[FRINGE] standing small in six inch heels

Seeing bands you like who are playing at the Fringe can be problematic, especially if they are playing in the Garden. Ticket prices are usually high, and the strict scheduling means the show lasts an hour and only an hour. But for some performers this is irrelevant. I bought my ticket to Kate Miller-Heidke's show only two hours after the booking office opened for the Fringe (and that was only because it took me two hours to do my first pass through of the online Fringe Guide). And yes, it was more than four normal Fringe shows (or three expensive Fringe shows). But it was worth it. For those of you who have never heard her music you should. And then go see her at a gig because she is much more impressive in person. She is so very small to have such a great voice. [I don't think 6" heels are overcompensating... <grin>] Gigs also have the advantage that a number of her fun songs never make it to CD (Are You Fucking Kidding Me? the exception which made it to the live album). This gig had Someone Drew A Penis On My Band Poster. Anyway this gig mainly consisted as a preview of what is coming up on her new album Nightflight, along with some of her more popular songs. I liked all of the new songs she sang, except for Sarah, which I like musically, but thematically it makes me want to break things (particularly certain people) so very much. The sad thing is it's apparently based on a true story (as are many of her songs). I want to applaud the song but not the story. Needless to say I've already preordered the new album. I was amused, and not terribly surprised that she was going to play Politics in Space for the opening of the Australia Pavilion at the Shanghai World Exposition this year, until the night after hearing the rehearsal, a very nice note was slid under her door under a Chinese government cultural letterhead suggesting that she might like to reconsider her choice to a bright happy song. Again, I was amused, and definitely not surprised by the the request. {When she was trying one of the prototypes of PIS in a much earlier gig, when it was much more anti-baby-boomer, I felt I was about to be torn apart by a legion of her teenage female fans for having grey hair.) Anyway, I love her voice and I love her music. This was a nice intimate performance for 400 people (as I was in the first row she was close enough to touch; although she did recognise me afterwards so hiding behind my beard obviously wasn't a viable strategy). I would have done the Gen Y thing of recording her gig on my phone and posting it on YouTube, except that I feel that such gigs have to be ephemeral to be truly appreciated. I do wonder if I was in the photo on her Facebook page for the gig. Anyway that was my last official Fringe show. There is a lot more that I want to go to, but I am now officially tired and broke. I may go to one more show to enjoy good company, but that's it. No more poffertjes for me! [I don't really count the (free) Whitemore Square Arts Festival as a Fringe show despite it has a Fringe listing and is on this Sunday. I'll be there from 11:30am to see Brillig play a set, followed by the likes of The Baker Suite and Babylon Burning. Unfortunately I doubt I'll buy any more art from the local artists (it's a good place to get an excellent bargain (at before they were famous prices)), as I have ended up spending far too much recently. <sigh> Having the art show at the end of the Fringe is not the greatest idea.]