Ministry @ House Of Blues

The Crap Facts

This is my 261st concert.

This is my 27th concert at House Of Blues.
This is my 64th concert in Las Vegas.
This is my 64th concert in Nevada.
This is my 69th concert in the USA.
This is my 4th Ministry concert.

Mighty Mighty Bosstones @ The Pearl

What I remember (in 2024)

Went with Dave.

Another promotion where he got free tickets by buying a casre of Miller Lite.

The Crap Facts:

This is my 260th concert.

This is my 4th concert at The Pearl.
This is my 63rd concert in Las Vegas.
This is my 63rd concert in Nevada.
This is my 68th concert in the USA.
This is my 2nd Mighty Mighty Bosstones concert.

Bette Midler @ Caesars Colosseum

What I remember (in 2024)

Went with A.  Was a freebie through SNHCA.

This was a warm up show for a residency at the Colosseum.

Bette was great.  Very funny and, surprisingly, very racy - I did not know this about her.  And a great voice.  The Rose and show ender, Wind Beneath My Wings being crowd favorites.

The Crap Facts

This is my 259th concert.

This is my 2nd concert at Caesars Colosseum.
This is my 62nd concert in Las Vegas.
This is my 62nd concert in Nevada.
This is my 67th concert in the USA.
Bette Midler is the 324th band I've seen.

Bateau Bay, NSW

What I remember (in 2024)

Flew back to Australia on December 15 to spend Xmas with family.  Stayed until January 31.  

A & Lynn came, but left on December 29.  This was the mothers-in-law meeting for the first time.

Showed Lynn around the Central Coast and also had a day where we ended up at The Newport Arms, with Tania and Olivia.  OTher touristy things included Putt Putt at Forries, Pelican Feed down at The Entrance, and Santa in a surf boat in Terrigal.

Christmas with Mum's side of the family was in Terrigal at K&J's new home.  Where we also got me meet Poppy.  Saw my cousin Michael for the first time in forever.  Fays, Pittmans, Aunty Vi, Betty & The Zordans all there.  K&J also hosted all my friends that evening.

Christmas day was spent at Trish & Nan's.  Trying to show the Americans a hot Xmas, and all we got was a cool, overcast day.  Dad, Manuia and Kathleen were there.  As was K&J.  Kara & Moz. Rob & Sab were there, with Grant & Jess.  Can't remember the last time I saw all of them.  May have been Grant's christening (1990ish).

On 27 December, Me, A, Mum & Lynn went and stayed in the Sofitel Sydney.  Saw the Botanic Gardens, Opera House & did a boat tour on Sydney Harbor.  That night we met up with Coasties at The Glenmore in the Rocks, before having dinner heading down to the harbour for dinner.  Somehow we also had a night down at the Coogee Bay Hotel before A left.

Reggae & I went to Helensburgh one day in late January to see the Benno's and meet Josh.

Australia Day was spent on the roof of the Australian in the Rocks with Coasties.  That night Reggae & I ended up in the city and had dinner with my old flatmates, Bridgey & Rach.

With Nan & Grandad, Terrigal, NSW

Pelican Feeding, The Entrance, NSW

America's Best Cricketer, Concord West, NSW

K, Kathleen, Dad & Me, Christmas Day, Concord West, NSW

A, Mum, Mom & Me, Harbour Bridge, NSW

Lis, Marbs,Linda, Reggae, Paula, Jill, Me, Nic & Barnesy, The Australian, NSW

Regs, Bridgey, Me & Rach, Sydney, NSW

Big Day Out @ Sydney Showgrounds

Regs & I - Big Day Out Veterans

Me @ Billy Bragg

Spoon @ BDO

Regs & I @ Rage Against The Machine

What I remember (in 2024)

Went with Reggae.

First 4 bands are bands that have come around since I left Australia, but Reggae thought I needed to see them.

Regurgitator were still great.

I thought Spoon were great (on a smaller side stage).

Nightwatchman did a Beds Are Burning cover.

Hilltop Hoods really got the crowd going.  Australian hip-hop is pretty good.

Thought I'd seen Billy Bragg in 96 Big Day Out, but not so.  Greeting To The New Brunette and Waiting For The Great Leap Forward were highlights of the day.

The old couple were seated in the stands for the rest of the day.  

silverchair were ok, but didn't play anything off Frogstomp.  

Arcade Fire didn't live up to the best live band around moniker that was currently being thrown around.  Bjork cancelled a second time - she did the same thing in Sydney in 1994.  

