Yesterday, I headed with my friend Ed, to Katoomba to see a David Bowie show at the Hotel Steve Gearin (ok, I might have added Steve into the name, but I'd like to think the hotel is named after the Bulldogs player who scored 15 points in the 1980 Grand Final).
I didn't quite realise how long a trip it would be. We caught one of those trains that make very few stops (are they still called XPTs?) and it took 1 hour and 50 minutes. I gained new sympathy/respect/sympathy for people who make that trip into work every day.
Upon getting to the pub we thought we'd get something to eat. We went to the bistro area where the security bloke told is was closed because the restaurant had served 46 meals. Not 44, Not even 45, But 46!!! With the way he said it I think he expect; that will make the next Guinness Book of Records for most meals served by a restaurant in one night.
We headed to the other side of the station to get something to eat. The Thai place was packed and there was no table. It turns out it there was some ukulele festival on in Katoomba.
We found an an Indian restaurant, and as I looked out the window it looked like the side road was leading to an ocean. Probably for the first time in my trips to the Blue Mountains I saw why the area was given that name. I also realised why I try to to stick to a rule of not buying Indian food in Sydney unless I'm in Harris Park.
As we sat in the restaurant I did wonder how crowded the concert would be with so many ukulele ruffians in town. We got that answer when we got back to the hotel and there was now a massive line queuing to get in. I cursed not trying to buy tickets when we first there and was a bit worried we wouldn't get it. Anyway as it turned out we were in about the last 10 people who were let in.
For the first couple of songs I was at the bar buying drinks. I saw they had some cider on tap I hadn't tried before and ordered that. I'm not sure what happened but I saw the bar girl get a can from the fridge and use that for most of my drink. I'm not sure what it was. It might have been Somersby. It also might have been cat's piss. Being an expert on cider (well after I've done a tasting at a place in Tasmania), I'm going to say whatever it was, that the closest it has ever been to an apple was the apple that is painted on the can.
The first set was a number of different mainly acoustic acts. A Portuguese senorita (are they senoritas in Portugal?) did a nice version of Starman. Then we had Absolute Beginners. Not the song but two people who I'm note sure had played a guitar or sung before (stand close to the microphone!). Actually they did do Absolute Beginners, which was very fitting. The highlight of the first part was the bloke who did Ashes to Ashes and Oh You Pretty Things, which I'm not huge fan of but his version was very good.
The second set was some different bands. The first band had a bloke in the band who I'm not sure was even old enough to be allowed into the band. After starting with The Prettiest Star the young lad sang the next 2 songs. As they were doing Modern Love I thought not only had they caught the paper boy, they'd also let him sing with them. They finished with I'm Afraid Of Americans, which he informed us was released in 1997, which was probably also the year he was born.
The next band up was the highlight of the night for me. Speaking to Ed on the way home he thought it was the lowlight, well apart from the absolute beginners. It was 2 singers who were playing with some various musicians who were there. Now maybe they did try too hard, but what they did have was some rock and roll swagger and when you're doing Bowie songs that goes a long way. My favourite Bowie songs are those from mid-to-early 70s, when he was one of the very people who was making decent music. They did some songs from this period: Rebel, Rebel; Suffragette City (which is a candidate for my favourite Bowie song) as well as Heroes. I really enjoyed their energy.
After them the house band came on with some singer who looked a little tired and emotional, and did Let's Dance. During the week I found out that somebody I know appeared in the Let's Dance video. Or at least his car appeared in the video driving along George Street. I was very jealous. I'd love to be have some link to part of pop culture. The house band then did Golden Years which was quite fitting as they were certainly in them (I don't think that is what Bowie had in my mind when he recorded the song).
They announced there would be a break and then they would be back on. However it had just gone 10:45 and the last train was leaving soon so we made our departure.
My feel of Katoomba was that it had some type of Byron Bay feel about it (without the beaches), although that might have been due the influx of the ukulele crowd.
Anyway for the cost of a a free train trip, an average Indian meal, a truly crap cider and a $5 entry fee for the show, I had a good night out.
