New Tour Diary Entry

[Gypsy-Rhiannon]

Brisbane, Australia 02/21/2004

February 21st, 2004
Brisbane, Australia
Brisbane Entertainment Center

Let me start off by saying that Brisbane is wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. Picture being in a tropical paradise only with the added bonus of a really great city with lots to do. Our hotel is right on the water. It’s beautiful here. I’d be perfectly happy to just stay here for the rest of the tour. Now, with that said...

It’s hotter than hot here. Honest to god, it’s insane. They always say it’s the humidity that gets to you, not the heat. Well, here in Brisbane, it’s both. It’s so hot it’s hard to breathe. I like a little warm weather, I’m from California, but my god, this is unbearable. I gave up even trying to wear any make-up or formulate any hairstyle, because the second you leave your perfectly chilled hotel room, everything just melts and you look like you’ve been sitting in a sauna for three days straight. Not exactly the look I was going for. Turns out that while we were in Brisbane, they had record high temperatures, just my luck.

Another thing...For those of you that have never seen a bat the size of a freakin’ eagle, come to Brisbane. Ugh. People keep telling me that they’re completely harmless and that they’re just fruit bats, but let me tell you something, I DON’T CARE! It’s a bat! And it’s wingspan is FOUR FEET. I don’t care if they eat fruit or small children, it’s still a freakishly oversized bat. At night they’re in all the trees, flying around, hanging upside down and making noises that could cause some serious nightmares. That is my only true complaint about Brisbane, and although I’m sure a little problem like bats wouldn’t bother most people, I’m not most people.

Now that I’ve bored you all to death...

The two shows in Brisbane were really good. Mick has taken to wearing a satin red top hat for The Chain and Goodbye Baby, I’m not sure where he got it, but it’s definitely a new addition. Stevie has also been throwing a few new things into the mix, for Gypsy she’s been wearing this beautiful red blouse/caftan thing. I’m not exactly sure what to call it or how to describe it, but it’s lovely. It looks amazing under the lights. Hopefully I’ll be able to muster up a photo of it somewhere. She’s also been wearing her boots for most of the show, which I love, she gets a little extra sass in her step when she’s wearing the boots.

One of the zippers on Lindsey’s boot broke when he was taking them off after the first show, he decided to wait to tell us about it until the band was getting ready to go on stage the second night. Having only about ten minutes to figure out how to ensure that his boot didn’t fly off in the middle of the show, Jill (my fellow wardrobe cohort) and I decided to use three inch black gaffers tape and tape his boot on. His boot stayed on, and although I can’t say it was the most professional solution, I suppose it was better than playing barefoot.

Often times we get gifts for the band or things for the band to sign, sometimes people send artwork, and every now and then there’s something that really stands out. A drawing of the band showed up backstage in Brisbane. It was really well done. I think it was meant to just be signed and sent back to the artist, but Stevie liked it so much that she’s having the artist contacted to see if they’d be willing to draw one for her. Somehow I think the artist of this drawing wouldn’t mind drawing another one for her...Stevie spent a good ten minutes taking pictures of it.

Brisbane treated us well, now we’re off to Melbourne....

CB