The gig-attending mission started as a pretty shitty Sunday honestly—It was just one of those boohoo days. The day had honestly ended a one week 'good day' streak for me. So I left my usual base of operations of Botangs and headed on the bus to the Cooparroo Hall. Apparently, one of my mates Otto was holding a party/gig and I thought why not, I have nothing else better to do.
So I arrived, alone as usual, except this time I was truly Alone in the Endzone as none of my good mates were there, with Arran bailing from attending the gig. So I walked in the hall for a while and just walked out to chill outside and eat a burger I bought.
Unbeknownst to me, this was where the bulk of the action of the night would happen—outside the venue. This experience would teach me how fun it truly can be to chill outside with a bunch of newfound mates.
So I sat outside while I was really going through this shit time, and feeling a bit stupid and a bit off I asked Otto if I could play one song on stage.
I butchered it.
I walked on stage and I basically played parts of New Race by Radio Birdman, I'm Stranded by The Saints and a part of an original song of mine. Pretty weird but I'm thankful for the experience.
After that, I walked outside the hall and I was stranded—I was on my own, no friend group, basically barely anyone to talk to, I stood around some groups trying to join in using the 'talk to one person to talk to the group' technique. Didn't work, everyone was pretty close with each other.
This was until I met some guys who were actually pretty damn welcoming. I ended up sitting at the back of the hall, and it was one of those moments where I realised what I truly missed out on. It was like the feeling of walking with a mate and seeing him dab everyone up, or the feeling I felt while going to my first few gigs.
It felt like I had a new lease on life—I could be the new me and not really have someone's idea of me stuck in their head, because it was all new people. Soon there was a full blown group forming and I found myself as quite the member—nobody really knew each other, someone even said 'who are all of these new people', so it meant that even though some people were really close with each other and all that—I had a chance.
And what ensued was something I can't describe, you just had to be there—but I felt like I was a part of something—and that's one of the best feelings to feel. The rest of night was just an awesome hang out with some cool people. I knew for a fact that I had a better time than many people there—I was fucking doing cool shit. And that experience alone taught me a lot of things, and was just another new experience, which was awesome.
All of a sudden I felt like I finally knew a bit about this side of the scene, and I kinda have my foot in the door a little bit. Fuck, afterwards I left once again feeling like a new man. That's all there is to it really, just a great time.
From the archive. Gig review · 2025, month unconfirmed · phone notes carried verbatim.