Wow, what a great night! Was it really over a week ago?
The poster said 'farewell gig' but that was just to say goodbye to Australia until his
return. The Sando is a pub venue in the main street of Newtown and Marty was playing in the upstairs room (with no bar). I flew up to Sydney on the spur on the
moment to finally get rid of the live music bug that's been hounding me and see our beloved MWP before he left the country. The opening support Raoul Graf
and Andy Gordon was a wonderful surprise, Id been wanting to see Raoul play for years and was in for a treat, a warm medley of songs from his own repertoire
with a few really good covers thrown in and I got to hear one of my fave Raoul songs 'California Switch' from the album Splinters that was co-written
and produced by Ed Kuepper.
Met up with Rod and Julia beforehand (i love you guys and it was so cool to see you again!!) and catch up with Ori, Capt Mission and meet the lovely hyphenated Matthew. Margot Smith joined us as well, her first MWP gig in a long time. After a bit of socialising and drinking we made our way upstairs for Marty's set, the room was alit with candles and incense giving it a warm glow... and what a wonderful, crazy night. I can only describe it as a sonic dream, beautiful music overload ha ha. I remember looking back at the crowd and wondering why they were so quiet. Margot said the same thing and we realised it was a look of absolute awe! Tiare Helberg joined Marty on backup vocals for a few songs, she has the most angelic voice that went so well with M's and I was my only complaint was that I would've liked her mike a bit louder so i could hear more of those lovely notes. Usually the sad, longing song of I Dont Think So brings tears to my eyes, whether live or not, but this time it was the emotional To Where I Am Now, a song that Marty belted out with pure emotion. I hope no-one realised my eyes were running! Song for Victor Jara was also very special, loved the new Feed Your Mind, Lullaby for the Lonely was divine but we missed out on High As A Kite. Im sure if he was allowed Marty would've kept on playing forever but as it was he was held back quite late after the show signing cds and t-shirts. During the show he cracked a lot of jokes and made many references to his MySpace, it became a running joke ---"if you wanna know, you'll have to go to MY space"
I wish i could remember the full setlist but it was similar to Melbourne (a mix of Nightjar, Hanging Out In Heaven, Sparks Lane etc) except we got the most amazing, splintering version of SPARK I've ever heard!! Amanda, i was like you with this and Reptile but this was an incredible version. This was in the encore the crowd demanded which led to a standing ovation -- see us aussies CAN show our enthusiasm!
Im often stunned how aussie audiences sometimes sit so
still and be so held back! But what a special night. Wonderful people and magic in the air! Crashed the night with Margot after I missed my ferry and woke up
feeling wonderful but wishing I could be over in the USA right now for the rest of the tour. God, how long till the next Church tour?
PS here's a few photos now. I borrowed a camera and didnt realise that in the dark i was hitting the 'delete' button while i tried to get rid of the flash. It didnt delete anything but i didnt get much either.
Marty's looking very serious in these shots because thats when i guess i was inbetween awesome moments
