Is there really any fun in absolutely wiping yourself out on over-priced booze at a gig costing more than $100 a ticket?
There must be if the antics at a great show featuring American rockers Sheryl Crow and John Mellencamp is anything to go by.
Now I like a beer (and a red wine) as much as the next bloke, but not to anywhere near the extent the group of drunks in front of me did on Sunday afternoon at An Evening on the Green.
The concert was held at the picturesque Sandalford winery and before the show started, crowd controllers made a point of telling everyone that there was a place for people who wanted to get down and boogie, and that wasn’t where everyone was sitting.
So as the beer and wine flowed freely under the sun, this message started to lose its significance on some - to the point that by the time Sheryl Crow came on, the mob in front of us where so off their dials that they were bopping along (or maybe they were just struggling to stand up) so everyone behind them couldn’t see the stage.
People nicely asked them to sit down, and eventually they complied, but it didn’t long before a few more beers got them back up on their feet.
They weren't necessarily getting up to dance either - for some reason they thought it was easier to talk standing up despite having a comfy chair to park their bums on.
Sheryl Crow finished (I saw about two-thirds of the show thanks to the people in front of me) and it was time for John Mellencamp to take to the stage.
And of course, just as he came on, the people in front of us stood up again, completely blocking our view. The yells of “sit down” from behind this now extremely intoxicated group was enough to drown out the warm applause for Mellencamp.
They pretty much fell down - by this time most motor skills had deteriorated significantly - but just one song later the message was no longer being heard by their alcohol-soaked brains and they were up again.
This time a bloke next to me had really had enough and it was time to call in security - a wise move as a few people were starting to get pretty annoyed with these inebriated fools, and the last thing anyone wanted was for the mood to be spoiled by a bit of biffo.
Anyway, whether they finally got the message or they were so wiped out that they couldn’t stand anymore, we got to see the majority of Mellencamp’s performance.
And it was well worth the money from my often obscured view.
But I can just imagine these people who drank themselves into oblivion when they turned up to work on Monday and the obligatory “how was your weekend” conversation started up.
I reckon it would go something like this:
“G’day mate, how was the weekend?”
“Awesome. Went to see John Mellencamp and Sheryl Crow last night. Got drunk as a skunk. It was wicked.”
“So how were Mellencamp and Crow?”
“Don’t know. I was hammered. But I had fun though.”
What a waste - for them and for me.
Click here to read a review of the concert
Click here to see a picture gallery