FALLS 99
Torquay, Victoria
NYE 1999
by Kim

well, my new years was fucking brilliant. the falls festival 1999/2000 is definitely going down as one of the most awesome experiences of my life. i'm *still* on a high from it. there were 5 of us in my little group, and we got there on the 29th and started drinking pretty much straight away, and didn't stop until about 10am on the 1st of january. hehe. so you can correctly assume that i had one hell of a hangover on the trip home. Ecch... that wasn't fun. but oh well, i'm over that now... so i'm back to reminiscing about what a great time i had. oooh, it was so great. ok, i'll go through everything i can remember:

* well the first fuck up was cos of the bloody change of venue. but we were lucky, cos my friend liam drove us down there, so once we found out it was moved (we were like half way between lorne and torquay at that point), we just turned around and went back to torquay, so it wasn't a major hassle. but i felt sorry for all the people that got the train down to geelong from melbourne and then a bus or whatever to lorne, cos they wouldn't have really known what to do. i hope the falls crew ran special buses for them. oh and we met some people who flew all the way down from perth, and got a taxi from melbourne airport to lorne, only to find out that they were at the wrong place! how annoying. i felt so sorry for them - so i gave the gerl one of the happy new year streamers i had in my hair, and she was happy. *yay*

*we got set up and everything, although it was in the dark (cos it took us sooo long to get in the gate - we were in the line for like 3 hours! cos they had to check everyone's bags for alcohol and drugs. we had alcohol stashed in our bags [shhh], but i think that the guy checking our bags was just so tired and so sick of being there that he really couldn't care less anymore, so he pretty much just opened the tops of the bags and said we were fine and we went through. some of the bag checking people were pretty tight though... some people even had to remove seats from their cars and stuff so they could check there! oh and i was standing outside someone's car while it was being checked [cos i had to give the chick who was checking it, our tickets] and it was so unbelieveable - the first thing she did was go around to the passenger side door, open it, open the glovebox, take out the camera that was in there, take it out of its case, open up the film bit, and lo and behold... there she found a shitload of speed and heroin. i couldn't believe it... she knew exactly what she was doing too - i would never have thought to look inside a camera, geez... and she wasn't even one of the PAID falls crew, she was just a volunteer.

*well, that night after getting our stuff organised, we walked around and met people. man that was good. everyone was soo friendly. it was so cool. like everyone just accepts you for who you are ~ and because you like the same music as them, we always had stuff to talk about. it was awesome.

*the next day was actually the first day - because that was the day the bands were supposed to start. i did say *supposed to*. that was the second fuck up. the first band should have started at 10:30am, but because the stage and everything had already been set up at lorne, they had to pull all that down and move it to torquay and then set it up again. poor roadies. so the first band didn't actually start till 5pm! AND all the bands from then on were cut a little short so they could fit them all in. so we completely missed 6 bands (sledge, sugarmoth, furblender, sek, rhubarb and the testeagles).

*the first band was killing heidi.... can't say anything on them though, cos i didn't see them.
then i saw alex lloyd, who was truly amazing. he is one incredibly talented man. i got his album, black the sun, for christmas and i love it. so it was great to see that stuff done live.
then i saw primary, who i have never really been into, but i really enjoyed. i knew most of the songs, so i was dancing around to them (like the true hippy that i am, hehe). the lead singer chick is SO cool. she was getting the crowd going so much (cos heaps of people were just sitting down, i think cos they were so pissed off about all the confusion of the venue change and missing bands and stuff). anyway, primary were awesome.
then i kind of lost my friends for a while, and met these gerls who were into ska/punk kinda stuff, and area 7 were on next, so they dragged me along with them to watch area 7. and surprisingly they were really good. lots of fun. their music is so cool to dance to. i had a ball dancing to them, hehe. then pollyanna were on. i wanted to see them, but i also really wanted to find my friends, so i saw a few songs from them, then i heard the rest of the set, just didn't SEE it, cos i was walking around. and they seemed really good.
then i found my friends, and we went and saw frenzal rhomb. god those guys are crazy. they played all the favourites. it was pretty cool. they were fun. oh but during them, this weird guy kept coming behind me and kissing me. the first time he did it and then ran off... so i was just like "oookkaayyy..." and just forgot about it. and then he did it like 3 more times and kept running off. and so finally i turned around and he looked really shocked and just went "shit, you're not my girlfriend!!" and i was like "well derr!", so he muttered an embarrassed apology and ran off. strange strange boy.
then regurgitator were on. i wasn't all that keen, so i only watched some of them [from afar, cos i was standing in the looong line for drinks) and they seemed pretty good. seemed to be functioning okay, given the new drummer and all.
then was the tea party. and by this stage it was really cold and i think a quite a few people bailed back to their tents then, but i wasn't going to let that stop me seeing them, so me and justin found a good spot to sit and watch them and we were set. and just as they started playing, it started to rain, which was very fitting i thought. they were brilliant, and the atmosphere then was incredible. when they finished i just sat there and contemplated that marvellous set and the only word to come out of my mouth was "wow". definitely one of the most memorable moments of my falls experience.