And Rage played the same set as the Entertainment Centre a few days prior.

This was my 9th and inevitably my last Big Day Out.  While I'm glad it reached the great success it was - with something like 40,000 people here today, I much preferred the first one, with a quarter of that amount of people at the old Showgrounds.

The Crap Facts:
This is my 258th concert.

This is my 2nd concert at Sydney Showgrounds.
This is my 2nd concert in Homebush.
This is my 181st concert in New South Wales.
This is my 184th concert in Australia.
British India are the 315th band I've seen.
Cut Off Your Hands are the 316th band I've seen.
Something With Numbers are the 317th band I've seen.
Faker are the 318th band I've seen.
This is my 7th Regurgitator concert.
Spoon are the 319th band I've seen.
The Nightwatchman is the 320th band I've seen.
Hilltop Hoods are the 321st band I've seen.
Billy Bragg is the 322nd band I've seen.
This is my 11th silverchair concert.
Arcade Fire are the 323rd band I've seen.

Arcade Fire is the 500th time I've seen a band in New South Wales.

Arcade Fire is the 650th time I've seen a band.

This is my 4th Rage Against The Machine concert.

Rage Against The Machine & Anti-Flag @ Sydney Entertainment Centre

What I remember (in 2024)

Went with Reggae, though we could see Moz from our seat (and he had camped at the venue to get tickets).

12 years since I'd las seen Rage.  They had no new music, so it was just their old stuff, and it was as angry as ever.  Killing In The Name Of to end the night was the absolute pinnacle.

The Crap Facts:
This is my 257th concert.
This is my 4th concert at The Entertainment Centre.

This is my 4th concert in Haymarket.
This is my 180th concert in New South Wales.
This is my 183rd concert in Australia.
Anti-Flag are the 314th band I've seen.
This is my 3rd Rage Against The Machine concert.

Me First & The Gimme Gimmes & Yidcore @ Manning Bar

What I remember (in 2024)

Went with Reggae, Barnesy & Jill.

We had dinner somewhere in Surry Hills beforehand, near Greag & Jill's.

Yidcore was pretty crazy, but Me First well exceeded expectations.  I had roped the other 3 into coming, but they had a blast as well.

The Crap Facts:

This is my 256th concert.

Manning Bar is the 68th venue I've seen a concert in.
This is my 2nd concert in University Of Sydney.
This is my 179th concert in New South Wales.
This is my 182nd concert in Australia.
Yidcore are the 312th band I've seen.
Me First & The Gimme Gimmes are the 313th band I've seen.

Melbourne, VIC

What I remember (in 2024)
Flew to Melbourne on 11 January with Reggae, Robbie and Linda, to spend 2 nights with the Kerns and the Marshes.

Had a day touring some wineries (Stone Creek & Yarra Valley are 2 that I remember).  Was an absolute cracking day.  That night we celebrated Tawnie's birthday and got to meet Lucas & Nikki's newborn son, Daniel.

The next day we drove out to Warburton and spent the day being tourists out there.

It was just great being all together.  It had been 7-8 years since I'd seen Luke.

Robbie, Me, TK, Tawnie, Linda & Reggae

Robbie, Linda, TK, Tawnie, Reggae & Me

Robbie, Tawnie, TK, Reggae & Linda, Warburton, Victoria

Australia vs India @ SCG

Australia 463 & 7/401 dec defeated India 532 & 210 by 122 runs

Day 4 of 5 End Of Day

Australia 2nd innings 282/4 (MEK Hussey 87*, A Symonds 14*, 83 ov)

Crowd: 20,301

Australia

Phil Jaques, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist, Brad Hogg Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Clark

India

Wasim Jaffer, Raul Dravid, Venkata Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Dhoni, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Rudra Singh, Ishant Sharma

Me @ The Bradman Bar, Member's Stand SCG

THE Sachin Tendulkar @ SCG

What I remember (in 2024)

Went with Craig's mate.  He was supposed to come as well, but dropped out that morning.

We sat in the Member's Stand.

The Australian crowd continued it's hate against Harbajan Singh.  I think this was the test he had a run in with Andrew Symonds.

After the lunch break, I went to where the dressing rooms were.  Everyone wanted to see the Aussies and no one was near the Indian room.  That's how I got this awesome picture of Sachin Tendulkar.  Also got one of Ishant Sharma.  Big lad.  And boy was he bowling fast that day.

