Tonight I have house guests. To save extra buggering about at some ungodly hour, Steve and Rob have taken to kipping at my place tonight. Doug lives but a stone throw away and we have to be at Dean's (not a stone's throw by any stretch of the imagination) at something like 4:30am. It's tantamount to criminal. My keyboard rig and Steve's drums are safely ensconced within the luggage hold of the bus; having been prepared earlier, and all that we could concievably do has been done.
Unfortunately, in Gingerworld, accross the park, the only plan that was concieved was Hemina's, in a rehearsal studio, until midnight. Waking our hirsuite fretmeister was never going to be an easy task. In contrast, myself and my house guests retired before 11pm.
Awoken by the smell of fresh coffee and a relentlessly chipper Steve at 3:30am. Not a time I do my best thinking, it has to be said. Robert snarled and complained into view not long after. After packing some last minute items- bedding, clothes, gigwear, some spare leads et al, our party of three made the trek to Chez Dougal to rouse him and his lovely missus.
The two zombies duly emerged; having slept much less than us. But before too long, andrenaline had kicked in (aided and abetted by Red Bull) and we were on our way.
Met with Martyn on route, and got to Dean's at about 4:15. The bus was already there. By 4:35 we were heading out and were on our way. For me, this was not only my first time playing interstate, it was also my first time in Melbourne. The whole thing was terribly exciting.
The bus trip seemed to mostly melt away, after stopping for breakfast and catching up on some much missed sleep, we watched the DVD I had edited of the recording of the new album (the whole process was captured on at least one of the iPhones we had in the studio at the time). There seemed to be unanimous approval and a tremendous sense of cameraderie and occasion about the whole affair. It felt great.
In what seemed no time at all, we were hurried up onstage and the sample for the Passing Bell bought the whole thing exploding to life. The show was mixed, with some very good moments, some moments that were influenced by a highly exhausted band, and a JC120 amplifier that decided to retire itself at the conclusion of the penultimate song, leaving Disinfected and Abused slightly Doug-less, until we patched him direct into the keyboard mixer. Far from ideal but it did work. The Passing Bell, still in it's infancy as a live track, really worked as an opener. Archway of Tears, as the current single, had to be played. But the highlight was 'The Holy Innocent', with that showstopping sax solo. Disinfected, as the hoary old favourite still holds it's place as the obvious closer.
Anubis, Live at the Hi-Fi, September 23rd 2011
The gig was, I thought, average- and perhaps a less than auspicious start to the AToS touring cycle, however, the people who watched it seemed to enjoy it, confirmed in a conversation with Dave from Classic Rock Present Prog who enjoyed the gig very much. What do I know?
We had a bite to eat following the show and watched labelmates Toehider launch their new album. Mike Mills is a stunning vocalist with a range that we all envied, and a massive army of influences in their catchy and accessible take on prog. I'd love to jam on Hammond with them, actually. I could hear parts all over the place. Ridiculously friendly and accommodating too.
The Toehider home-ground fans soon thinned out leaving the prog faithful for Unitopia. As I have said before, I really appreciated the cameraderie with Sean before the show and was looking forward to continuing that in Sydney the following week. The rest of the band were friendly, although we became better acquainted with them the following week. The keyboards sounded wonderful, and although Unitopia and Anubis have quite different approached to keys sounds, there is a vast area of common influence which I heard and enjoyed very much.
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