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Creativity starves insanity
Cracking thunder and comfortable rain an hour before waking up had me thinking they might have called off Rumba. No such woes as it soon turned up and out the shirts even while waiting on the platform. There were the usual scalpers, but who would turn up to a concert that wasn't sold out expecting to pay more than they would have to? A couple of the dejected scalpers had to deal with me trying to get tickets to the Arts and Crafts show that was being held nearby. Outside the main concert area there was a swag of tents and such which didn't get much of a second look as there really wasn't anything worth standing around in a makeshift humidifier for. Sunscreen would have been a great idea as I could immediately feel the skin on my face searing in the vengeful afternoon sun. We were also a little behind time on account of lasagne.
Programmes were handed out in the tunnel just before making it out into the grass area of the stadium. There was much hype in the booklet, but with no allowances of pass-outs, it seemed like a confusing idea.
First up on stage was Leah Haywood and the line "Are you ready to rumba?" that would repeat itself over and over again throughout the day until a finale by headline act Human Nature closed the show to a dissipating crowd.
Even while I was able to spot the stage and the acts playing I was in the mind of Homer Simpson and let the huge vidscreens dictate what I was watching. On the grassed section of the stadium there was a division of the mosh pit and all else. Staying on the mojo barrier outlining the division my ears were promptly sent ringing as the speakers were set way past eleven. Something was up with the speakers during Tina Arena's set as the crowd looked around for the disturbing rising source. Could have been the music, could have been infinity, could have been that time of the day, but during Vanessa Amorosi's set there were four faintings. One girl didn't want any water from this guy, probably fearing hepatitis, and looked very pallid. No other people fainted, at least none that I could see a crowd around, for the rest of the day afterwards.
Between acts the crowd were served a load of commercials as part of the RumbaTV feed. With the broadcasting provided by channel seven it was a relief not to have that stupid watermark plastered on the three screens. There's got to be some bias on the positioning of the cameras. Most on the right of the stage had their line of sight taken over by the jimmy jib and they didn't get any rovers checking out the hyped up crowd.
For some reason the boys from Blue invited Abs from Five to sing along with them. It was obvious he didn't know any of their songs as he ran around with the mike covering his face looking like he was in a studio.
Throughout the day the screens would display the names of the artists still left to perform. Craig David and Shaggy left the ears ringing the most as the screams were intense, and they would flash a few more times before appearing. With the screaming at maximum just on the mere sight of their names, it was astounding to hear even more energized screaming when they did walk on hours later.
Don't know why but I had the urge to shout out "Pseudoecho!" when Invertigo took to the stage. Belinda from LASH went off and all over the floor of the stage, no shoes, I didn't think musicians were that destitute. On the mind of falling off, Sally from Bardot wore these pants that looked like they were teased down and Belinda must have a spastic right leg as it kept twitching out of sync with everything else. The weather could be part of the problem. Joanne had a little trouble keeping her top up, but not as tough a time Emma Bunton was with both sleeves constantly slipping off during the night. Paul Mac had this set with some fashion walk digs that climaxed in a blanketing of the stage with bodies.
Craig David played a great set, but it didn't come close to the fever generated by Shaggy. Sure, Nelly Furtado was the only one to get real close to the crowd, jumping down into the pits with one fan stealing a kiss, but she didn't rock it like Shaggy. During it all there was this tightening feeling as everyone around rushed toward the stage. There was much friction as bodies left, right and rear jumped and partied hard. Afterwards, he totally blew off Ian Thorpe who was expecting a line or two but got only the crowd shouting "SHAGGY."
Straight after that the crowd practically halved itself as the only ones remaining were either those wanting to watch everything they paid for or were Human Nature fans. Having watched a lot of their performances on television it was great to see them live. Pretty damn fine. The night was capped off with an impotent fireworks display by AOL. From the looks of it they may be slashing some jobs in the near future.
I couldn't find any money in my pockets when I walked out but did manage to scare two girls collecting for Mission Australia with Mr. Lasagne as we dunked in a few coins. Back again next year? Hope so. Perhaps I'll remember to bring more money for the collections and a bottle of sunscreen.
Soon Van - Thursday, 29 November 2001 - 04:45
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