This weekend just gone I had a road trip in the South Island, heading down to Dunedin from
Christchurch to see the Eagles in concert.
We stayed in the city and walked to the stadium, a half hour or so walk, and when it finished, back again with all the thousands and thousands of people in the late hours. I even bought a T-Shirt.
Music is an interesting thing, isn't it? I hadn't really listened to the Eagles much since I was in my late teens, and to be honest, I wasn't even planning to go until about six weeks ago when one of the whanau (family) said, "Come down to the South Island and we'll go."
I was totally in.
The concert hadn't sold out so getting a ticket wasn't a problem. Ditto the cheap airfares.
BUT... oh my golly gosh... accommodation was an absolute bitch!
Everywhere it seemed had filled up or a fortune was being demanded. And for two gals who like to do things on the cheap, there was no way I was paying for a bed that cost more than the concert ticket and the airfare combined and doubled.
I wondered if something else was happening in Dunedin that weekend to make the city sell out of accommodation, and I googled, but no. There wasn't anything else. It was purely the wonderfulness of an Eagles concert.
Apparently within days of the tickets going on sale, the city had pretty much sold out of accommodation so by the time we got a ticket, months later, there was, it seemed, nothing.
I figured even pitching a tent, like in days of yore, on a campground was a possibility. Worst case scenario, I said, we could sleep in the car. It couldn't be any more uncomfortable than my regular nine hour, over-night bus trips on non-reclining seats. This idea was not met with approval.
But then, doing a search one more time, after many one-more-times, a room for two popped up at a really decent price, and I grabbed it.
Praise be, I thought.
Praise blimmin be.
The concert was amazing. "Hotel California" live was a spiritual experience. All the songs were amazing. Can I say "amazing" any more? Yes, I darn well can. AMAZING!
The warm up act was originally Aussie singer John Farnham, but he'd come down crook a few weeks before, so Marlon Williams, a Kiwi singer who has done really well these past years, was the first act. He was very, very good. I thought it was quite an inspired choice as he'd be reaching a whole demographic of people (ie middle aged and beyond) who probably hadn't given him a second thought before.
All in all, a pretty splendid time, and as for the cheap seats with the restricted viewing? They were not too shabby at all.
 |
| Restricted viewing aka cheap seats. Pretty decent. |
We stayed in the city and walked to the stadium, a half hour or so walk, and when it finished, back again with all the thousands and thousands of people in the late hours. I even bought a T-Shirt.
Music is an interesting thing, isn't it? I hadn't really listened to the Eagles much since I was in my late teens, and to be honest, I wasn't even planning to go until about six weeks ago when one of the whanau (family) said, "Come down to the South Island and we'll go."
I was totally in.
The concert hadn't sold out so getting a ticket wasn't a problem. Ditto the cheap airfares.
BUT... oh my golly gosh... accommodation was an absolute bitch!
Everywhere it seemed had filled up or a fortune was being demanded. And for two gals who like to do things on the cheap, there was no way I was paying for a bed that cost more than the concert ticket and the airfare combined and doubled.
I wondered if something else was happening in Dunedin that weekend to make the city sell out of accommodation, and I googled, but no. There wasn't anything else. It was purely the wonderfulness of an Eagles concert.
 |
Apparently within days of the tickets going on sale, the city had pretty much sold out of accommodation so by the time we got a ticket, months later, there was, it seemed, nothing.
I figured even pitching a tent, like in days of yore, on a campground was a possibility. Worst case scenario, I said, we could sleep in the car. It couldn't be any more uncomfortable than my regular nine hour, over-night bus trips on non-reclining seats. This idea was not met with approval.
But then, doing a search one more time, after many one-more-times, a room for two popped up at a really decent price, and I grabbed it.
Praise be, I thought.
Praise blimmin be.
The concert was amazing. "Hotel California" live was a spiritual experience. All the songs were amazing. Can I say "amazing" any more? Yes, I darn well can. AMAZING!
The warm up act was originally Aussie singer John Farnham, but he'd come down crook a few weeks before, so Marlon Williams, a Kiwi singer who has done really well these past years, was the first act. He was very, very good. I thought it was quite an inspired choice as he'd be reaching a whole demographic of people (ie middle aged and beyond) who probably hadn't given him a second thought before.
All in all, a pretty splendid time, and as for the cheap seats with the restricted viewing? They were not too shabby at all.
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