Posts by Damian Christie
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Thanks Robyn - glad you enjoyed it.
FYI, there is also, but kinda hidden (I'll have a word) the full version of that archive piece (including many more verses of the piggy song) now online:
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Thanks guys!
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I saw Smashing Pumpkins at that first BDO, and to this day it amazes me when someone mentions how great they are.
I was like, 19, and I can’t remember if that was the BDO I tried acid, but it probably was. It was sunny and I had made the trip up from Wellington and there were squillions of hot Auckland girls in bikinis and I was sitting on the grass drinking beer and looking at my hands and looking at the girls and looking at the sun and looking at the Pumpkins and smiling and laughing at it all.
So you could say, it wasn’t the most objective music review ever.
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Luckily, when I reluctantly queued up, one of the wristband workers had the insight to walk up the line doling out wristbands to anyone who was obviously over 25.
Oh and yeah, this is what it should be like. People in charge using their common sense. This is a great example. I'm certainly not 17. I'm definitely not even under 25 (although sometimes it seems the BDO ID people must get their training at the same supermarket that IDs me all the time). When I got to the front of the very long wristband queue she just asked "do you have ID, I don't need to see it", which was nice, but someone scouting the line for the elderly would've been even better!
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@Mikaere - "They are hardly ghettos". Yeah nah, they are. As I said, the Lilypad one was fine, and the one in between Green and Essential minimised the ghetto feeling (other than the fact you're left peering through a fence while standing in piles of rubbish.) But that main stage one needs to be sorted. There should be an option for normal ticket holders to be able to drink and watch the main stage reasonably comfortably (by BDO standards of course, which isn't that comfortable), rather than the hideous crush/queue they had for a drink, after which you're about as far away from the main stage as it's possible to be, peering through a fence in your own filth (well, mostly everyone else who's been drinking there before you), straining to hear the music that's being blown around the field.
Of course, no-one's forcing anyone to drink, so when it came to the main stage, we didn't. But you can't tell me that ain't a ghetto back there.
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Cracker: Gimme Shelter, in reply to danielpresling,
Yeah, I've definitely never had a problem buying only one or two beers rather than four @danielpresling, and I'm pretty sure that would break some major licensing principles. There's certainly a maximum of four, but perhaps you just saw everyone taking four (which one tends to do, after queuing half an hour and not wanting to do it again anytime soon) and assumed that was the rule?
Aside from the main beer ghetto, which was HIDEOUS and we didn't even attempt it, there were relatively small fast-moving queues for the other licensed areas. At one point I even had to ask if the bar (the big one, side of Green stage) was still open, because there were literally no customers inside.
@ana, nah didn't totally ruin my day - LCD were great - but it was the enduring memory.
@Mark - you sure those taxis weren't just booked for other people? I had one booked, and as we approached it, it was like a zombie movie, ill looking people clambering all over it, banging on it, trying to open the door, begging for a ride/fresh brains.
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@Raymond – no, it’s easy to complain when that person is being a) unreasonable and b) violent. I’ve managed more bars than I can remember and while I’ve certainly encountered a few dickheads over that time, I’ve never behaved or condoned behaviour like that. I made it pretty clear in the blog that there were absolutely no issues with customers getting access to the bar, and that I understood why he might’ve been justified in moving people on if there were. To characterise the dozen or so people (including me, I guess you’re saying) as a mob of beer swilling drunken yobs isn’t really engaging constructively.
Just saying.
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@Leigh - how did you find the winners on that page? I couldn't seem to see the link.
Anyway, bronze medal or not, I think it's choice that the Peels light up their house each year, you can see the effect it has on the neighbourhood, that main photo I took on the blog says it all, people hanging out with otherwise complete strangers, laughing and enjoying the holiday season. Love it.
Wonder what'd happen if they just kept the lights up all year... ?
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Ahh, here you go
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Cracker: Fa la la la laaa, la la la la., in reply to Raymond A Francis,
I got them in Aussie last year, they're actually miniature Havianas - branded and everything - distributed by the company of the same name no doubt. They were quite pricey for a fairly small (about 2m) chain, but I thought they were pretty cool.
But I reckon if someone could be arsed producing a generic version, it'd be a big seller in NZ.