Zoo

James McKay

THE VENUE
The ZOO is a licenced resteraunt (I think it's a funny licence deal to get
around serving alcohol at certain times etc) so we had to show a pass to buy
drinks. The pass also entitled us to a free three course set meal! Whoopee!

When we got there at 9.15 only ten tickets were left for sale at the door,
(Lucky I had already bought ours two weeks before) so it was quickly sold out.

Inside, the decor was quite alternative, with an assortment of art work
painted on the walls along with a phone box near the bar. The stage was
surrounded by red velvet with red velvet curtains. Once the curtains opened
they revealed flowers accross the front of the stage, around behind the
stage and on two columns in the middle of the stage. Also on stage were
about two hundred candles flickering as the electric fan above moved the air.

Got the picture? It certainly created a very special atmosphere.

THE CONCERT/MISC
The song list was much the same as in Melbourne except they did Grind in the
first set (Only set). Highlights for mine were The night is very soft,
Shadow Cabinet (no mention of the Webb page, ho hum) and Hotel Womb.

There was very little exchange with the crowd which was disappointing. Steve
was always polite with "thankyou very much" after each song. He also said
that he felt like he was playing in a florist's window in reference to the
heaps of flowers. I can't remember MWP saying anything.

Skilbey wore light coloured jeans and a purple patterned silk/satin shirt
and drank OJ. MWP had black jeans and shirt buttoned up to the neck. By the
way Skilbey played with his eyes open for some of the songs, focusing? on
the back wall. He played well but MWP was on fire! Hardly a wrong note was
played and the harmonies were great.

NO ENCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :(((((

After 5 minutes of claping, stomping and chanting for more the background
music came up and the lights went on. An unfortunate way to end, leaving
many people in disbelief, myself included. I can only speculate about the
reasons. One unusual feature of the concert was that the first four rows
back from the stage were filled with people sitting down, the whole concert!!!
Plus there was a tool at the front who stood up after every song and
clapped? I would have found this very annoying had it been me on the stage.

The next day my friend tried to console me be saying that the no encore
showed a certain amount of distain on the bands part? I don't know. The only
solace was that they played for an hour and twenty minutes.

Anyway, hopefully tonight at Grand Orbit we will get an encore and at least
get to hear Lost and a few others.