We arrived @ the entrance of the POW just before 9pm, sort of hoping we'd missed Danielle Spencer's set (more for the chance of a slightly earlier night than anything really against her... gotta be nice to Rusty's girlf? ), and walked on in, since apparently when Decay booked, our names were put on the door ... makes you feel special doesn't it, being on the door ... except we paid for that privilege ...

Before dinner, we nearly walked on stage accidentally from the carpark ... way to get in free ? Hmmm... Never having been to the POW before, it looked clean enough ... a bit clubby rather than pub/bar like, but Decay informs us that they're massively yuppified the place since he was there last, whch explains the glitter letters on one wall ... and the island for a bar with booth type seats built into the walls surrounding the bar area ... and the bathroom signs ... yes. At some point during the night, Decay accidentally became Master of the Universe, and got a glare and a hug from me ... makes complete sense? He'd also purchased some merchandise: Catgut ya' Tongue?, Fourplay's first album, and You Can Take What's Mine, george's second? EP ...

Anyway, we staked out a spot, and had a listen to Danielle sing to backing tapes and programmed drum beats while looking like she's playing the keyboard in time with the dude playing the drums and chimes standing up ... with the dude playing the 6-string bass looking distinctly unpushed with regard to ability ...



I'll have to be honest, I'd never heard anything of Danielle Spencer's before the night, I don't tend to listen to radio stations who play her music ... she wasn't awful, just not my usual cup of tea ... Decay and Em thought she was attempting a Tori mixed with a bit of Alanis ... couldn't be Natalie Imbruglia cos um... she was doing a bit of the Alanis as well... how are you *inspired* by someone who was *inspired* by someone else you could also claim to be *inspired* by? Anyways, no offense, Rusty's girlf, but I won't be buying your album ...



After Danielle had finished emoting, I traipsed off to the merchandise table and bought a copy of Digital Manipulation, the Fourplay remix album ... I didn't have enough money to grab The Joy Of... as well though ... saving up the money for the money order to send off ... also tossed up getting a long-sleeved george t-shirt but decided against it ... maybe when I have more spare money floating around ...



Fourplay traipsed on stage and launched into the music ... the people at the bar didn't seem to care but we were near the front (about 2 rows from the front at this point), near the music geek groupies doing their screams ... while Peter Hollo (on cello) seemed to look up and try not to burst out laughing at the prospect of groupies ? First two pieces were things I should recognise ... one sort of sounded like the theme from Dr Who (figured out after a listen to the first album the next day) ... third one was Meshugganah, where Peter broke a G-string ... the groupies bunch caught the g-string, and they played on after some running repairs ...



Decay's ears perked up when they announced they were going to play a Ned's Atomic Dustbin song ... so he sang all the words to Cut Up, confirming that he was the only one who knew the original? The crowd went fairly wild (as wild as you'd get for an electric string quartet? ) when they started playing Grace, perhaps because they recognised it? (: I think they got a 45 minute set, but it seemed to pass so quickly ... it was great to see a band enjoying themselves so much on stage though ... none of this morose looking down at shoes pondering stuff ... at the end of their set (they finished with Gypsy Scream) I was left wanting to hear more... but that's ok, they were coming back later to join george on stage ...



It was a longer wait between Fourplay and george than between Danielle Spencer and Fourplay ... our lovely spot at the front was getting rather cramped with all the people jostling for position and stepping on toes in the process ... the small group of getting a bit tipsy people were oblivious to the elbowing they were giving me at times, but hey ... I can stomp my little feet ... although they were getting a bit sore too, from all the stomping ...



george finally appeared, to much noise from the crowd... Ty and Katie played tag team with the vocals ... singing tracks off Polyserena, including: Release, Breaking it Slowly, Special Ones, Run, Breathe in Now ... they also played a couple of tracks from their previous EPs, I heard Cry, Polyserena (used to close before the encore), Holiday, and a few others I didn't recognise (the whole george cd collection is at Decay's place ... I should borrow it for an extended time at some point lol) ... Fourplay joined them onstage about halfway through, but left before the last few songs only to rejoin them for the encore ... they did end up doing the whole fake leave and come back to do an encore thing ... with Ty singing Bastard Son, and Katie noodling with her voice and the effects pad for a fair few minutes before finally the rest of the crowd realised she was going to go into singing Spawn ...



One thing about going to gigs is that you're there to hear the band strut their stuff, right? You're not there to hear drunken people attempt to hit the high notes in Special Ones, and mostly fail miserably ... I don't know what the band's view is on this kind of audience participation, but Katie didn't seem to mind ... she even tried to get the crowd to keep singing the chorus to Special Ones so she could noodle over the top of them ... I dunno... she's got the voice, the crowd for the most part, don't ... Ty seemed to be a bit miffed at the start of the night, with problems fiddling with the effects pad and other techy stuff ... they had their quiet songs, but when they rocked out, they rocked out ... everyone had much fun on stage then (: I still reckon that if you've staked your spot out since the start of the night, others should respect your space a little, instead of pushing in front, more so if you're someone taller than me ... in the end we were about 3-5 people back with aching backs and feet ... long set but it was worth it ....



Overall, I'm glad I finally got to see george and Fourplay... it's been a long time coming ... can't wait to see them again!



This review has been brought to you by a lapse in concentration and incoherent stringing along of sentences ... (ok, it was really long. sorry!)