Brisbane shows...and hotel(s)?

[DoubtfulMiracle]

I'm not long back from the first Brisbane show, and I'm trying to think of a more articulate way to say it was freakin' awesome.

I should start off by saying that I had rather average tickets, some way back on the floor. Having sat up the front for previous (non-FM) concerts, I know that completely changes the concert experience. (I'll have my shot in the front row tomorrow.) Knowing that there was always tomorrow to come, I think I kind of treated this concert as a test run really, taking it all in before I rock out tomorrow night.

I have very little self-control, and so had watched a great deal of Unleashed tour videos on the internet. I was ridiculously worried that somehow my expectations wouldn't be met and I'd feel the whole thing was a bit of a let down (kind of like when you get the courage to talk to someone who's caught your eye, only to discover that they're a total goose in person). I think I was especially nervous about Stevie given some of the bad raps she'd received, in terms of being sluggish, unenthusiastic, not in great voice etc. Tonight, I thought she was everything an audience could've hoped for. From where I sat, she seemed to be warm and engaging, and after hearing the first few lines of Dreams, I thought "wow, she's gonna be great". I know from previous experiences that videos often don't replicate the actual sound at the concert very well at all, but Stevie definitely sounded much, much better than in any of the recent video clips I've seen. Gypsy in particular has occasionally appeared to be a bit of a train wreck, but when my dad -- the harshest critic in the house -- turned to me to say "she still sounds great", I couldn't have agreed more.

My expectations for Lindsey were somewhat higher, and even still he exceeded them beyond all belief. Even though I knew they'd be blown away, I was thrilled to hear my parents remark on how he was a lot more talented than they ever gave him credit for and "God, he can play that guitar". Really, he is just mesmerising and I think a lot of the more casual Mac fans must surely be astounded to see just how good he really is.

I was trying to make mental notes of things here and there as the show went on. I'm not sure if some of the things that seemed different to me are actually different, but it was nice to be surprised by things along the way . Other things are just my observations as a first time Mac attendee.

- John's solo in The Chain is 1000 times more intense live than on the record (I'm sure I'm not telling any of you anything new). The way it reverberated through the stadium was unbelievable.

- Stevie started her Gypsy intro speech, paused for a moment and started to fan herself. I thought she was getting a little emotional, but no. "I'm out of breath". Heh. It was cute -- she was right into IKINW just prior, so I can see how that happened.

- I thought the ending of Rhiannon sounded stronger than some I'd seen previously. Possibly stronger the whole way through actually, but the ending especially was great.

- What was that exercise regime of Stevie's we were all laughing about a few months ago? I kept thinking boxercise but I know that's not it. Arm curls? Whatever it was, it's definitely for her SHN moves.

- Tusk was a big hit. It seemed like the first song to really get people out of their seats (at the end of the song at least; we're still not big standers here in Brisbane).

- Lovely Sara hug, as always. I don't even care that it's planned; it's still so damn nice.

- Stevie dedicated Landslide to "Anne". No further explanation was forthcoming. (On a side note, she also wished someone happy birthday at some point in the night. It's my birthday on Friday -- can I get one too?) Stevie also mentioned that Landslide was a song "that just keeps coming back". Like the Terminator, I thought.

- Oooh, a song I still like to call 'Storms', whatever Stevie might want to call it. At some point (I can no longer remember the exact line), there were some very RaL (Go Ahead Lily)-esque vocals from Stevie. I had this thought independently at the time, and then remembered that Chris from Sydney had made the same comparison in his review. He was dead on. And it was super.

- GDW was awesome. Mick was damn loud on the drums in parts, which really struck me. As in Sydney, we had the prolonged, repetitive kind of wail, followed by the more standard sort of wail. The ending we got was, I think, "she dove into the shadows/she dived into the shadows", "you let her go into the shadows" and a very definite "now she's gone" to pretty much take the song to its close. I'm not even sure if I'm remembering things exactly right at the moment, but it was an ending I hadn't heard before and it was actually quite chilling. Slightly accusatory in a way, and I liked that.

- I had forgotten Oh Well was in the set, so that was a nice way to surprise myself . I think it was here that we got some unusual kind of dog yaps from Lindsey at the end.

- I haven't watched many videos of World Turning from the tour, but I really enjoyed it. Couldn't understand what the heck Mick was saying half the time, but the non-drum solo sections were particularly awesome. Stevie seemed to be really getting into it too, which was cool.

- Silver Springs lives! (At least for tonight.) Like Rhiannon, I thought the end especially sounded much stronger and I guess more 'convincing' than I was perhaps expecting. Fantastic to see it live, even if a good proportion of attendees had already vacated their seats (which, for the life of me, I will never understand).

No photos tonight, but hopefully tomorrow. I can see me getting all caught up in the front row excitement though, so keep your expectations low!