Melbourne: Fan Review: Last night I had the strangest dream - Thu 16th Aug

Melbourne: Fan Review: Last night I had the strangest dream
16 August 2001

Thanks to Shelley Clarke for this review from Melbourne.

Last night I had the strangest dream. I dreamt I was at a Roxy Music concert.

I had flown to Melbourne and there I was sitting with my friend in the second row (not as close to the centre as I would have liked) looking up at the stage. On stage were Bryan, Phil, Andy and Paul and with them a bunch of excellent musicians. Ten of them in all. And get this. You won’t believe it. Chris Spedding was with them. Weird, huh?

They kicked off with Remake-Remodel. At first I felt completely stunned. Then I was grinning, then laughing and by the time they moved into Streetlife my throat was constricting and the tears wouldn’t stop. Smiling, crying and quite gaga. Wiping away the tears. And it all felt so real.

The drums were pulsing in my throat and through my whole body. Everything I could see and hear was so totally thrilling I couldn’t work out what to focus on. They were playing such familiar, beloved music.

Some moments. Bryan’s smile. The music. Phil AND Chris. The music. Lucy giving her violin an absolute thrashing. The music. Concert images projected onto the backdrop. The music. Sarah wriggling, clapping and adding her voice here and there. The music. Andy’s concentration and excellence. The music. In Every Dream Home A Heartache! Bryan’s changes of clothes. (You should have seen his silver suit.) Colin’s keyboard solo. All the solos. Meeting up with some Aussie Avalonians, especially Scotty and his terrific kids. We had been emailing each other since the dark days when it looked like the tour wouldn’t include Australia.

When security told me to put my camera away, I had already taken 29 shots. Fair enough.

By that time it was definitely time to dance. I had been getting a little wild in my chair so I moved to the side of the stage to dance to Both Ends Burning and when Virginia Plain started I managed to get to the front of the stage. Right in front of Bryan. It was wonderful to witness his delighted grin when we all yelled Virginia Plain. And then I was going crazy over Love is The Drug and Do The Strand.

And then the tears started again and I REALLY couldn’t help it. I was so emotional and simply overwhelmed. I wrecked my voice by yelling and screaming my approval for every song. My hands hurt from clapping.

During FYP, two idiots climbed onto the stage and grabbed Bryan around the waist from either side. He looked to his right for help. None came. He looked to his left. No help there. Eventually the nuisances were removed but they nearly ruined the last song for us all. Including Bryan.

The concert was coming to an end and I couldn’t do anything to stop it finishing so I just waved goodbye to each of them as one by one my heroes left my dream.

When the concert was all over and most of the audience had left, one of the mixing desk guys gave me a dated set list for a souvenir. Proving the old adage ‘If you don’t ask, you don’t get.’

So what did I learn from this crazy dream? Well for starters there is definitely not enough screaming, yelling, crying or dancing in my life. I’ll have to fix that.

BTW Thank you to all the world’s Avalonians for their contribution to the most incredible lead up to this concert. From the first time the tour was mentioned on the list and on through all the months since, I felt myself getting more and more excited. You all helped to make it such a magic experience for me.

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