NYE at the Garden Block Party
We've been doing this for NYE for a few years in a row now, and this year it was the first time as the Block Party instead of Mardi Gras. It was another fun night, but with the addition of the carpark venue, the crowd was definitely younger and the event felt much more festivaly. Still good due to good company, but maybe we'll change it up next year!The Prodigy
This absolutely blew my mind, I can't believe how good this was. After watching police shooting fish in a barrel at the entrance (the crowd watching was very entertaining), and a very disappointing set by Shock One as support, we got our hopes down a little bit and thought it might be a bit of a past their prime gig. But when they came on we realised it was going to be amazing! Luckily Keith kept checking we were all Prodigy People numerous times throughout the show (godDAMIT we are Prodigy People yes).Australia Day at QT
This year for Andrew's birthday I got him tickets to the QT Hotel's Australia Day event, and we also stayed a night at this gorgeous place. We usually use Australia Day as an opportunity to go to a pub that's playing the Triple J Hottest 100 and drink with friends, but this year since they've changed the date we did something new.We'd stayed at the QT in Wellington and Canberra so it was really nice to do the same thing in Perth. Neither of us had stayed in a hotel in Perth, and I must say it was very fun! Wandering down to Petition for a drink was really nice.
The event was on the rooftop bar and they absolutely spoiled us with great food and lots of cocktails. The view wasn't great, but we're spoiled by having had years of perfect views on the South Perth foreshore. Definitely recommend as a fun Australia Day option!
Laneway Festival
It's been a while since we've been, and this years lineup tipped it over to choosing to fork out the rediculous amount and spend a day in the sun. Yellow Days were a great first-band surprise (the guy does a mean Yew), G-Flip was really fun, Parquet Courts was a fantastic set, The Smith Street Band was consistently awesome and Courtney Barnett was my definite favourite, although much to Andrew's horror I think I enjoyed What So Not the most. We stayed for Gang of Youths but watched from a far while Andrew enjoyed a lamb kebab that he would later regret.Fringe World and PIAF
Blanc de Blanc was a great show with lots of talented acts. My favourite was an aerial performance on a hotel luggage trolley suspended in the air.Critical was a really cool local circuis duo, one science, one engineering major. They used their backgrounds to explain angular velocity (demonstrated by a lyra performance with a gyrascope that plotted velocity over time as a graph on the tent ceiling), and side-swap juggling patterns, so cool!
Lang Toi is a story about a Vietnamese fishing village told through circus. Our favourite part was when one performer broke physics by drumming on the items being juggled by another performer. I'd love to organise this as a group event next year, it's defintiely a see again show.
Emma was amazing in Menagerie Choir's Ode to the (In)significant, she's so cool!
Midnight Visit was an incredible show/experience, we really enjoyed exploring the fantastical dream world of the Old Girls School venue. The ball pit was the best part, but everything was made so much better by not being able to talk or laugh due to the rules, and also the surgical mask that everyone had to wear, to avoid catching tuberculosis of course. When we met up with our group at the end, we realised we all had very different experiences. I think our little group (Andrew, Krystal, Rector and I) got to see a lot of great stuff, and eat so many sherbert lollies!
We absolutely love Fringe and it's hard to not enjoy live performances by talented people, but overall I think Andrew and I have come to the conclusion that we prefer circuits to cabaret/burlesque as a genre.
Everything Else
Congratulations to Neeli and Hayden on their engagement, and to Sam and Andy on their marriage!Happy Birthday to Claire, Amy, Tataie, Mina, Emma, Andrew, Krystal and Michael!
Almost time for our big America trip!