Australia Pt 1
From Johannesburg there was a 12 hour flight through the night to Sydney… only it would be 4 in the afternoon when the plane landed…
Not long into the Quantas flight, suspisions that Australia had lost it laidback “no worries!” demeanour were firstly confirmed by the attitude of the air crew…
LSK asked for a second drink and quickly got told “you guys need to curtail your drinking, this is a 12hour flight”…
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It only got worse upon landing…
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After 12 of the 20 strong Faithless tour party had been fully harrassed, searched, scrutinised and subjected to an extraordinary amount of idiotic questions from the Oz customs officials, the Tour party made it’s tired way to the Four Seasons Hotel…
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After chucking bags in rooms, everyone decided it was best to soldier thru and try to stay awake, so all headed down the road to a sushi restaurant…
Blissy had her hands full as Nate(with his Dad) had got to Sydney a few days earlier...!
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The next morning consisted of a stroll around the Botanical Gardens and the harbour…
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…taking in the Opera House and the famous Sydney Bridge…
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A poster for the Good Vibrations Festival
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After a spot of lunch by the harbour, it was time to head to the festival site for a sound check…
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With the jet lag kicking in hard, the whole afternoon started to turn a bit surreal…
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Dave continues on his 'project' (can anyone guess what it is yet?)
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Blissy openly pondered over the set-list…
…but didn’t get much response from a bunch of delirious or asleep musicians…
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So went to wake Maxi and see what he thought…
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Who promptly fell back asleep with it in his hand…
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While half the band got to head back to relax at the hotel, the other half had to head across town to do a couple of acoustic tracks for an Australian Radio station called Nova FM…
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The next day at a slightly drizzled-on festival site – Dale(a festival assistant & Top Bloke) brought a remote control car to the Faithless production office, to keep Hels Bells’s little helper amused…
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…while Blissy and Maxi were in the throes of the press tent…
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As everyone was ready for stage early, there was time to fit in a few games of table tennis…
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Typically, there were golf buggies to transport everyone the whole 30 metres to stage…
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Jo, being a triathlete, decided to race the carts…
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As everyone waited for the call… Rich, the video technician, popped over to say that ‘his mate George would be watching from the side of stage, if that was alright and wouldn’t put anyone off…?’
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A quick shoulder rub from Blissy and it was SHOWTIME! …
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LSK, being stage left and all, was the only one who had noticed(but not been too distracted by) Rich’s mate George…
Then he popped into the dressing room to say hello…
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It was of course the one and only George Michael!
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…then it was back to the Four Seasons, where Blissy decided to stay in and have a drink with some old school mates…
…while most others headed to the afterparty at the Ivy…
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George Michael & Jo
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Sydney harbour at night.
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The following morning, the entire line-up of the festival, headed to the airport to catch a flight to Melbourne…
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…but not before Maxi & Blissy had signed everyones stuff and had some photos taken…
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To Be Continued….
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February 23, 2012 at 10:40 pm
First heard one of UR songs (God is a DJ) about 2008 when U were named Faithless (never say U in concert before). Attended the UMF in Miami 2010, hung out at the main stage from 12pm till 1am. Thoughout the day I was reading the program and was wondering who Faithless Sound System was. Then U played God is a DJ, I thought wow, this is the band. It’s too bad you won’t be touring anymore. It would be nice if you came to West Springfield, MA as I don’t have to he funds to go 2 UK