2003-05-04

Swoon! The wedding was wonderful, we were beautiful and the crowd was bountiful.

On the morning of the wedding, Nods and Phoebe came to my house at about 9am and helped me put together the rest of the CDs and zines. They looked so REAL!! A real CD, in a proper case and all coloury and proper. We felt very clever. I tried to look after myself and eat and so on, but I was nearing total exhaustion and I had a one track mind for wedding completion.

After buying some decorations (pink and white crepe paper and silver cardboard to cut stars from) and photocopying (I had trawled my own photo albums to find family wedding images; the venue would be covered with pictures of my mum and dad's wedding, as well as other weddings where my dad had been a groomsman) I made my way to the bowling club venue.

The Morrow Park Bowling Club has one green and is tucked away, down a dirt side-street, alongside the railway. Some of the locals tell me it was a kickin' all ages venue for punk shows back in the nineties. Then it all ended with one night of misguided anarchy, with young folk screwing with the bowling green and breaking shit. No more gigs at the Morrow Park. But this last year, it has become popular again, with the folks who own Salar Cafe taking over the running of the venue. I have always loved a good bowling club show, and I fondly remember the Victoria Park Bowling Club, whic operating as The Bowlo, was a kicking venue of the early nineties. It no longer exists, having been knocked down and replaced with a car park. That's what happens to so many things when they are located on prime-valued land. The Bowlo stood in Victoria Park, at the corner of Broadway and City Rd in Sydney.

I got to the venue and was joined by the band, Dame, Phoebe and Roffy (who came up from Melberg for this most auspicious occassion). We gussied up the venue and left, to get ready for the big nite. For the majority of the gig, I would wear my 80s, assymetrical, zipper frock. I gathered up my wedding frock and gear, all the CDs and merch and went to Lawson ST to be made up.

All the 'craft were very edgy and nervy over at Lawso, as we waited to have makeup on. And as we waited for the night to kick in, and dare we say it, be OVER, there was lots of silly dancing, especially by Simi and me. We tried desperately to get rid of the motherlode of nervous energy that was doing laps around our systems. Alison did our makeup and we all looked quite amazing compared to our usual selves. Make-up is an effective tool. I am a bit of a dick to put makeup on, though, as I am an eye nerd. It feels hella weird to have someone draw in your eyelid and so on....

when I got to the gig I was overwhelmed, as I needed to set up the door, load gear in, find a float of change for the door, have the merchandise ready and ensure we had enough door folks. And it felt like I was being pulled in a gazillion directions. But all was done, and the nervous wait began: would people actually come along? We had heard anecdotal evidence of one of our mates speaking to an unknown plumber in Maryland, and this plumber was telling our mate about how he was going to a gig of Bitchcraft, who were "mad". For those not experienced with band world, its very exciting when someone other than your mates has heard of your band, let along goes to a gig.

And they did come. Wiseheimer had about 50 people watching them at 8.45pm. I love Wiseheimer. Though I am not sure that I love how they recorded a CD about a year ago, spent decent money on it (so it should sound awesome!) and haven't got it out yet. "30 Years" is such an amazing song.

Conation played a typically wonderful set, including their Nectrotardation cover "Horror Everywhere" which is fucking amazing. By this time there were a good 100 people there. By the end of the night there may have been 150, but who can tell these things.

As Conation finished their set, the five of us went to the bathroom and got into our frocks. Roffy was out Matron of Honour, so she had to charge around making sure the celebrant (Zakari) was ready and that the boys to give us away (Wiseheimer, less Chunk with Murray substituted in) were supplied. Soon, we could hear the strangled strains of "Here Comes The Bride" being plucked from an electric guitar. It was time.

Emerging from the loos and down to the crowd, which was parted, we alked down the friggin' aisle! It was quite full on, as everyone cheered and had all attention on us. Afterwards, I reflected that I don't think I could handle being a real bride, as the attention of a fake bride was more than enough for me. We reached the stage and Zakari began the ceremony. In the middle of the ceremony, Roffy stepped up to the mic to offer a reading from the Book of Bon. She read the first words of "Let There Be Rock", mainly because of their psuedo religious tone and the fact that Simi owns a book of the AC/CD sheet music. Indeed!

Now, to us (the band) the best part of the night was now over. As we took the stage and attempted to start playing, I found my guitar inoperable. Gah! Having lovely pals set up your gear for you, whilst much appreciated, is not terribly effective in getting a good sound and confidence in the equipment. From there, the sound gave us jip the whole set. None of us could hear anything, it was a swirling mudpile. As a result, we really slumped in our attitude and gave a fairly pedestrian show. However, as usual, folks told us how rad it was. Well, that's something...

After we played, DJ Dodgy burned the floor with his denim-disco stylings and I watched everyone dance. Stupidly, I had burned myself out before the show and I also felt my customary strangeness-in-crowds. This causes me to sit around, refusing to join in or really enjoy stuff, with a big smile pasted on. I get a sore face at these times. And I have no idea why it happens, though some people around here just think I am being cruel. Hey! It feels like shit in my head, so stop making me feel worse!

In the round up, we sold about 35CDs, 20 badges, 10 tshirts and several patches. Yay! (Though I am still several hundred out of pocket).