A friend of mine told Angus Young of AC/DC fame to eff off.
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It was early 1974, at Taree's Civic Cinema, and AC/DC were very young, as were we. And my girlfriend was tall, blond, quite the stunner. And though the details are sketchy, it was pre-show, the encounter was brief, and I don't remember a school uniform. Angus took the telling off in good humour.
The same friend was voicing her frustration about her granddaughter when we met for a catch-up with about 30 of us oldies at Coopernook Pub. The granddaughter wanted tickets to see The Weeknd (I think) and 'nan' was the only one with the time to wait in online waiting rooms. But there was plenty of anxiety that 'nan' wasn't up to the task.
'Nan' reminded her granddaughter that she has seen the Rolling Stones three times, along with a host of other gigs, and has managed to buy tickets and negotiate ticketing websites for much of her life. She'd forgotten her encounter with Angus Young but that's another rock'n'roll moment she now has tucked into her grandma's brag book.
Armed with her laptop and iPad, 'nan' was successful in obtaining the two tickets required - at one stage she had six tickets that she didn't want and had to restart the whole process but the granddaughter doesn't need to know that.
For those of us who love music (and who doesn't?) we have been very fortunate to grow up in this time. Personally there's been plenty of rock'n'roll moments - like Michael Hutchence fronting INXS (with his back to the audience) in the very early days at the Royal Hotel, Taree and Ignatius Jones spitting on the guy next to me at a Jimmy and the Boys concert the Bellevue, Tuncurry (it was very punk and I quickly decided I didn't need to be in the front row).
More recently I was lucky enough to again see the Foo Fighters, at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium (today's picture). Three hours of solid rock and roll is very hard to beat and while the band is loud, the audience is louder. It was a very powerful feeling to be part of something that alive.
So rock on, and have a great weekend,
Toni Bell
ACM editor, Manning River Times