The Concert

We were lucky that none of the rain that drenched the southern suburbs reached the Swan Valley for the Steely Dan Concert. It was very cold though...especially for me the skipper. On the skipper thing; don't be a skipper. Being sober whilst the others are intoxicated is no fun, in fact it can be very frustrating and unrewarding keeping your friends and family in line in a public place.

We decided to go early to get a good position. Sandalford Vineyard now specialises in concerts and good for them too....all the wines were exclusively Sandalford and the lowest price was $22. Beer was $8 a stubbie. They must have sold truckloads of bottles to the estimated 5 - 6000 concert goers. Entry into the vineyard was easy with lots of marshals guiding cars to a paddock parking area. Once parked we joined a queue of what looked like 2,000 plus people in a long line waiting for the gates to open. After probably 45 minutes the line started to move and eventually we reached the gates where our gear was searched for bring-in alcohol, metal cutlery, glassware and umbrellas. Once in, we positioned ourselves in the 'high chair' area and rugged up to wait for the two support bands to start.

The two bands were Gangajang and World Party. Gangajang did their well known stuff and world party from the UK did theirs. When Steely Dan came on with their ten piece band the mob went wild. It was a great show with many of their older and newer numbers performed. It was amazing to see and hear Walter Becker and Donald Fagan looking and sounding like they have over several decades. And they played their stuff exactly as the audience wanted it. I have been to concerts where the artists tell the audience that they are tired of the same old sound and are going to play it a bit different. Bah!

The concert was great, but getting out of Sandalford was horrific. It took about 45 minutes and it looked like there was a police road block at the entrance back on to West Swan Road. Being sober, I wanted to run the gauntlet, but we had the opportunity to go the opposite direction and join Roe Highway for a straight through trip home. It was a quiet trip home for a number of reasons. I think that will be my last concert.