Bloods Tour Diary: Part Four

WEDNESDAY - BIGSOUND

It's the night of our BIGSOUND showcase and we're all ready to take on the next four days in the sunny north. Sweetie almost missed her flight thanks to a very strong antihistamine, but thanks to some quick thinking and speedy moves, made it with one minute to spare! Dirk and MC made the smart decision of getting a later flight and cruise on through to QLD.

Once reunited, it was time to take on the BIGSOUND promo machine! It's five interviews back to back and lots of talking about Golden Fang. A definite highlight was taking on a music quiz (which we blitzed, naturally) and managing to bust out the first two verses of the Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air theme song. Props to MC's brilliant memory.

After talking ourselves into a coma, we are picked up by a smiley young lady who takes us to a warehouse, where we will be covered in coloured holi dust for an AIR photo shoot. MY GOD THERE WAS SO MUCH DUST! It took about 15 solid minutes of scrubbing to try to wash away all the coloured dust and then, a little more colourful than we'd started out, we head to Electric Playground to sound-check for our showcase.

New pre-gig ritual?

We're first on a line-up that dreams are made of. Dune Rats, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Bleeding Knees Club and Regurgitator are all playing in the same room with us! We are beyond excited.

When we take the stage for our line-check there are a handful of people already there waiting for us to start. By show time, the room was looking pretty damn healthy, which was a total surprise to all of us and resulted in huge smiles across our faces.

Showcasin'

Our set finished in what felt like a flash and then it was time to party! The night slowly began to blur but shout outs to Little Bastard, Bad//Dreems, Money for Rope, New Brutalists, King Gizzard, Regurgitator and Philly Jay's who sound tracked Dirk and Sweetie's slow decline into pure, euphoric drunkenness.

THURSDAY - BIGSOUND

The decision to get a serviced apartment with a big kitchen and a swimming pool totally pays off. With sore heads, Dirk and Sweetie rise to MC whipping up a delicious breakfast in the kitchen.

Pool hangs are the only thing on today's agenda and we're pretty damn happy about it!

By the mid afternoon we're ready to party once more. Damn Terran are first on the menu of delicious BIGSOUND treats for Thursday night. A quick stop over at Brisbane's best pizza joint, Alfredo's gives us the energy to continue on our second night of debauchery.

After enjoying some killer sets by Born Lion, Major Leagues, Bored Nothing, Jeremy Neale, Them Swoops, DZ Deathrays and Melbourne Ska Orchestra, we end up at Birdees for the after party. Spirits are high and so are we. This was our very first BIGSOUND and it was EPIC! Thank you so much for having us.

FRIDAY - SHOW DAY

Friday we arise much the same as Thursday, only today is another show day. But for now, it's back to the pool.

Later on, we head into The Valley once more in honour of The AU Review's 5th Birthday Celebrations. We're full of Sake Sake Sake after a memorable Harajuku Gyoza experience with a handful of friends.

We set up to a soundtrack provided by the one and only Chance Waters who was on the decks. Another performance that totally flies by and we pack down to the smooth tunes provided by guest DJ and Mayor of Brisbane, Jeremy Neale.

And we're out!

SATURDAY - GOLD COAST

G'day Gold Coast!

Our amazing manager/boss/mum Jess arrives to pick us up at midday in a big red soccer mum van. We hit the highway and a butt-load of traffic, but it's not long until we see the iconic high-rises that let us know we're in the Gold Coast.

Old mate...

There's time to kill so we head to King Tutt's Putt Putt to take on some dinosaur Mini Golf.  MC is the champion of the day and Sweetie is freaking out about all the cool dinosaurs, while Dirk plays it cool and is mostly excited about the promise of ice cream post game.

Holy dinosaur!!!

We head back to our apartment for some beer and pizza before making our way to the Loft on Chevron Island. We are immediately greeted the smiling faces of The Good Sports and Teen Sensations. What a bunch of legends.

Both bands take to the very quaint stage and have us eating out of the palm of their hands with their amazing songs, banter and general handsomeness. We are geared up for our last show of the Golden Fang EP tour.

45 minutes later, it's all over. We look at each other with a sense of relief, exhaustion and elation. We are also slightly bummed out that it's all come to an end.

We head back to the hotel for what seems like the most appropriate way to celebrate the end of our tour - left over pizza, beer and the Cosmic Psychos guest programming Rage.

And that's a wrap!