I found out about this through my purchase of the Shop Ethical iPhone app. I try my best to shop ethical, but sometimes at the supermarket it is a decision between price, convenience and ethics.

Anyway, about the concert. Dave Stewart was her special guest, I guess no-one really knew any of his new stuff, as the audience was pretty stiff during his performance. When the band did some Eurythmics tracks (Here Comes the Rain again, Missionary Man…), it just didn’t feel the same without Annie Lennox.

An annoucement before Stevie came on stage asked the audience not to take photos or videos of the performance (ala Bjork). But really, no – I want a momento. Sorry Stevie.

Stevie Nicks appeared right on schedule at 9pm. She was actually much better vocally than I thought she was going to be. The concert went for two hours, which I consider very good value nowadays (Janet didn’t even last an hour and a half). Stevie told us from the start that it was NOT a “greatest hits” show and she was going to play her new stuff (whether you wanted to hear it or not). I can appreciate that she would want to plug her new album, after all, she said she worked really hard on it and was immensely proud of it. Luckily, I had acquired the new album a couple of weeks ago to familiarise myself with In Your Dreams. My favourite tracks of the night were Stand Back (the opening track), Dreams, Rhiannon, Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream), Landslide & Edge of Seventeen. You can see the entire tracklist here. I enjoyed her anecdotes from her career and explanations of her new songs. She kept making jokes about being “old” – good to see a diva who can joke about herself. I was concerned when she needed a helper guy to make sure she didn’t fall over when she wanted to bend down and shake the audience’s hand during the finale. I also saw on Facebook, that PAdam got to touch her hand! Overall, a pretty awesome concert! As Tricky Dicky Wilkins said at the Arias, she is the queen of rock n roll!

Dave Stewart

Stevie Nicks

Hey there – long time, no hear on my blog. What can I say? Nothing exciting has happened recently (he he). I’ve done so much over the past few months, but haven’t got around to blogging about them, sorry. You’ll just have to get the short Facebook updates. Anyway, I’m pretty chuffed that the Annual Review that I designed for The Children’s Hospital at Westmead has been shortlisted in the Create Awards. Unfortunately, they didn’t use the front cover image as the link on the Create Awards website, but I guess the aspect ratio wasn’t right. Also, I didn’t realise you are meant to do fancy product shots even if it’s an A4 brochure (I just supplied spreads straight from the document), in future I will try some more interesting promo shots. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can download the report from The Children’s Hospital at Westmead’s website.

Considering how far back up on the balcony our seats were, this is a pretty good shot!
Debbie Harry – Blondie & The Pretenders, Enmore Theatre, Sydney 09/12/10

So 7 things about me? I’ve decided to also give you some musical insight…

:: My top three gigs of all time are: Bros @ Sydney Entertainment Centre c. 1988, Duran Duran @ The Enmore Theatre 2003 & George Michael @ Sydney Football Stadium 2010. (Oh I have to mention Michael Jackson @ Parramatta Stadium 1987 of course, and Daft Punk @ Sydney Showground at Nevereverland 2008)

:: My first concert was at the Sydney Entertainment Centre to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band in 1985. I can’t remember the exact date but a google search has found a set list from the tour! I was in Year 7 and I went with my Uncle Ronald and some other relatives & his friends. There was a bit of a drama… I think my other uncle had his car broken into and his briefcase stolen (with the tickets to the show). As this was a sell-out tour, the tickets ended up being scalped! Luckily my uncle was very a-n-a-1 and had photocopied the ticketsSomehow the credit card transaction records were enough proof of purchase, so when some randoms came in and sat in our seats, they ended up getting booted out, while my uncle was “waiting in the wings” to get in! I remember being the youngest person at the concert, but really enjoying it. This began a long history of attending concerts that continues to today

:: The three concert tours that I have done a double take (attended twice) are: Michael Jackson – Bad Tour 1987, Prince – Diamonds and Pearls Tour 1992 and Kylie – Showgirl Tour 2006!

:: DJ gigs don’t count as concerts, so here are my top three DJ sets of all time: Jeff Mills @ Apollo Festival 1998, Derrick May @ The Palladium 199?, Diplo @ The Mandarin Club 2006.

:: I am bummed that Australian Idol got axed. Luckily, it was not around when I was a teenager or I would have been one of those terribly off-key wannabe’s embarrassing themselves on national television.

:: Even though I have worn ear-plugs to parties/gigs/clubs for the past 15 years, I’ve still managed to develop tinnitus and must go into retirement

:: I will come out of retirement if Underground Resistance play in Sydney!

Hey kids – it’s that time of the year again!

