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East Coast Tour with Mason
written: 8th July 2003
By Clay

We've been doing a tour with Mason Jennings, Chris Morrisey and Brian Mcleod
you know!!
Those guys from America.
The guys who play music and stuff?
Anyway, if you havent heard them yet
Check our link to their website
Masons music is a joy to behold.
For those of you who know his stuff
you know what i mean.
for those of you who dont,
if you're into mellow music,
do yourself a favour and open your ears to some of his tunes.

anyway,
this is the run down
we did a few gigs down Melbourne way to start off the tour
Matty, Mitch and i went into P.B.S. radio and did a few songs live to air
when we first got down there
we havent heard it back yet
we're told it was cool though.
we took in two acoustics and some bongo drums and just had some fun with it
you know?
something a bit different
that was excellent.
it was pretty funny too because we'd worked out half the shit that afternoon
before we went in
and unfortunately the memory banks didnt hold up thru the whole show.
it made for some laughs thats for sure.

then we had a few days off so we drank about a million cups of tea and
played about two million rounds of Galaga down in St. Kilda.
oh yeah! and Neal and i met the Donna's one morning on the way to the beach.
Im a massive fan so that was some exciting stuff for me.
Neal was trying to be humble but i knew he was as hyped up as i was!!

then it was back to work and it was time to meet our new friends Chris,
Brian, Ian, Sarah and Mason.
we drove down to Torquay for our first gig of the tour and hooked up with
the crew.
the gig was in this beautiful old building on a hill that was overlooking
the town of Torquay and the ocean. it was a really nice place for a gig. we
did our soundcheck and then Mason and the boys did theirs. Mitchell, Matty,
Neal, Clive and myself sat back and enjoyed their tunes. it was really cool.
you know that feeling when youve been into someones music for ages and then
finally you get to see them live for the first time? it was like that. we
were blessed.

it was good to see all the Barwon Heads and Torquay crew again. all the
tickets sold out and everyone was up for a good nite. everyone was chilled
for Mason and they all listened intently. then naturally when we came on,
and it was pretty late by the way, everyone was parrot, and everyone was
noisy so our plans of playing a mellow gig went out the window and we rocked
it up a bit. everyone danced around as we carried on like pork chops and we
all had a good nite im pretty sure. i did anyway.
i just want to let all the kids out there know that this was my first
Beautiful Girls gig without alcohol.
it was an evening to remember folks. do it for your country. do it for your
liver. go natural, go music.

the next morning it was back to Melbourne, but not before the Geelong
Go-kart challenge was on. it turns out that the Girls and the Americans are
all big fans of racing small vehicles so it was on. rubber was burning and
the kids were getting dangerous. it was nothing short of hilarious. the
facials alone are spectacular. when boys race Karts, the devil comes out and
skills that would normally lay doormant are exorcised for all to see.
it was a beautiful thing.
Go-karts.
do it with your friends and smash into em.
sick.

Chris, Brian and Mason had an instore in Melbourne after that. we had a rest
and then we all hooked up at the Corner hotel for soundcheck. i love that
place. its made for music.
outside the hotel that nite there was a buzz in the air because Richmond
were playing a big game just a few hundred metres away from us at Tigerland.
but inside as Mason and the boys started playing their set,the vibe was
super mellow and the sound in the room was super sweet. it was a perfect
actually. a big call i know, but the sound was good and the atmosphere in
there was as cool as cucumbers. from what i could see, everyone was stoked.
heaps of crew knew Masons stuff which was really cool.

we had a great gig. there were a couple of technical things that went wrong,
but they we're insignificant in comparison to the goodness we had going at
the Corner that nite. we hadn't played in there since the gig with Xavier
Rudd months earlier, and we were as excited as we were that nite.
basically, it was a really good gig from go to finish. and at the risk of
sounding cliche, along with our sound guy, Rich, we owe it to the cool crew
who came to check out the gig that nite. it was a really good audience. i
always say this one aswell but thats because i mean it. we met some very
cool people that nite. good conversation, good pool, and many laughs. thanks
for showing us around folks.

the next nite we played in a hotel out on the bay called Milano's. it was in
Brighton, about 10 kms north around the bay from St. Kilda. we wern't
expecting much after the big gig at the Corner, but heaps of crew turned up.
Matty's sister Tiffany opened up for us that nite. that was all time hey.
not only did Tiff grace us with her beautiful voice and guitar playing, but
Jan, Mat and Tiff's mum was sitting down the front for the whole thing too.
cool huh?
Mat sent one out to Jan half way thru the set. it was one of those gigs you
know? good vibes. check the link for Tiffany's music coming soon ok?

