I'm not sure when it became officially known as 'Rock N Roll Thursday', sometime in January perhaps but i've went out every single Thursday since when i initially arrived in Sydney way back in November. My first visit to the World Bar was when i stayed at Base and went out with about 12 Kiwis, we'd had quite a large amount to drink before getting there so on arrival we were all at the stage of getting 'Tuned In' as Mark Stewart would say, that point in the night where you're just waiting for the next good song to hit and then it's all go. After Thailand i was more than sick of hearing the same stuff played again and again, it's just Bonkers, Sexy Bitch, I gotta Feeling, Sex on Fire, Fucking Hotel Motel and Use Somebody on a constant loop, if i never heard any of those songs again then i'd die a happy man. So needless to say i have quite the vivid memory of being upstairs and then slowly realizing A-Trak's remix of Yeah Yeah Yeah's Heads will Roll was starting and then just going mental with it being the first good song i'd heard when out in two months. Unfortunately the night didn't last long as Dave got thrown out so we all left. However on our way home i bumped into my Swedish mates so headed back with them and just had an amazing night. The downstairs bit was just like Jukebox and they weren't playing all the obvious stuff like Mr Bright side or singles but album tracks and stuff from The Futureheads, Beatles, Kinks, Justice, Hot Chip, Libertines and on and on. I felt like 'right this is my place' and i made the decision that i'd definitely be going there every week.
The first true night where pretty much everyone came out was an utter classic. Favela (pretty much the same as World bar but less crowded) was added as a second stop and somehow everyone ended up doing stage dives in there and that set the tone from there on in. The people going ranged from seven on a bad week to about thirty but it was always good and messy, especially when i finally got my due with the wristbands getting free drink in World bar, two free teapots there and free drink in Favela too. All done by claiming to be the 'entertainment manager'. My personal favorite night will always be the storming of 1D.
Nobody ever came home as a group for obvious reasons and this one time i stumbled back in with Francois, Marie and Louise all siting down and Skinner was there too Fucked (standard). When he's drunk the English hooligan tends to come out in him and i'm sure i probably started it but the England songs were coming out. The classics were all there....World IN Motion, 3 Lions, Jerusalem, EN-GER-LAND EN-GER-LAND....and soon everyone was back singing along as i banged a chair. Next thing you know we're walking up everyone in 1D and 40 Estonians, Swedes, French, German, Canadians and whatever else are all singing along while throwing beds over and Leona's jaws on the floor, Alexis is shouting Aussie Aussie Aussie! and in the middle of all the madness someone busts out a guitar and we all have a sing along. You had to be there for that one, truly the best of times and one of the greatest nights ever.
I can't really remember must other ones as we were always so fucked that they all blend together. There was the poppers craze, Vincent losing a tooth, me getting wrong for too many free beers being had and total total debauchery. After i left Lee took the baton on as ringleader and even in his absence the hostel still calls it Rock N Roll Thursday so i like to think my marks been left on Sydney at least. Other highlights include the weeks when i'd get back late and Skinner would seemingly have a blackout before going to bed and steal stuff for our room with super strength then have no memory of it. In consecutive weeks he stole a toaster, kettle, couch!, table and somehow a near 6 x 7 ft mirror that i struggled to lift. Some of these were dragged up three flights of stairs. I also enjoyed the tradition of terrorizing Melanie Freeman as she tried to sleep for work, cries of 'I just want to spoon ya!' were the norm and i especially enjoyed the night i found a surfboard outside so took it in the room and then jumped on her bed trying to surf her as she slept.
Another random night was when i came back into our room in 3 D and attempted to wind Skinner up by slapping him only to have some German in his bed reply with 'vee will talk about zees in the morning'.(This would be our first encounter with Norman, theres too much weirdness hes done to go on about but he's a nutjob). I started to freak out though and then ran downstairs thinking I was in the wrong room, thankfuly Jon came down to inform me that Skinners stuff had been moved, his bed nicked and then it all kicked off with the owners including them banging there door in. His statement of 'we'd all have been thrown out if you were here' sums up my nature of the time. I probably should mention the week prior i elbowed some guy in the fce and he hit the floor like a ton of bricks. He had been harrassing me all night, wouldn't shake my hand and kept bumping into me with his shoulder on purpose so I had no choice and would do it again. Thank god skinner was there to grab me or i could have really got into trouble that night since the police were in the bar too.
There's many more tales that could be told but people could easily get into trouble with the events being recorded haha, it was often fun to see who was sleeping in what bed the next day is all i shall say. Here's some photo's from the madness that is Rock N roll Thursday!
Song For The Day : The Smiths - This Charming Man
A Rock N Roll Thursday anthem
No comments:
Post a Comment