HOMEBAKE 99
The Domain, Sydney
11 December 1999
by soda (with some assistance from the fantabulous sterp)

the story of the perthian gerls and their triumph over sydney & its chalk outlines

prologue: this story of homebake encounters is true. and by true, i mean false. they're all lies. but they're entertaining lies, and in the end, isnt that the real truth? the answer, is no.

part 1: silverchair tshirts and plenty of 'em (iiick)
well, it was time. homebake 99 had arrived, and wasn't it going to be fun..if you didnt already know, today was the day that a group of fine, talented young australians would come together, in an orgy of musical delights and perhaps even some funky dancing.

considering we had too much red eye and too little sleep the night before, we attempted to be as civilised as possible for the big day ahead. we started off the day, with a breakfast of tropical fruits and a milk concoction we like to call, "milo". we got dressed into our finest sunday clothes, (even tho is was a saturday) and hopped on some train we thought may get to the domain.

of course, being from perth and having no idea what we were doing, we were wrong. but never fear, we had our pez despensers, and our plastic spoons, so all was not lost.

after several minutes of talking, a frozen coke or 2 and some blank stares, we figured that we should maybe ask someone where we go.

and so, the race was on.

we boarded the weirdarse sydney train, still not really knowing where to get off, but with so many teenage girls in silverchair tshirts around, we figured we were in the right place.

after a few stops, a man wearing a poncho asked myself and my friend (i choose to call her, 'sterp') if we would "be so kind as to buy him a ticket to china". being the nice young gerls we are, we pretended not to hear him. after he repeated the question a second time, we decided it was time to bring out the secret weapon. jodee said something about a flurescent light, and we smiled, "sorry, but have a pez instead". he took the last orange flavour from my kermit dispenser, and got off the train.

freakin sydney weirdos.

part 2: whats the point of this story?...i like stories
its probably time to get to the actual homebake review, so here goes.

as we walked thru the gates, we were hit with the smooth and classy sound that is, 78 saab. altho i would of liked to see them live, it was a bit early still, so as we listened we wandered through the crowds and market stalls, searching for a frozen coke stand.

28 days were good enough, but the most interesting/exciting thing that happened during their set was watching people stumbling around while they exited the mosh. hoo....rah.

even though she was still recovering from the crazy train trip (it wasnt a good enough excuse) we dragged sterp to gerling, to show her that an open mind really gets you somewhere. as i suspected, she too fell in love with those 3 crazy boys who call themselves gerling, or gerlog on occasion. although she wouldnt admit it, you could see in her eyes that she was in awe, and would soon ask to borrow my cd...

definately one of the best bands ive ever seen, their stage presence combined with the musical feast they delivered proved to be a winner amongst anyone around. as it was the second time i've ever seen them, they confirmed the fact that they began back in july, that they were my new favourite band.

part 3: oh joe, why must you be like this
as much as i love them, eskimo joe didnt quite grab me like they used to. i found my mind wandering as they *walked* everyone through the radio favourites, songs off their eps, and even the new stuff. i wouldnt say it was dissappointing, but over the last year it has been like watching a person who is usually full of energy and excitement disintergrate into a weary old git who seems to constantly be in slow motion. i spose it was cool to see them out of perth, but i miss the old joe too much to care. thanks sydney.. yeh, thanks for NOTHIN..(kidding..er...go the..joe..woo-hoo) (ps i didnt say ej were gits. just to set it straight..)

next up was area 7. we sat furthest away as possible, and tried to pretend there wasnt as much noise pollution filling our ears while having pez-loading races and complaining that it was too hot and talked about how much better perth is than sydney.

after discovering we had been sitting on an ants nest for half an hour, we thought we should probably take a walk, and try to look inconspicious while trying to rid ourselves of the stupid sydney ants.

next stop, shihad. thankyou shihad. the sweet rockin sounds of these new zealand-come-australian boys were a nice break from the ringing still hanging over from the area 7/bagpipes shite we had to endure earlier.

