Unearthed Bands rock the Opera House
Opera House, Sydney, 21 May 1999
by Marisa

So, after and Hour and a half of west coasts, vodka, bourbon, wine and coke we FINALLY arrived at Darling Harbor. This was a relief for some people, especially me, since there was no toilet on the bus and we couldn't hold it for much longer.

The bus dropped us off at the pub since the gig didn't start until 9:30pm. Hey, I wasn't gonna complain. It was about 8:30 and soon we decided to walk to the Opera House. Everyone was really psyched by this time because the gig was scheduled to start soon. We probably arrived at The Opera House at about 9:15 and that's when we realised that we had an extra ticket. We had no idea that it belonged to. This show was SOLD OUT! So, heaps of you are probably thinking oh yeah that's the ticket that I could have bought. But don't fret we found the owner. J

We went in. I must say it was the perfect venue. There weren't hundreds and thousands of people having to pile in there, so it was magnific.

While some of us found out the order in which the bands played, others went straight for the bar.

My friend and I thought we'd check out what the bar was selling. O.........................k lemon ruskies $5:50, can of beer $5:50, bottle of water, hmmmmmmmmmm I can't really remember, but probably $5:50. So that sent a heap of us broke.

Everyone started cheering as Melvin Starr came to the stage. Especially all of us. They were the first band to play for the night. They were excellent. Like I had to tell you that. And of course they played Dandelion. It was soooooooooooo good.

There a few people swaying from side to side, and we thought this will not do, so about 10 seconds into their first song we were out the front dancing like crazy, so I suppose that that's what people thought….we were crazy.

The second band to play was The Tenants. They were excellent as well. They played We're not getting any nuder. It was the first time I had heard the song and I thought it was a classic. I found it really funny. They also played You shit me to tears. Oh and we can't forget the sing along with the audience. We all sung Happy Birthday to on of the band members.

The last band of the night was Killing Heidi. We were still out the front dancing away when we noticed that suddenly all of the guys wanted to dance near the stage too. It's because their music was so good. I doubt it would be because of the talented, good looking female vocalist……..or would that have been the reason…..???? Geez guys!!!

They played Weir, which is one of my favourites. They also played some really nice songs with just the acoustic accompaniment. It was a bit harder to dance too, but me a couple of my friends made a deal that we would only stop dancing when the music stops, so we kinda tried to keep on dancing…..this kinda ended in finger clicking and swaying until they started back up with the faster stuff. I'm glad they played the slow stuff though because it was really hot in there and all that jumping around was making it even hotter, so that gave us a rest.

All three bands that played that night were unreal. No wonder they won the unearthed competitions.

Though some guy thought that it should have been him up there, so when they finished some of the songs and everyone was cheering, he stood out in front of the stage, stuck his hands in the air and yelled thank you, thank you. Lol. What too much alcohol can do to some people.

So, all the bands finished and it was time to leave. I swear our bus driver couldn't read the time because she was late AGAIN!!!!! We all had the munchies by the time the bus came so we made our way to Kings Cross to grab something to eat. Don't ask me why we went there, but that just topped the night off. What a sight. Lol. Anyway more about that later.

I bet The Saturday night lineup was great and I wish I could have gone, but one night of it is better than none.

This night wouldn't have happened without JJJ so, I love you, and I will always love you JJJ.