*then the day was over and so we went back to our tents and met our neighbours, who were from south australia and were really nice. and so we sat up till about 4am talking and played drinking games with them. hehe, that was so much fun. south australians are crazy.

*then we got a few hours sleep and woke up about 7am, went round and met some more people. (hehe, we were so sociable) um, then i think we sat and drank some more, got really drunk and then me and justin decided that we'd go and shower - yes drunk. hehe, it was so weird. oh and i was really pissed off, cos the line for the girls showers was about 30 people long, and the lone for the guys' was about 6 people long! so me and this gerl i met in the line, thought, fuck that, and went and stood in the guys' line with justin. hehe. all these guys were like "hey, what do you chicks think you're doing???" and i was like "using your showers... got a problem with that?" and they were like "yeah i do" and i said "what are you gonna do about it then?" and they said nothing. hehe. so yeah, i got to have a shower really quick. yay.

*the bands that played that morning were waylayd, luxedo, and rocket science, but i didnt see any of them, cos i was showering and drinking and stuff.

*then i went and took a look at felicity hunter. she's like 17 and from melbourne. I thought that was pretty rockin. she was really good. man what a voice! most people were just sitting down during her set, but that's kinda all you can do to her music. it was very mellow, but very cool. i think she had the smallest amount of people watching her out of all the bands. oh well, she was cool.

*then we walked around some more and did some stuff (i really don't remember too much of what went on here... hehe, the alcohol must have really got to me at this point). but during that time - biscuit, sixfthick, mach pelican, toe to toe and the fauves played.

*then we went and saw 28 days play. god they were good. they kind of appeal to a fairly young audience i think, but nonetheless i liked them. they were lots of fun. i danced around a fair bit, hehe.

*then superheist played... i dunno much about them, so i think i went and talked to some more people then.

*then... the moment you've been waiting for... *drum roll please*... SOMETHING FOR KATE!! hehe, yay! well, what can i say... they were beyond awesome!!!!! they played all my favourite songs and were so incredibly marvellous. *sigh* they are so incredible live. god, i still can't get over them. paul is so fantastic. i want to have his children. i think i got some photos of them, but i was kinda a bit far back. oh and they played 'truly'... my god it was sensational.

*then while waiting for you am i to come out, i pushed my way to the front - i was right at the barrier now. yay! mmm.. tim rogers...

*then for some reason it took aaages for you am i to come on. and everyone was cheering for them and stuff, and i could see tim rogers side-stage, but he was just looking around and stuff, not coming out yet. then this official looking falls guy came out and introduced some guy who "had something to say". and the crowd were kinda puzzled and a few people were pissed off and booed him and stuff. but then he was like "um, is emily [i think that was her name] out there? can she come up on stage please?" and then they pulled her out of the moshpit and up on to stage. and she was like shaking and looked like she was about to cry, i think cos she knew what he was about to say. and the guy goes "well emily and i have been together for about 5 years now, so i have something i want to ask her...." and he pulled out a ring and proposed!!!!!!! HOW FUCKING ROMANTIC??!?! hehe, it was sooo sweet. the girl was like hysterical, cos he did it in front of 13 thousand people!! she was like crying so much and could barely hold the ring cos she was so emotional! hehe. that really got the crowd going though.