Central Coast Mariners vs Melbourne Victory @ Bluetongue Stadium

Melbourne 5 (Adrian Cacares 4, Danny Allsopp 23, 62, Archie Thompson 45, Kevin Muscat 45) defeated Central Coast 2 (Mile Jedinak 32, John Aloisi 63)

Crowd: 18,686

Central Coast

Matthew Trott, Andrew Clark, Andre Gumprecht, Alex Wilkinson, Bradley Porter, Mile Jedinak (Nigel Boogaard 90), Tom Pondeljak, Sasho Petrovski, John Aloisi, Damian Brown (Paul O'Grady 46), Tony Vidmar (Matthew Simon 46)

Melbourne

Michael Theoklitos, Rodrigo Vargas, Sebastian Ryall, Matthew Kemp, Kevin Muscat, Leigh Broxham, Daniel Vasilevski, Nick Ward, Adrian Caceres (Joseph Keenan 67), Daniel Allsopp, Archie Thompson (Kaz Patafta 90)

What I remember (in 2024)

Went with Dad, K & J.

Sat in the stand facing west.  Pretty good turn out for New Years Eve

Charlotte, NC

Flew back to Charlotte on November 14 to spend 3 days with A's family.

Henry Rollins @ House Of Blues

What I remember (in 2024)

Went with A & Dave.

The Crap Facts:

This is my 255th concert.

This is my 26th concert at House Of Blues.
This is my 61st concert in Las Vegas.
This is my 61st concert in Nevada.
This is my 66th concert in the USA.
This is my 5th Henry Rollins concert.

Danzig & Horror Pops @ House of Blues

The Crap Facts:

This is my 254th concert.

This is my 25th concert at House Of Blues.
This is my 60th concert in Las Vegas.
This is my 60th concert in Nevada.
This is my 65th concert in the USA.
Horror Pops are the 311th band I've seen.
This is my 4th Danzig concert.
Danzig are the 100th time I've seen a band in Las Vegas.

Vegoose @ Sam Boyd Stadium

What I remember (in 2024)

Was given ticket by fellow Concierge, after finding a large amount of commissions not being paid.

Went on my own straight from work at Lake Las Vegas.  Was going to meet with Mike, but I don't have a phone, and we never passed each other.

Tonnes of people dressed up, as it was 4 days before Halloween.  All bands I saw today, I'd never seen before.

Gogol Bordello were a super fun way to kick off the day.  

Mastodon were dressed spookily for Halloween, and put a great show on.  

Public Enemy & Cypress Hill were the only 2 rap acts of the day, and they put them on at the same time.  Public Enemy won out, and I don't regret my choice.  911 Is A Joke was the best.

I did go and check out the Shins, but wasn't really into it, and left after a song or 2.

Queens out on an excellent, rocking show.

The Stooges was definitely what I was there to see.  Holy Shit, they were awesome!  Iggy expelled more energy on stage for an hour, than I have my entire life.  He invited the crowd onto the stage for one of the final songs.  These guys are 30 years past their prime, I can't begin to imagine how good they would have been then, because tonight they were awesome.

Daft Punk were great, especially for me.  Not what I'd generally listen to, but the duo did a great job getting an exhausted crowd dancing.

I ended up with a migraine and have no idea how I drove home.  Wish I had gone the following day as well.

The Crap Facts

This is my 253rd concert.

Sam Boyd Stadium is the 67th venue I've seen a concert.
This is my 59th concert in Las Vegas.
This is my 59th concert in Nevada.
This is my 64th concert in the USA.
Gogol Bordello are the 305th band I've seen.
Gogol Bordello are the 100th time I've seen a band in the USA.

Mastodon are the 306th band I've seen.
Public Enemy are the 307th band I've seen.
Public Enemy are the 200th time I've seen an American band.
Queens Of The Stone Age are the 308th band I've seen.
The Stooges are the 309th band I've seen.
Daft Punk are the 310th band I've seen.

Jay Leno & Lifehouse @ Venetian Hotel

What I remember (in 2024)

Went with A, Miller & Rhonda.  This was a private event to do with the car convention Miller was in town for.  Show was in the Venetian's ballroom.

Lifehouse played half a dozen songs, before Jay Leno came out and did a set.

The Crap Facts:

This is my 252nd concert.

The Venetian is the 66th venue I've seen a concert.
This is my 58th concert in Las Vegas.
This is my 58th concert in Nevada.
This is my 63rd concert in the USA.
Lifehouse are the 304th band I've seen.