The Bandaged Bear Appeal – is the signature public fundraising appeal for The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

The highlight of the annual month long appeal is Bandaged Bear Day™ – Friday 25 March. On Bandaged Bear Day™, hundreds of volunteers assemble at train stations, shopping centres and major business areas, such as Martin Place, Sydney, to sell merchandise.

This is where you come in friends… if you are free before work on the morning of Friday 25 March, please volunteer to help me at Central station, where I will be Bandaged Bear Day co-ordinator! Alternatively, come visit me in Martin Place at lunchtime to buy a bear and show you care.

Help celebrate the 22nd anniversary of The Bandaged Bear Appeal™!
Buy merchandise, donate money or hold your own Bandaged Bear Breakfast during March and raise vital funds for The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. The Hospital relies heavily on the support of the community to make this day an overwhelming success.

Funds raised by The Bandaged Bear Appeal help care for sick kids needing a range of medical treatments. Donations will be allocated to areas of the greatest need within the Hospital, including research into childhood diseases, the purchase of vital equipment and the provision of patient services. Community support contributes significantly to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead being a world-class centre of healing for sick children and their families.

The 10 mile meal
Also known as the 16.09km meal, this multicourse dinner will illustrate the bountiful beauty of Sydney produce while also showcasing Sydney’s cultural diversity and its ability to feed itself – highlighting the growing interest in community gardens and growers markets.

10 MILE MEAL
Thursday October 7th 2010
Sourdough Bread
Brasserie Bread Sourdough with Pepe’s hand churned salted butter.
(Made in St. Peters from Picton cream)

A Medley of Spring Vegetables
Julienne daikon, grilled scallions and roasted beetroot.
(Freshly picked from Gordon Ha ‘s Chinese market gardens in La Perouse).

Frank’s Tomatoes
A tomato salad of Grosse Lisse, Baby Ox heart, Ox heart, Sweet Bites and assorted heirlooms with chapons and flat leaf parsley. (Tomatoes sourced by Frank Bonfante from Haberfield gardens).

Globe Artichokes
Artichokes steamed and served with a garlic, chilli and cream sauce. (Artichokes from Cornwallis and cream from Picton).

Squid Salad
Preserved squid salad with Daikon, Mint, Coriander, Choi Sum and shallots. Finished with a chilli, honey and lemon dressing. (Squid caught off Botany Bay, herbs and vegetables from Gordon Ha ‘s market garden in La Perouse; honey from George and Charis Schwartz in East Sydney, lemons picked in a backyard in Ryde).

Baked Fish
Whole Rock Cod baked in paperbark with lemon and chilli.
(Rock Cod caught off Botany Bay, Lemons from Ryde and Paperbark from Danks Street).

Green Veggies
Stir fried Bok Choi and Gai Lan (From Gordon Ha ‘s La Perouse Market Garden).

Dessert
Pavlova with lemon curd and cream. (Eggs from Sonia’s Happy Chooks in Homebush, Lemons from Ryde and cream from Picton).

Honey Sorbet
(Honey from George and Charis Schwartz)

Rock Cod caught off Botany Bay, Lemons from Ryde and Paperbark from Danks Street

2 hours of the finest 80’s funk classics from the masters including Earth Wind & Fire, The Mac Band, De barge, Rick James, Luther Vandross, Whitney Houston, Midnight Star, The Whispers and many more!

I thought this would be a lot of fun. I love 80s music as it is and 80s funk is even better! Unfortunately when we arrived, the vibe was more Hen’s night than funky town. The venue was called Notes, I think it’s pretty new, I didn’t even know it existed but it’s just across the road from the Enmore Theatre on Enmore Road. It kind of reminded me of The Basement, but a bit newer and cleaner! They even do the dinner and show thing! The flyer claimed that Notes was a sexy venue, it’s not that sexy! Anyway, by the time we arrived the band Harlem Knights lead by vocalists, Mike Champion & Berni Love had already started. They dropped some great tunes from Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Chaka Khan, Lionel Richie, The Pointer Sisters etc etc. Nasser T was the support DJ, apparantly Sydney’s #1 80s DJ, I thought I was #1 ha ha (or is he Sydney’s best 80s funk DJ?). Anyway, the first track he dropped (yes, on vinyl) was Billie Jean, remember what I said about dropping a Michael Jackson track? He played some cool 80s funk tunes (Forget Me Nots) and some really bad 80s tunes (Rick Astley). Random. Anyway, seemed everyone had a fun time and by the end of the night all the band’s friends had jumped on stage to sing and dance with them!

Midas Touch

Surgeon at The Forum, EQ Sydney 2010

Here’s the complete set list and a download from Surgeon’s blog if you are up for it:
http://dj-surgeon.blogspot.com/2010/10/surgeon-at-forum-sydney-australia-23rd.html