Karnivool
at The Coolangatta Hotel
I often frequent The Coolangatta Hotel; so when I read Karnivool would be doing a gig there during their Aeons tour, I practically jumped out of my Mickey Mouse Jim Jams to get myself a ticket!
I brought my own vodka of course (crudely disguised in a Vitamin Water bottle), and found myself a spot at the front against the barrier; in front of a fat, bald security guard attempting to look threatening but failing miserably. I’m choosing to exclude my drunken recollections of supporting acts Mere Theory and That 1 Guy because they both had me quite confused. Mere Theory weren’t sure if they were punk or metal, so I’ll refer to their music genre as Petal, and my experience of Petal thus far has been a frustrating one. The people who did watch them weren’t sure whether to play an air guitar or punch the air with closed fists. That 1 Guy from San Francisco had me addled even further, he softly beat what I made out to be an oversized vacuum cleaner pipe, while head banging. Slowly.
So then a fight broke out and the bald, fat man moved out of my way. Karnivool dealt us a long intricate musical intro which resonated through the audience. The lead singer, Kenny has us so mesmerised I didn’t even notice his trimmed Amish facial hair. I had missed them at Big Day Out this year so had my doubts about a live performance. My expectations were all fulfilled during their songs from the Themata record. They played three or four new songs which I noticed most of the crowd didn’t recognise but responded well to. I only noticed the rest of the band when Kenny wasn’t singing. He hypnotised us with each lyric, his left hand held limp at his shoulder and his head lowered forward with the rest of his upper body.
They didn’t have time for two encore songs so after the first, guitarist’s Hos, Jono and Andrew man-piled onto the drum kit to literally go out with a bang; then a crash, and I think I may have heard a masculine cry of pain.
Afterward, as many bald fat men tried to round us up like sheep and escort us downstairs, I was scanning the room for a way backstage. Bassist Jono was casually lung darting in a corner outside. He asked me what me and my friends were doing after we left and I, in true pathetic groupie fashion said,
“Coming with you of course!”
In reality all I wanted was a peek backstage since it had been renovated. It was disappointing to say the least. Their tiny dressing room was sucked dry of all alcohol, a single half-filled bottle of yellow tail red remained which was ordered by That One Guy.
We had photo’s, we pissed the manager and roadies off with our school girl antics and went back to their apartment in Surfers Paradise. They were all very cool, calm and collected which I then found out was due to the insane amount of weed they kept in their hotel room. In the end, two of us got sleepy and went home, but one of us became a true groupie in every sense of the word. Can you guess which one?
at The Coolangatta Hotel
I often frequent The Coolangatta Hotel; so when I read Karnivool would be doing a gig there during their Aeons tour, I practically jumped out of my Mickey Mouse Jim Jams to get myself a ticket!
I brought my own vodka of course (crudely disguised in a Vitamin Water bottle), and found myself a spot at the front against the barrier; in front of a fat, bald security guard attempting to look threatening but failing miserably. I’m choosing to exclude my drunken recollections of supporting acts Mere Theory and That 1 Guy because they both had me quite confused. Mere Theory weren’t sure if they were punk or metal, so I’ll refer to their music genre as Petal, and my experience of Petal thus far has been a frustrating one. The people who did watch them weren’t sure whether to play an air guitar or punch the air with closed fists. That 1 Guy from San Francisco had me addled even further, he softly beat what I made out to be an oversized vacuum cleaner pipe, while head banging. Slowly.
So then a fight broke out and the bald, fat man moved out of my way. Karnivool dealt us a long intricate musical intro which resonated through the audience. The lead singer, Kenny has us so mesmerised I didn’t even notice his trimmed Amish facial hair. I had missed them at Big Day Out this year so had my doubts about a live performance. My expectations were all fulfilled during their songs from the Themata record. They played three or four new songs which I noticed most of the crowd didn’t recognise but responded well to. I only noticed the rest of the band when Kenny wasn’t singing. He hypnotised us with each lyric, his left hand held limp at his shoulder and his head lowered forward with the rest of his upper body.
They didn’t have time for two encore songs so after the first, guitarist’s Hos, Jono and Andrew man-piled onto the drum kit to literally go out with a bang; then a crash, and I think I may have heard a masculine cry of pain.
Afterward, as many bald fat men tried to round us up like sheep and escort us downstairs, I was scanning the room for a way backstage. Bassist Jono was casually lung darting in a corner outside. He asked me what me and my friends were doing after we left and I, in true pathetic groupie fashion said,
“Coming with you of course!”
In reality all I wanted was a peek backstage since it had been renovated. It was disappointing to say the least. Their tiny dressing room was sucked dry of all alcohol, a single half-filled bottle of yellow tail red remained which was ordered by That One Guy.
We had photo’s, we pissed the manager and roadies off with our school girl antics and went back to their apartment in Surfers Paradise. They were all very cool, calm and collected which I then found out was due to the insane amount of weed they kept in their hotel room. In the end, two of us got sleepy and went home, but one of us became a true groupie in every sense of the word. Can you guess which one?
2 comments:
The Coolangatta Hotel can do funny things when you are pissed....a sensible night out can quickly change into trouble if you start to get pissed and do things you are not supposed to be doing. its funny when you are drunk i believe you do stuff you secretly want to when you are sober but when your straight you are too shy or innocent. If you have a secret crush on someone they soon get an idea that you do want them but its not until you get drunk that these feelings are addressed. It's weird...no matter how many times you see someone or how long you may have known them, unless you know for sure if they are keen as well you wouldn't try anything until your pissed...i see this a lot when i am out...n yea it has happened to me as well.........The coolangatta Hotel is extra Dangerous if you like, for this as most people who go there are locals and the word spreeds easy who is with who...i guess this is why some people don't try things with those they have a crush on....maybe they are in a relationship an don't want to cheat...who knows but i see it time and time again...enough ramble the Collangatta Hotel goes off, The bands are great and it is way better than surfers......just remember the next time your out for that most are locals...and when you are pissed you show your true colours....
Have fun thinking about this..........
so funny what 'random' said. i think someone has a crush..
karnivool are rad and i think its quite obvious which one was the groupie...
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