Ever since my sister turned 18 in August, I've been excited over the prospect of going to a gig at our local venue, The Northern with her. Yeah, we went clubbing on her 18th, have been to all ages events before, and have had drinks together elsewhere since then, but nothing compared to my excitement of finally going to a licensed, over 18 gig with my little sister at my favourite venue, and the chance to do this finally came on the weekend!
I had umm'ed and ahh'ed about buying tickets to Sticky Fingers for weeks before Shoni brought it up. The show sold out. Then the second show sold out. There, that was it, I thought. No tickets, no go! Until Shoni saw that one of her friends was selling two tickets to the Saturday night gig, that is!
When Saturday night rolled around, we were pretty damn excited. We ate dinner nice and early, and got ready together with Sticky Fingers blasting in the background while we sang along. I drove to the gig, again with Sticky Fingers blasting in the background and we got some drinks at the bar upon arrival, waiting for the doors to The Backroom to open. Being a sold out show and Rugby Union grand final night, the crowd at The Northern was huge. We met some real characters before the doors opened, and were totally surprised that we managed to make it to the front of the stage when they finally started admitting people to The Backroom, even with another stop at the bar along the way. Shoni was elated. The Northern is a pretty small venue that hosts some pretty big names sometimes and for some reason or another, it's the only venue left in our area that doesn't put up a dicky barricade a metre or so back from the stage.
The first supporting act was a two piece band who's name I forget, but who really made a great impression! They knew how to get a crowd going and the sound of the electric guitar and drums was sweet! We were right in front of the drummer and Shoni managed to catch his drumstick at the end of their set. The second supporting act was a one man band who cracked Shoni and I up with his hilarious tippy-toe dancing, but he was pretty good too.
By the time Sticky Fingers hit the stage, we were well and truly ready to get dancing! Their set was so full of energy, and we danced like crazy ladies, singing along to the words we knew and making things up for those we didn't! They played all our favourite songs, and Dylan even stage dived at one point, which was awesome! At the end of the night, Shoni and I trudged back to the car tired, but still buzzing from the music. Paddy's guitar pick in my hand (I complimented his awesome mullet and I like to think we struck up a friendship of sorts after spending an hour dancing at his feet!), and the first band's drum stick in Shoni's.
If you've never heard of Sticky Fingers before, you should definitely check them out! They describe their sound as "a melting pot of reggae, psych, pop and bourbon. Hypnotising you into a swaying trance, then punching you in the face for dancing like a hippy." I'll leave a couple of youtube clips below for you to enjoy!
