the day started all sunny and transmorphed into a wet miserable day as i wandered around circular quay waiting for my dear old friend lily who is part mermaid and therefore enjoys being wet, we sat outside protected from the storm drinking in exotic hot praline chocolate and then later went towards the opera house for some nibbles, and then up to the opera house, where i saw the wonderful samantha mayfair and her maidens all looking pretty glamorous and spectacular. i sneaked out to praise jah, figuring that i should pay homage and alter my state of mind.
in the auditorium we discovered our seats were actually pretty dam good, right in the centre of the whole thing, and then it all went dark and the orchestra were revealed as they started to play metropolis and then the band came on and played along, and then in time for the last line, 'there will never be another one like you' steve appeared and from that moment magic was in the air, yes the band played a brilliant selection of songs, getting better and better as they preformed, i heard two songs i had not heard live before, 'anchorage' which worked brilliantly with the backing vocals and 'myrrh' which i may have heard many years ago but can't recall, plus a lost australian classic from 1969 which i know steve name checked at the aria awards. there was an interval and the orchestra resumed by playing 'happy hunting ground' which i had not heard for ages, i think one show i saw years ago the band came on to it.
highlights were 'never before' and the very beautiful 'already yesterday' which is one of the reasons why i came to australia after being hinted by that line,

'We don't feel those locks and chains
We won't listen to the lizard part of our brains
Giving the orders
Another morning we'll be gone
I start the car for Ten Mile Beach
Or maybe Avalon
Across the water.'

but the biggest and most impressive song was 'the disillusionist' which steve preformed with the passion and conviction of a shakespearean actor delivering the closing monologue of a tragic comedy drama, really quite mesmerising, can't wait for the dvd.

i have not seen a concert since the last church show that held me transfixed and took me away, what an absolute special event, introduced by george negus himself.
for thirty one years i followed this band, and last night they seemed to reach the point they had been travelling towards, a fundamental point where a rock band becomes something bigger than just making music and singing songs, the church have never really been an ordinary band, they always pushed harder and took us further musically, lyrically challenging the borders of reality in a shamanic sense and dissolving that ethereal layer that lies between, transcendence. yeah the church is the only band that have transcended themselves and they did it with intent and hard work.