… But I guess I wouldn’t have minded seeing The Griswolds again and I can’t even think of a time when I thought, “Gosh I wish I wasn’t here right now” at a show. Except maybe the Grates (not very comfortable being shoved up the barrier) and Avenged Sevenfold (please don’t get me started on how a short skinny girl is supposed to feel at a metal show full of tall guys). I guess these places with bars and such – are just my thing.

The Money Go Round kicked off the show with a catchy rock hit. I didn’t listen to any of their music prior to attending the show but they were loads of fun. Entertaining and loud and something you could nod your head to without feeling like a freak. I wish they’d played longer. The crowd was already going wild. There was a lot of room to move, and move people did – holding their cups of alcohol up in the air and shouting and just being flat out crazy – calling out for the drummer Shane. Whether they were saying Shamo or Shano I don’t know, but it was hilarious. I spotted some of the members of The Griswolds having some fun in the crowd too.

Joel, a guy who worked in social media, came up to say hello aand introduce himself after The Money Go Round had played.

“You’re taking photos but, you know there’s not much going on there…”

I laughed at the fact that I was just taking pictures of an empty stage and said that I still wanted to take photos anyway. I was still getting my camera adjusted to the lighting at that point. Joel asked me if I had a card with my details (what? Oh goodness me no!!). When I responded in the negative, he asked if I posted anywhere online or had a blog. Well, what else could I have done? He handed me his phone and I loaded up my photoblog.

While I was impatiently waiting for the Griswolds to perform (I was dying to hear Mississippi already), I just glanced at the crowd and walked around swaying my arms a little bit. No one seemed interested in getting closer to the stage except the other photographer. I forgot his name but I’m pretty sure he photographs for The Standard, since I saw him last time I was there. While I was bumming around, Dan from The Griswolds introduced himself. I just had to ask if he was the one who’d been replying to me from their Twitter account and he said it was. Ahahhh. /bounce He mentioned that they weren’t on for another fifteen or so minutes, and we had a little chat.

I asked for a photo and he said, “Let’s do a funny one where I look really short!”

I just had to share that one, I think it’s precious. :) I’ve posted a bunch on my photoblog. Having taken 800 photos on the night, I cut them down to 135, but I hope at least a few people enjoy flicking through them. I didn’t want to just dump them all inconsiderately in this post.

Again The Griswolds put on a huge huge show. I love the fact that their music makes me dance and sing along at the same time. There’s not much of that kind of music around these days, but I find that a lot of underground Australian artists are really picking those gems out of the dirt. I know hippie-psychedelic-quirky-rock-pop is totally not everyone’s thing, but if there’s something I’d want to do at a gig other than listening to the music, it’s dancing. It’s dancing alright.

The Griswolds sang a bunch of their songs, most of which I had heard when they supported San Cisco, but I enjoyed listening to them over again. I hope they come out with an EP or an album because I would absolutely love to have recordings of those great songs.

They seemed to follow a Hawaiian theme that night with huge paper pineapples and leis, not to mention their colourful shirts and the confetti! I couldn’t believe my eyes when I was drizzled in coloured paper. It reminded me of when Ball Park Music had a huge cannon that shot out confetti, except The Griswolds had multiple large rolls of it this time. I got a few great shots of it in mid-air. The stage was littered with debris.

The lead singer Jon, from The Money Go Round, approached me later and introduced himself. He seemed pretty excited given that they had just performed their first gig. I said they were great – they really were – and he asked who I work for.

“… just a hobbyist.” /um

He was still pleased and he too asked if I had a card. I was probably shitting myself at that moment. He asked if I’d post the photos online and I just typed out my photoblog for him too.

There’s got to be an easier way to do this, I thought. I rummaged through my bag and realised I left my notebook at home on purpose, so I didn’t have to lug it around. Lame.

When Hey Geronimo came out, they were totally not what I expected. I heard two of their songs before, and they were pretty ordinary to me. The keyboardist thanked me for taking photos. :’) Hearing them live, though, changed my mind about them. They described themselves as country rock with a bit of dance. Oh wow, they were really accurate when they said so. Everyone was dancing along to their catchy music, waving their arms up in the air and moving around with their arms around each other. I was enjoying it so much myself that I nodded my head and danced too. Dan even put his hand over my camera lens and encouraged me to dance. :P

I also found myself talking to Marco from The Money Go Round as well. He’s from Brazil and lives in Sydney as well. It’s pretty amazing how musicians are just like ordinary people with normal lives and some having normal jobs as well. Marco seemed pretty enthusiastic about March of the Real Fly. He was a very talkative guy, which is funny because I remember spotting him in the bar earlier and not having a clue that he was in the band. LOL. We even made eye contact a few times then, bahaha.

I enjoyed watching March of the Real Fly as well, surprisingly. I had listened to their EP before, but it was nothing special to me. Again, like Hey Geronimo, they sounded a thousand times better performing live. March of the Real Fly had some quirky tunes and they were also a quirky but fun band. I was impressed by the drummer also being the lead singer, the guy on the ukelele being downright awesome, and the girl playing the keyboard and the guy on guitar all showing so much personality. Their songs were fun and catchy and I was also able to dance to them. :D

It was over before I knew it. :( It was nearly midnight and I could’ve sworn I was there for longer than four hours. I had a good time anyway. As I saw Dan walk past again I asked if I could have one of the pineapples The Griswolds had on stage. They’re huge!

“You want a pineapple?!”
“Yes!”
“Fuck yeah!”

It’s bigger than my face. XD

I bumped into another guy who was surprised that I got one of the pineapples. He asked where I got it, and I pointed out that there was one left at the back of the stage on the left and he could get it if he wanted. He thanked me and said, “I just may! Thank you!” He seemed racked with glee. /hehe

On the way out I bumped into a guy called Phil who asked if I was Hawaiian.

…

(At this point I was sort of wondering why I seemed to be drawing so much attention that night.)

“Nope… this is from the Griswolds, this too,” I gestured at the ring of flowers around my neck. “The second band up there.”

Yup, another person late to the party…

He asked for my photoblog too, so I gave it. I bumped into Marco again when I escaped Guy Who Thought I Was From Hawaii and he asked if I’d be posting my photos… yup. I said that I’d tweet him at @themoneygo and give him the link. So much easier, right?

When I was walking back to the station people were looking at me weirdly.

Oh, the pineapple.

I need to make some business cards. More and more people (band members (!!!!)) are possibly going to be asking for my details next time I drag Shadow along to a gig, so…

I can’t wait until Tuesday! Which is super soon… practically tomorrow… because it’s my birthday and I’ll be seeing Boy & Bear with James ♥️