Southern Amp ticket give-away

So, as most of you will probably know by now, we’re scheduled to perform at Southern Amp this coming weekend. I’m wildly grateful to the guys at CHART and RDU for inviting us onto their stage, but I have to admit that as much as I am wildly looking forward to it, I am also rather anxious about it all. Why? I constantly have this horrid picture in my mind that I once saw at Germany’s Bizarre Festival in 2001.

In 2001 there were three stages, or more accurately, one main stage and two largish tents, one with upcoming alternative acts, one for dance and electronic music. In addition to these very enjoyable and respectable epicenters of live performances, there was a fourth stage, and the scenes I witnessed at this fourth stage are the cause of my anxieties.

You’ve probably all been to festivals like these or seen them on TV… 50.000-100.000 people, with tents, garbage and unsanitary toilets sprawled out like an apocalyptic refugee camp. Don’t get me wrong, it’s all great fun and all, but at some point over the 3 to 4 days you mentally tire, and all you want to do is chill out for a bit. So naturally one tends to spend at least one half of a day perusing the obligatory stalls filled to the brim with band t-shirts, bongs and batik wall hangings.

So anyhow, I wandered around and lo and behold I stumbled across a fourth stage! Wow, I thought, who plays here? There was no mention of a fourth stage in my program, no indication on the map, no… oh wait, yes there was! There in the far corner of my brochure… an (*) asterix symbol with a grand total explanation of: “local talent stage”.

The area around the stage was deserted. The PA was a tiny system reminiscent of country bands playing at the local farmer’s markets. No one watched, and, what’s more, despite being half a mile from the main stage, they were hardly audible over the wind-swept echos of the out-of-tune Offspring singer. I shuddered, walked on, and actually forgot all about this episode until a week or two ago when I started to ponder the rather more imminent Southern Amp and how this day might unfold for us.

As I see it, there are two fundamental ways our local stage might play out: 1) the local stage could be the equivalent of the Bizarre Festival’s tents (small, but with great vibes happening), or 2) like the comically absurd fourth “local talent” stage: abandoned, desolate - an embarrassing afterthought.

Fingers crossed! right? :) Thus far, it certainly looks like it should be great fun. The event, as a whole, seems like it has been very well organized, and there are definitely some exciting acts performing, so my worries are clearly not grounded in anything other than general performance anxiety and a sorry booking for some sorry German act in the summer of 2001. Hopefully, after Saturday, that memory will once again disappear into the mist.

Anyhow, if you’ve managed to read this far, you might yet be in for a treat. If, and only if, you live in Christchurch, email me during the next 48 hours at info(at)theenrighthouse(dot)com with “SA ticket give away” in the email subject and a contact name and phone number in the body, and on Thursday night, I will take all emails I receive and draw one winner (I don’t know how yet, but I’ll be sure to document it with photos in the interest of transparency! Ha). Once the fraud is committed, err, I mean the fair and balanced process completed, I’ll send the winner an email with my cell phone number, and txt/call you on Friday morning with info on where you can pick up two free tickets for Saturday’s Southern Amp!

Good luck.

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