Fucking Adelaide, fucking Melbourne
Tuesday, February 18, 2003 x 2 - 11:31

Fucking Adelaide. I guess it had the cards stacked against it before I even got there, since I had such a great time in Sydney and since I'd hardly slept and since I had to take a 24-hour bus ride there.

But I liked Adelaide despite all that. When I first got there the peace protest was just disbanding and there were still a lot of people milling around. And that was really nice to see.

I got to the hostel, took a shower, and laid down and realized how tired I was. But there's no rest for the wicked or for concert-goers, so I had to get up and walk across town to get the bus. I stopped at McDonald's and got a Big Mac, and it was okay at first but then became really gross and I couldn't finish it.

Then I went to the bus stop and waited, and then like 10 minutes before the bus was to come I realized I didn't have my confirmation number to get my tickets. So I had to run across town back to the hostel. When I got there I got hit on by a guy for the second time in my life, which was very flattering and I might have stopped to enjoy it but I didn't have time to. I ran up to my room, got the papers I needed, ran back down, waved goodbye to my potential suitor, and ran down the street.

I was right behind these two boys who were singing, and after a while I realized they were singing a Pearl Jam song, so, since I'm so friendly and outgoing here, I said "Hey! Are you guys going to the show?" and they said "Pel Jam?" and I said "Yeah" and they said "Yeah" so we walked to the bus stop together. I'm so good at meeting people here, it's bizarre.

Got to the Adelaide Entertainment Centre and there were huge lines to get in, but it was okay because there were lovely clouds to look at. It was probably a great sunset. Got inside, went to pick up my tickets, and I DIDN'T EVEN NEED MY FUCKING CONFIRMATION NUMBER! I just told them my stupid name! Gah!

Johnny Marr + the Healers set was great. I really like them. I could watch them for hours. In fact I have watched them for hours, and it's been enjoyable.

And then Pearl Jam. They were fabulous. I say that about every show, but it's true about every show. It was crazy good, and I wasn't expecting to like it much because 1. I was super tired, having slept 6 hours at the most since waking up Friday, 2. I didn't fucking want to be in Adelaide, 3. the guy next to me was eating a hot dog before the show, which annoyed and disgusted me for some reason, 4. the same guy kept rubbing against me with his arm, 5. there was an optometrist in front of me with a really annoying shirt on, 6. there was a girl dancing like a snake a couple rows ahead of me, and 7. I was a little cranky, obviously.

So the show. Let's see. Boom had a few solos. During one song he traded off with Mike and that was cool. Stone played acoustic a few times, and he was also bouncing around in circles backwards and was shaking his butt in one song. Mike was running all over. Eddie did some crazy dances. Not For You was great. They looked like they were having a great time together.

The crowd was okay, no better or worse than any other crowd--until the encore. All the other shows during the encore everyone sits down to rest I guess and because they know the band's going to come back out, and then when they think the break's gone on long enough they start clapping or chanting. But in Adelaide as soon as the guys left the stage everyone was standing and clapping and chanting and drumming the seats and kept on doing that until the band came back. It was crazy. And then when the band left again the crowd did it again.

The second encore was great. During Yellow Ledbetter they turned on the lights and then the mega-bright florescent lights came on too, which was weird because suddenly the band members just looked like normal people in a room rather than rock stars on a stage. Matt, Ed, and Stone went back and were sitting talking during Mike's solo. And then they started doing Rocking in the Free World, which was unexpected, but I guess it was a reward for the heartfelt encore from the crowd. Jeff had gotten rid of his bass and had to frantically wave down his tech to get it back.

And then back to fucking Adelaide. The buses weren't running after the show ended, so I wandered around for a while wondering how I was going to get back to the city. Then I saw a skinny blonde girl who looked like she was also alone, so we shared a cab. The cab driver was absolutely insane, talking about how he's descended from German executioners and Scottish warriors. Insane. And not watching the road.

Then my train left at 9 the next morning. I went first class. It was lovely. There was a stainless steel toilet in my little compartment, which was funny. There was a bed too, and I slept a few hours.

Now I'm in fucking Melbourne and the place I'm staying is a fucking shit hole. And it's cold here. And I have to go pee.