* please note, this is a personal recount of the day, so if you like area 7 and or bagpipes, dont get all protective about it. its mine and some friends memory of it, not anyone elses. spankyou *

back to shihad. not much to say except they're tops as and we cant wait til bdo. go shihad!

it starts to blur, but i think here was the avalanches and something for kate, up against each other. the avalanches would of been joy to see, (sfk not so much, but each to their own eh) but we found a spot to sit and once again complain about sydney.

part 4: byebye sterp and thanks for the free goo
much to the disgust of sterp, we made our way to frenzal, where they played and played...and played..and played some more. not being much of a frenzal fan, it wasnt the highlight of my day, but they were semi entertaining. i didnt quite understand the whole the horse called frenzal rhomb winning the race that was played on the radio, when lex was still on stage, but, thats not really important. twas a shame that someone decided to test the flying capabilities of a glass bottle during this time, near us so it collided with sterp's head, but after a drink of low quality sydney water, she seemed stable enough to keep on truckin.

jebs!!! no matter how many times we see these wonderful lil perthians, we never tire of them. they're fun. after all, they're from perth. i cursed when they played harpoon, but hey, whatever pleases the crowd huh? during this song, i imagined if they hadnt of played it, *switch to dream*......i jumped for joy when it reached the end of their set, not cos it was over, but because i realized they hadnt played harpoon. yay jebs!! fight the power baby yeh!....*switch out* "whyyyyyy does it hurrrrrrt" oh, dammit. they played it. oh well. it happens. they're still awesome, harpoon or no harpoon.

after calming down from laughing at a guy who walked into a wall, we rediscovered the magic that is grinspoon. we were wrong about sterp's recovery, it seems she had a severe concussion and was run off to hospital.. but uh...on with the show! (sterp, get well soon bud-dy) i dont know how to describe phils movements and presense on stage, but i can say they were a cross between a shuffle, walk, and a waltz, perhaps with a few falls thrown in for luck. whatever it was, it was comforting to know that they too, would join us in february with shihad for the big day out.

it was time for a rest. seeking refuge and shade next to a hotdog van thing, we choked in the fumes that reminded us so well of sitting outside java for hours on end back home. ahhh hay street how we miss thee...

attempting to see sonic animation was a stupid idea, but hearing them was not. it was now that i regretted not joining emily in the boiler room for longer at bdo99. however, seeing them here was beginning to make up for it. the good vibes and friendly atmosphere made the trip to sydney worth while, and we wish sterp could of been there to see how good they really are. as with any band and their 'current big hit', theophilis thistler brought the crowds in from far far away, and everyone danced their little hearts out til they could no longer, or until the song was over..whichever they preferred.

to finish of the day, we indulged in the beauty of powderfinger. ripping through a set that would make any powderfinger hater fall in love with them instantly, we unanimously agreed that they were one of the finest acts around, and deserved a mega pat on the back for their very tops work. bernie's dancing and clapping and general onstage antics took our minds off the fact that it had been a very crazy and hot day, and let us remember that well known bands can gain the respect of any passerby whether they like them or not.

(meanwhile, on another stage silverchair pumped out some general shite that we didnt care for at all, and proved that well known bands can have enemies as well as fans)

part 5: out of pez...NOW what are we spose to do eh?
and what gig would be complete without the trouble of getting home. whoever created sydney's public transport systems was obviously dumber and less educated than the one who did perths, so it proved to be an overlong trip home. of course, there were plently of crazy people on the train home as well, and this time, we were without pez to fill our dispensers. we thought we were doomed. and then we remembered the song..

"if a fire starts to burn, theres a lesson you must learn. something something then you'll see, you avoid catastrophe"

bit of a problem when the issue is people and not fire, but it gave us something to laugh about all the way home.

and so the day was through. and what a day it was. it was almost like the best vacation ever, we worked together as a family, we have so many memories, plently of laughter at stupid silverchair fans walking into things, not to mention lots of excercise outdoors.

now let us never speak of it again.