that was it for Melbourne.
regretfully we said goodbye to our other home town (there's a few of them)
and it was off to Sydney.
the Annandale, Wollongong, Avalon R.S.L. and Newcastle. Annandale was great.
we had heaps of friends turn up. it was a suprise for sure. i was wondering
what the fuck they were all doing there all of a sudden. i hadnt seen so
many of them for ages, and some of them hadnt even been to one of our gigs
before. Mason, Chris and Brian came out and played their tunes to the packed
house that was there before them, and as i danced and got down with our crew
that were there with us that nite, i realised why most of them had shown up.
they were there to see Mason. i was stoked. it dawned on me then that there
were heaps of people at the gigs we were doing that were big fans of Mason
and Co. it was cool to watch everyone get down to their favourite Mason
songs that they had only heard on the stereo until now. ive actually got
some really funny video footage of everyones head watching and listening to
Mason and the boys that nite. there was alot of adoration being shed.

the next nite was The Oxford Tavern in Wollongong. what can i say? massive.
so many people turned up for the gig, it was crazy. we've played in the Gong
once before and it was a lunch time gig at the Wollongong University. we
played to about 40 people who were busy eating their lunch, so when 450 plus
crew turn up to the Oxford that nite, we didnt what the hell was going on.
it went off basically.
thankyou Wollongong crew!!!! oh yeah. and sorry to the girl that i pushed
off the stage that night but im not a big fan of being grabbed around the
head when im trying to sing. that was pretty weird.

then it was on to the Avalon R.S.L.
it was our first real home town gig in at least a few months, and to put it
in a nutshell, it was fucken nuts.
there were so many heads there, but much to our dissapointment, the venue
stopped selling tickets at 400. naturally we did the right thing, being our
home coming party, and we did up a door list of 100 people plus. everyone
was in there and from what i could see, it was packed from wall to wall with
crew who were keen to party. when we played, Mitch's mum Maria, stood right
down the front and my dad Archie stood just off to the side. that was rad to
have those guys there. they loved it.

then it was up to Newcastle again. we've been there so many times now. its
always good to be back in that town. after the gig everyone bailed home.
nothing was open because it was a Sunday nite. we were lucky anyone showed
up actually. heaps of people did though. almost 400 actually. afterwards we
drove around looking for something to do. nothing was doing so we did laps
of the Mcdonalds car park and then went and sat up on the headland and
looked out over the town for a while. that was a good nite.

3 nites later we were up in sunny Sawtell, our other, other home town. we
got up there a day before our gig and had some waves and kicked back. good
waves too. Mitch drove up with his brother Josh, and to my surprise, my
brother turned up aswell. he was on his way back from working in Brisbane
with his mate Neil and they had decided to stop in for the gig. we'd become
a travelling circus. i think all the rooms in the hotel were booked out for
our crew alone. without going into detail. we had some fun that nite. all
the clowns were out to play.

where were we next?
thats right. the lovely Byron Bay. its always special to play in Byron.
mainly because its great to hang out with our friends that live up there.
but also because The Great Northen is always packed and its such a great
atmosphere out in the back room where the gigs are at. i psyched up for the
gig that nite by chilling out with my friends Terry and Putu and my baby
godson Rydah. bless his heart. that got me vibed up. he'll be rockin one day
too.
it was a massive gig that night. packed house again.

then we hit the Zoo in Brizzy. what a room. its such a cool place to play. i
cant wait to get back there. unfortunately while we were playing. someone
out the back knocked off Mattys phone. but lets not harp on that, cause the
gang out the front were legendary. to anyone that came that nite. thanks
again, it was an epic feeling in there.

now for the last gig of the tour. 10 gigs down and one to go. Surfers
Paradise Beer Gardens saturday may the 2nd. there were 710 people in there
and crew were getting turned away at the door. it was the largest pub gig
weve done to date and it was fucking nuts. almost everyone we know from the
Goldy was there so that was sick. it was hot, sweaty, i was in my Nana's
coat and everyone was in good spirits. but the highlight of the night was
not in our set, it was the last song that Mason and the boys did. it was a
cover of Bulls on parade by Rage against the machine.
fucken jesus!!!!!
they'd been threatening to play it the whole tour but they kept barring it
saying the vibe wasnt right. but the 700 crew in the Beer Gardens made the
vibe right so they played it.
i lost it. i so heavily wanted to dive the stage but crushing small
unsuspecting girls in the front couple of rows isnt that cool really.
to anyone that was there, how good did it sound? especially the brake down
in the middle were he does the scratching on his guitar. it was perfect.
anyway, enough carry on. it was cool. respect.
and then it was over folks.

what a tour it was. the Mason crew were so much fun to travel with. the
sense of humour amongst us was really on the level, so there was no shortage
of laughs. they were good at hackey sack but they were shit at go karting.
and to throw in with that, their gigs were killer. they're fucking good
musos and it was an honour to tour with them. i cant wait to see them again.

thanks everyone that came to the gigs. it was our biggest tour yet so thanks
to you guys making it for us. its hard to express how much fun it was and
just how much we appreciate it. big up yourselves and take care till next
time.

be good and evil.
Clay