*anyway, then came you am i. tim rogers came out decked in a funky black suit and bright orange shirt, hehe. he's so awesome. i want to have his children too. anyway they were totally and utterly amazing. they are so incredible live, they have so much energy and stuff. god it was sensational. they played berlin chair, heavy heart, rumble and a few more of my favourites. it was brilliant. but then before they finished their set, i started to feel really sick (cos i had been in the moshpit for like over 2 hours straight. and my chest started hurting and stuff and then i fell on this guy, and i could hardly stand up, so he motioned to one of the security guards, to pull me out. so the security guy pulled me over the barrier and i fell onto the ground, and then he helped me up, but i just fell down again. i was so sick and exhausted that i couldn't walk. then i blacked out for a few minutes, but i remember him picking me up in his arms and carrying me along the barrier till i was out of the way. then i blacked out some more i think. and i kept fading in and out of consciousness, and i was breathing really quickly and my heart was beating really fast and i still couldn't stand. so all these security guards helped me into a paramedic van and the guy in there was being really mean to me. like asking me all these questions about my age and name and stuff, and then he was like "what drugs have you taken??" and i said none, and he wouldn't believe me. fucking skank. and i was hyperventilating, so i couldn't really remember my name and street address at that point in time, and he was just like "just hurry up and tell me. we've got other people to treat tonight you know." fucking asshole. grrrr. then he took me to the st johns ambulance tent, where i saw this girl i used to go to school with - she was in there cos she had taken a drug from someone and she didn't know what it was, and she was seeing zebras and dancing monkeys. see, that's why you dont take candy from stangers - or drugs from dealers. anyway, they took my heart rate stuff, and they put me on the oxygen thing for a while, to calm down my breathing. the pure oxygen is really cool... hehe, it's like a drug, only it's not... it's weird. it makes all your aches go away immediately. its great stuff, hehe. anyway, by this time it was about 11:40pm and i started making trouble. i was like "let me the fuck out of here!!! i am not fucking spending my first few moments of the year 2000 in here with you people!!" hehe, so they were like, "well, we can't actually FORCE you to stay... but we recommend..." and i didn't hear the end of that, cos i had already ran out of there. hehe.

*then it was about 11:50pm and i was all alone... it was kinda scary actually, cos i hadn't seen justin or my friends for hours... and i thought i was doomed to spend new years alone... but then, i found justin! god i have never been so happy to see anyone in all my life!!! i ran up and gave his the biggest hug and told him about my ordeal. and then we pushed through the people that were there watching the femmes, to find the perfect spot for the countdown. it was really good. the fireworks were really nice and it was just such an amazing spectacle to see 13 thousand people screaming and throwing streamers and hugging and kissing everyone (even total strangers), hehe.

*the funniest moment of my nye, was about 12:02, when everyone was kissing someone and confetti and screamers were going everywhere and blister in the sun was just being played. this drugfucked guy walked behind me and justin and goes "what's the time?"
hehehe. man that was funny.

*anyway, then we sat around and watched the end of the violent femmmes, who totally sucked. tell me you're playing in front of 13 thousand people on nye and someone throws a water bottle at you, so you walk off stage... how pathetic.

*then magic dirt came on. they were totally wasted, but really good. i love adalita, she epitomises femininity, she's just so awesome. i didn't see all of their set, but they were great from what i saw.

*then me and justin went off somewhere and talked until the sun came up. then went to sleep for an hour, before getting up and making the looong journey back to melbourne. when we got home (i went to justin's) we were so exhausted. we just layed on the couch for a minute before i was going to call bianca to tell her to come and pick me up.... and then the next thing i knew, it was 7am the next morning!! justin's mum said that we fell asleep on the couch together, and we looked "sooo tired", so she just put a blanket over us and let us sleep there. hehe.

so there you go. my incredibly long account of the falls festival.

* This account was originally written as an email to me, but I thought it was so good (not to mention comprehensive - ie. LONG) that I just had to put it up here for everybody to enjoy :)