THE SUNNY COAST RUDE BOYS GO NORTH, FAR NORF!
So… we went to Far North Queensland on a 'mini tour'!!
Which, when you’ve got a band with this many people in it, is basically the start of a military operation.
Thursday morning. Early start. Brisbane Airport.
The first objective: coffee.
Not music. Not instruments. Not getting on the plane.
Coffee.
We somehow managed to get everybody caffeinated and, more importantly, everybody actually onto the flight to Cairns. Twelve musicians, multiple bags, instruments and enough general luggage to suggest we were emigrating.
We landed in Cairns, collected the vehicles — because obviously one vehicle would be far too straightforward — and headed north.
Five hours.
Five hours up towards Cooktown and Wallaby Creek.
And then, somewhere along the way, we saw the Lions Den.
Now, the Lions Den is one of those pubs where you walk in thinking, “We’ll just have one.”
You know that phrase?
We’ll just have one.
It’s one of the great lies of adulthood.
We got absolutely drunk as monkeys. (we had designated drivers....don't worry!)
First night fever, apparently.
Eventually, at about two in the morning, we rolled into Wallaby Creek Festival, found the performers’ camping area and thought, Brilliant. Home.
What we hadn’t realised was that Wallaby Creek had apparently decided to recreate Glastonbury, but without the infrastructure.
It was mud.
Not “a bit damp”
Not “watch your shoes”.
Ankle-deep, biblical, Australian rainforest mud.
And naturally, at approximately 2am, we immediately bogged one of the cars.
Of course we did.
There was much hilarity.
There was probably some swearing
There was definitely some advice being offered by people who had absolutely no idea how to get a car out of mud.
Eventually, we got everybody into bed.
Which, frankly, was an achievement in itself.
The next morning we were up, unbogged the vehicle and got ourselves sorted.
And then came the delicate business of dealing with the consequences of the Lions Den.
So the day became a mixture of hangover recovery, food, wandering around, soundcheck and pretending we were completely fine.
Because we had a gig that night.
And not just any gig.
We were headlining the Monsoon Stage.
The Strides were on before us — an absolutely brilliant reggae band from Sydney. They were fantastic, and proper lovely people as well.
Then it was our turn.
And we absolutely loved it.
The crowd were brilliant. It went down a treat.
The sound was fantastic, the sound techs were brilliant, and Beck, one of the organisers, looked after us incredibly well.
That’s one of the things you really appreciate when you’re travelling with a big band: people who know what they’re doing and make the whole thing easy.
Although, admittedly, we do our bit to make it difficult.
The following day was spent hanging out with The Go Set, another brilliant bunch of people — a Melbourne ska-punk band who are absolutely worth checking out.
We ended up hanging around with them at the pub watching Brisbane Lions win the Grand Final ,before watching their gig on Saturday night.
And what a gig.
Then it was our turn again.
We went on second-last on Saturday night and had another fantastic show.
And then The Strides came back on afterwards to finish the night off.
At that point, the professional responsibilities of the Sunny Coast Rude Boys were complete.
So naturally…
Campfire.
A few jazz cigarettes.
A few glasses of wine.
And the sort of deep and meaningful conversations you only have at a festival at an unreasonable hour of the night.
You know the ones.
Someone’s telling you about their childhood.
Someone else is explaining the entire history of reggae.
Someone’s staring into the fire like they’ve just discovered the meaning of life.
And you’re thinking, “I haven’t got a clue what we’re talking about anymore, but this is fucking brilliant.”
Eventually, we went to bed.
Then came Sunday morning.
Early start.
Back into the vehicles.
Four hours down to Cairns.
Because apparently we hadn’t driven enough already.
And then we arrived at the Tanks Arts Centre.
What an absolutely amazing venue.
Our first gig up there, and we had a fantastic turnout.
It went down a treat. Pauly P opened up for us, what a legend!
And that’s probably the biggest thing we’ve taken away from the whole weekend.
It was just great teamwork.
Everyone mucked in.
Everyone was happy.
Nobody killed anybody.
And with twelve people travelling together in two cars, that’s a genuine success.
Oh, and somewhere between the mud, the hangovers, the gigs, the campfires and the five-hour drives…
We wrote a new song.
So there’s that.
A bloody fantastic weekend.
Brilliant people.
Brilliant music.
Brilliant venues.
A few beers.
A few questionable decisions.
And a lot of laughs.
It’s a pretty good time to be in a band.
Sunny Coast Rude Boys
Chamberlane
The Go Set
It’s going to be an absolute belter.
Come and have a beer.
Come and dance.
Come and shout.
Come and watch three cracking bands. Come dress up in Halloween gear (if you want) $200 cash up for grabs for the best spooky get up!
And, if nothing else, come and see whether we can make it through a gig without getting one of our vehicles bogged.
See you there. Or at another show - they're all listed HERE
love yer face.
Sunny Coast Rude Boys
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