Okay, wow #2

I promised I'd have the full wrap-up of The Idea of North.
So, having managed to talk at amazing rates over the weekend, squishing "I went to see The Idea of North on Friday night and it was so awesome!" into every sentence, I think I am now capable of the full wrap-up. No guarantees on it being cohesive as I get progressively more excited though!

So, we managed to miss two trams....they seriously weren't labelled! And yet, in the city, they were the #72. Go figure. We thought we had it all planned out...well, we did, but clearly not very well, or without considering about six alternatives if the previous five didn't work! Anyway, I was very paranoid (well, normal paranoid is kinda my usual state, unfortunately!) but we hopped on a tram down to Flinders St, then caught three cabs in total to get to Chapel off Chapel in Prahan. Our taxi driver followed the other cabs (that had our friends in them, not random cabs...!) and managed to get us there about five minutes before the concert was scheduled to start!

We ran in, we claimed our tickets, we distributed them quite haphazardly - there was no chance to rig any sort of seating (hehe!) but it turned out well. Most people sat with at least one person they knew, and if they didn't know the others around them, they got to meet new people! We had about 30 people in total in our group booking - we're hoping to increase that next time (hey, what about putting on a concert at Chapel just for Gladys and Sam and their associated friends? I'm sure we could fill that place...!). I sat next to Kristen and Min for the 2nd half (replace Min with Sam for the 2nd half). And every time they started a new song, I kept sqealing and having to restrain myself.

The songs they performed were stunning. Not just because they're stunning normally (as a standard!) but live, they're just ELECTRIC! I love seeing performers who are just phenomenal live, not just on their CDs. And The Idea of North are most definitely that. As I said, but will recap here, they sang all the songs from their latest album, The Gospel Project (which I have bought now! Yay!), as well as some from Evidence, and some others.

The slower ones on The Gospel Project, including poems by Michael Leunig (set to music, and arranged by Nick), are just beautiful. 'Revelation' was wonderfully upbeat, so too was "Ain't No Rock". Some of the songs are with a band backing. When we first heard that Idea were collaborating with a band, we were slightly suspicious (I guess, when you have a reputation of "A cappella vocal quartet" a band seems to be a huge addition. Come on, even James Morrison has been quoted as saying something about if you're The Idea of North, a band would get in the way!). But when they put it all together, especially live, it was even more electric! All my slight doubts flew out of my mind. I guess one of the good parts is that the bass, Andrew, is at least partially relieved of percussion duties and can be the actual bass! And that not everybody has to be singing all the time. It was wonderful.

"People Get Ready" was actually written as a 'protest' song for the anti-discrimination movement (re: African Americans, think Martin Luther King). Incidentally, the previous day, my history lecturer had just shown a slide that was a picture of the protest in Washington where Martin Luther King had spoken. It was a phenomenal picture - there were so many people, all protesting for a basic human right. And it was fabulous to hear this song, which is already a favourite (for many reasons, including FQB&HDVJ at Melba Hall), done by one of my favourite groups! The lights just went "click click!" and it was awesome to turn around excitedly to Gina and in an excited whisper, gabble, "That's what Trish was talking about!!!" Hehe. :P I love it when stuff just makes sense like that!

"Just Kidding" and "No More Blues" was fantastic :) They are technically difficult, and they pulled if off so well (not that I'd expect anything less, really!). I noticed that "No More Blues" was in a different key ;) (darn perfect pitch sometimes, though!) The Toupe Song made another appearance. Hehe. I love that song. Complete with Nick's wrong trombone note that Andrew had to fix! Talking about funny songs, 'The Unfortunate Tale of a Country Chicken' was just so amusing! Sam next to me was laughing at every line, Xing gasped when "that silly chook the storm did cook/with a lightning bolt and thunder" (hehe. Her reaction was so cute). And the feathers! The feathers! Haha. Most amusing visual effect - something unfortunately not achievable on a sound recording! Oh well. There was also a song originally done by Take Six, who incidentally wrote a song 'A Quiet Place' that was on our Aural Studies CD last year, and that we performed for our final exam last year. See? Click click click, the lights turn on!

As I said, they also did my shower song, which FYI, is "But Not for Me". Perhpas because Naomi's arrangement has the main solo for the alto (yay! :) ) or because it's so characteristically a jazz song? I don't know. But it's a great song to sing in the shower! (And thanks Sam for the affirmations that it is not only a great shower song, but a great anytime song and for your approval!) 'Shed a Little Light' made a come-back from their first self-titled album but it was re-done, with a new middle section! It was kinda cool to hear something familiar, but not completely familiar! I think if I wasn't the terribly self-consious person that I am, I would have been singing my heart out along with them! Haha. (not that people paid to see or hear me, but I was so captivated and swept up with the music!) And also, Chris and I were speculating at the interval, "I wonder if they'll do 'Isn't She Lovely'..." because we love that song. Incidentally, it is one of my favourite songs (it's definitely going to be at my wedding. Or my wedding reception. Stevie Wonder would be awesome, but dude, The Idea of North would be totally awesome..! Hehe...). And they did it as an encore!!!! I unfortunately wasn't sitting close to Chris, but when they started singing (Nick dedicated it to his son, although it says isn't she lovely..oh well...!), I squealed and think there were seriously tears in my eyes. For a few reasons...it is one of my favourite songs, Idea's version is wonderful, I'd been hoping for it, Chris had been hoping for it. And we even got to do those harmonies :) We go to sing with The Idea of North. Totally cool.

Wow, I feel horrible for not mentioning every song. But I unfortunately can't! (This is where I may start to ramble on in-/dis-/un-cohesively...) They were just totally awesome!!!!! We did manage to meet them afterwards, as is customary. And it was amazing that they rememberd us as those music students from the Con! Hehe. :) Excellent. I definitely felt like a groupie (such that all my friends who were waiting oh-so-patiently said I was..! Haha). But hey, as a friend pointed out, at least you're passionate about something! (Worse still, I could be apathetic...!) They were just WONDERFUL. I had an awesome awesome time. There are some acts that I totally pep myself up for, go to their concert, have an awesome time, come home and listen to their stuff more, but then sometimes get a little sick of their music for about a month. But not The Idea of North. I could live on this stuff for ages! And at the risk of sounding like a crazy fan/stalker, we did get pictures with them (see below). And I know for one that I'm eagerly anticipating their next concert, the launch of their new site (which will probably get a zillion hits just from me!), and have been recommending them to everybody I meet!

So, thanks to The Idea of North for making me so happy (my cheeks have been hurting so much because I haven't been able to stop grinning like crazy!), for bringing us beautiful music, for being awesome performers. Thanks to all my friends who have put up with my craziness, my obsession, my paranoia, ramblings, squeals/shrieks of delight and excitedness and my garbled feedback! Because,

"We accept it, we observe it, we absorb it.
We surrender to our bare truth.
We are nourished, we are changed.
We are blessed. We rise up.
For this we give thanks.
Amen." (Prayer by Michael Leunig)