DURING THE last weeks Brisbane, Australia, has seen an influx of lads from Camberley. And they're causing trouble. First it was Graham Parker and the Rumour, then the Members.
4300 people crammed into the ageing ballroom, Cloudlands, to see GP. They consumed vast amounts of alcohol while the support bands warmed them up. As soon as a few hundred people get dancing, the sprung dance floor of Cloudlands acts like a giant pogo-machine, and you can't stand still even if you want to.
Parker was magnificent. He manipulated the crowd completely from the first song 'Local Girls'. He urged 'Don't Get Excited', but demanded the opposite. GP possibly surprised himself, as he commented in amazement 'You're the best audience on the whole fucking tour'.
The only time his control slipped was after the second encore when a roadie announced that it was Graham's birthday. So we all sang 'Happy Birthday To You' while GP strangled the guy. Then he did 'New York Shuffle' and it was all over.
But that's when the trouble started. A dazed, drunk crowd released from the heat and excitement proceeded to commit atrocious acts on the streets of Brisbane, the most heinous of which was apparently several cases of fornication on the front lawns of the good, noble, well-clipped citizens of Brisbane.
The repercussions began a couple of days later. The liquor licence at Cloudlands was revoked. The licensee of the proceedings received a note, poked under his door, saying that 'pending a full investigation, the licences for all discos at Cloudlands are cancelled'. Consequently the Members' dance was dry. Only 1100 turned up to see the dance and a lot of those were police.
The crowd just didn't seem to be interested in the eight different flavours of soft drink on sale, and kept nipping outside for a quick drop of liquor, where they'd be arrested. It's illegal to consume alcohol in public places. On the bars/soda fountains there was a small flow of odd-looking people asking of they could have a beer or two on the sly. Blue flashing lights and sirens couldn't have made them more obvious.
Meanwhile, a few of the lads in blue had slipped backstage. Yes, you guessed it. They arrested several members of the Members for - shock, horror, bus-plunge - consuming alcohol. But the story doesn't have a totally demoralising ending.
The Members did perform though the poor, sober crowd took a bit of time to get going. By the time the Members began 'Police Car', they'd got the idea. The Band's wry humour and political stance was totally appropriate and appreciated.
The next band who play here, though, will have to come up with a few anti-police songs quick. They'll have to capture the crowd's interest somehow.
A. Jones
Reproduced with kind permission from Anne Jones. Thanks Anne!
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