Melbourne and the Boss

A few months ago some friends of ours mentioned that they got tickets to a Bruce Springsteen concert in Melbourne.  For whatever reason, he was only bringing his show to Melbourne and Sydney but he was doing several shows in each city.  In fact, in Melbourne he was doing two shows in the main stadium and two shows in an outdoor area outside the city called "Hanging Rock".  Hanging Rock is famous in Australia after some kids went missing in the area in the 60's.  Subsequently, there was a popular movie made called "Picnic at Hanging Rock" that told the story of what may have happened, although nobody really knows.  In addition to being the possible scene of a terrible crime, it's also a picturesque picnic and hiking area.  It also has a horse race track now.  Springsteen is only the third artist to play a concert at Hanging Rock.  The first was Rod Stewart, followed by Leonard Cohen and now Bruce Springsteen.

So, Nadia and I figured that since we hadn't been to Melbourne and we really wanted to see the Boss that this would be a great opportunity.  Not only that but the concert was being held on the Easter long weekend (4 day weekend) and it also coincided with me changing jobs (finished at one on Thursday, started at the new one on Tuesday).  We bought tickets, booked the flight, reserved a hotel and transportation and off we went.

 Nadia in front of Federation Square in the center of Melbourne.  Every day there was some sort of event here.  In general, the city is very vibrant and active.  This picture was an example of one of the few moments of sunshine while we were in Melbourne.  The weather was decent and relatively dry but it's nothing like Perth.

 

 One of the many lane ways in central Melbourne.  There are probably hundreds of little lane ways throughout the Melbourne CBD where vehicles can't travel.  This one is very close to our hotel which was right on one of the lane ways.  Each lane way seemed to specialize.  There were some that were restaurants only.  Some were only cafes.  Some were only shops.  Some were pubs.  Some were art galleries, etcetera.  It was a lot of fun discovering each one.  The food in Melbourne was good and much cheaper than Perth.  But the biggest problem was that there was so much choice it was hard to know where to begin.

 

 

 One evening we went out in search of a jazz club and we found one in one of the lane ways.  The club was at the very end of a dark alley with a single neon sign that said "Jazz Club".  The whole scene was very sketchy.  It was perfect.  We got in and the room was full.  We went to sit at the very back when a man approached us and offered us a seat at his table at the front.  He was there with his wife but they had a table for four.  We took him up on his offer and as we started chatting we discovered that they were Canadian.  Well, sort of.  They were originally from Southern Ontario but lived in Michigan for the last twenty years prior to living in Melbourne for the last year.  The club was awesome and the music was great.

 

 

 When we booked our tickets to Melbourne we had no idea that at the same time as  the Springsteen concert, the city was hosting their annual Melbourne International Comedy Festival.  We managed to go to a couple shows but it was difficult to narrow it down.  There were over 100 performances per day in different locations.  Most of the performers were in the concert halls although some, like the picture above, weren't actually part of the festival but found a way to make themselves part of it.

 

 

 We arrived in Melbourne on Friday afternoon.  For the first two days we took in the comedy festival, restaurants, the city, etc.  On Sunday it was the main event.  We caught a festival bus from Melbourne to Hanging Rock.  There were two opening acts: one good, one terrible.  But, as is his habit, Springsteen stole the show.  Above, he is playing with Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave fame.  Tom was replacing Bruce's regular guitarist who is busy filming a TV series in Norway (he was also a regular on the Sopranos).

 

 

 One of the best things about the concert is how energetic and engaged he was.  He was constantly running around the audience, shaking hands, picking up signs and pulling a couple of people on stage with him.  The guy is really amazing especially considering that he's in his 60s!  We had very good seats so we managed to get pretty close to the action.

 

 

 Monday was leaving day but our flight wasn't until later in the day.  So we took the opportunity to get a couple of bikes and ride down to the St.Kilda area.  One of the most impressive things about Melbourne is the myriad transportation options.  They have buses, trains, trams, trolleys and public bicycles.  Throughout the city they have set up bicycle stations where anyone (with a credit card) can get a bike.  We road our bikes to the coastal area of St.Kilda, which is about 10 km away from the CBD.  Truth be told, compared to the Perth coastal area it was pretty disappointing.  Melbourne is not a beach holiday destination.

 

Along the way, we got tired and hungry.  So, we stopped at a restaurant on the boardwalk to have lunch.  Just prior to going into the restaurant there was a bit of a flurry of activity.  There was a table set up and from out of nowhere a film crew ran up to the table.  As it turns out, we had stumbled upon one of pitstops of the American version of the Amazing Race tv program.  We saw 3 of the 4 teams complete the challenge which was to completely finish a jar of vegemite.  They all struggled but made it through.  We're pretty sure that we'll be on the show.  Look for the guy with the red "CANADA" sweatshirt in the crowd.