Sometimes it's great to arrive early to a show and catch the support bands. But how do you work out the best time to turn up if you aren't keen on kicking it while you wait for the band you've gone out to see? I'm not sure there is an answer. There are simply too many variables at play.
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I was recently at the ANU Bar all ready to catch the Church. Now, the information I had was that the show started around 8pm – which I'm prepared to say wasn't going to happen. Everyone knows published start times are usually just a very general indication of when people should turn up. At certain types of gigs this rule applies anyway. At others, it doesn't and everything is very punctual. Which I like.
With this show, I wasn't sure which way it would go. Further, as is sometimes the case, it can be tricky for even a music writer to get details of who the supports are going to be, or even if there is a support act at all. This information can be vital to a man determining if he can squeeze in another episode of The Office before he takes off to the show.
Normally, I'd decide to turn up to a gig that was advertised to start at 8pm by around 9pm or even 9.30pm and expect to catch maybe the tail end of a support, but definitely have time to see the main act.
But this is rock'n'roll. You never know what can happen with rock'n'roll.
On this occasion I wasn't even sure if there was going to be a support band. And some of the members of the Church are creeping on in the years' department, so maybe they would be keen to kick things off to an early start so everyone can get home to bed? Or so I start thinking.
With these thoughts badgering my brain I decide to leave a tad earlier than planned.
In short, and I hate it when I let my thoughts trick me into doing the very thing I was planning not to do, I get to the ANU with some time to spare. So much so that I reckon I got to know the faces of each and every punter that was there, just because there was nothing left to do but hang about and stare at them while I waited for the music to start. I should have trusted my instincts. To be fair though, we later hear the band's van had broken down on the way to the show. I'm not sure if that made me feel better or not.
