G'Day all,
The last week has flown by. Again it seems that all we're doing is working which makes our anticipation for our upcoming holiday so much greater. One of the guys from work invited Mel and I to a gig down at his home town of Penicuik. It was called BOB Fest (I don't know what BOB stands for) and ran over Friday and Saturday night. Wanting to break up the monotony of the working week we decided to go and check it out on Saturday night.
We didn't really know what to expect, Dan had given us free tickets and some vague directions on how to get there. It was fortunate that we spotted a group (a pride?) of bogans on the bus, we decided to follow them as I was sure they'd home in on the scent of a heavy metal extravaganza.
The venue was in the local town hall, no bouncers or security guards. Just a middle aged couple checking tickets (I suspect they were the parents of one of the performers) and nobody checking bags so it was a booze smuggling free for all. Once we got upstairs we were treated to a rogues gallery of bogan/metalhead diversity.
There were plenty of teeny bopper boglings (baby bogans), the girls drinking out of 1 litre Bacardi Breezer bottles, the boys had either Jack Daniels or Tennants. One of the guys who had caught the bus in with us was what I'd call Classic bogan, long flowing mane with leather jacket pelt and the weathered features of a creature who'd endured countless Iron Maiden and Judas Priest concerts. He sported an SLR and I'm guessing he was shooting for a street press mag or was just a music photography enthusiast.
And in the blue corner we had the Skinhead who looked like he was after nothing but trouble, one got the impression that he was hoping for a fight but was disappointed to find mostly kids or people just chilling out enjoying the music. No tuned up meth-heads for him to rumble with. He wasn't really dancing or moshing but strutting around the hall like a rooster, thumbs tucked under his suspenders, stopping in front of people and looking through them rather than at them. This told me he was either bat-shit crazy or totally obliterated. His display started with a lot of energy but he looked like he was in the hurt locker as the night drew to a close. I guess he was just wasted after all.
We only managed to catch two bands. The first was pretty poor to be honest. I can't even remember their name but it was a shame that what seemed like a half decent guitar/drums combo had been hijacked by a half-arsed, preening bassist front man who thought that just having tattoos and a mohawk would ensure rock god status. Enough said.
Next up were "Flat Iron" and I gotta say these guys kicked some arse. As they were warming up a fan was doing the rounds getting the crowd fired up for the show. He came up to me and asked "Do ya like proper metal? Well these guys are proper metal!" I nodded, unsure if he meant that the previous band were not proper, or that Flat Iron literally had lyrics written in proper English. Either way these guys were good and besides, when a band has a trifecta of songs called Sasquatch, Zombies, and Death By Metal they've won me over before even playing a note.
We had to leave early because we had an hour and a half on a bus to get home and work the next day. A good night was had, and we got out before the teeny boppers started puking on each other. A special thanks go out to our two Slovakian bogan friends Thomas and Vendi? (I forget his name) who offered us pistachios and chilli munchies to go with our Carlsberg. Cheers guys.
Now there's only a few weeks left in Edinburgh! Can't wait to hit the road.
Take it easy everyone!
