last night i whizz over to avoca beach cinema and theatre to catch steve's solo show. yes i have seen it many times, many different places but avoca is a beautiful venue and has a great atmosphere plus steve always puts on an excellent preformance and then there's the songs. and as an extra bonus i usually laugh at his antics stories and anadotes which i'm sure he tones down for the public. all in all it's a great way to spend an evening and last night was no different. as he plays the singles from his early back catalouge i marvel at how he has transformed them into very lovely sounding tunes, just him singing and playing an acustic. which is not his main instrument, he is after all a bass player. yet ther's something very mezmerizing as these songs we know and love are all transformed into intimate re workings. the highlights for me are always the 'heyday' songs and of course, 'priest = aura' although yesterday to everyones delight he did a very beautiful version of 'milky way.' i was lucky as i sat in the front listening, laughing and loving the whole experience, very grateful to be alive, to be witnessing one of the few preformers that actually give me pleasure, and i respect. a lady next to me sat with her duaghter and told me she loved the church becuase of steve's writing and i agreed. those words were never just songs, they were poetic, literate and intelligent. i must confess i really wanted to see steve after the show but i was still feeling very toxic from my plastic expereince, 'plastique mission' and by the end of the evening my throat was aching and speech was difficult so i left prematurely. on the way out a woman had passed out in the mens bathroom, just as i attempted to walk through the door. old mission's first aid training kicks in, and i dash down to check breathing and put her into recovery. outside a few people introduce themselves, they have travelled all the way from paramatta and ask what band i am in. we chat a bit about music in the 80's and australian bands i heard when i lived in london, the only one i really was interested in was the church. i liked some hoodoo guru stuff and talk about the time i saw bowie with icehouse as his opening band. they start reminising about the models and inxs and i slip away from these friendly people, content i picked the right band. the only band that matters (sorry clash) the church.