INDYCAR GRAND PRIX
Saturday 18th March 1995.
The story starts late in 1994 when I jokingly suggested to my best friend that the two of us go for a holiday on the Gold Coast and see John's concert at the grand prix. Somehow in the next couple of months the joke turned serious and before we knew it we were booked to go up to Queensland. My family and friends (those friends that weren't Farnham fans thought we were crazy, and looking back we were - crazy about John Farnham that is).
When Saturday morning finally came around, we dragged our slightly hung-over selves out of bed, and headed off to the Showgrounds where the concert was to be held. We arrived at around 9:15am, and hung around at the gates for most of the day. We met some new friends, one of which knew which entrance into the grounds John and Glenn would need to use when they arrived. Seeing as there was only a handful of people waiting there, we decided it was a good idea to head around to the other entrance. There was maybe ten of us at the gates to the driveway, waiting for John. The band arrived, set up and began the soundcheck but there was still no sign of John. About half an hour later Glenn and John arrived. They were running late, and couldn't stop, but Glenn slowed down enough for John to wind down his window and say hi to us as he went past. That was wonderful. Just a simple hello from John can make my day.
We headed back to the entrance to the concert area, and found that the crowd had grown from 5 to about 25. The last 3 hours before the concert dragged on so slowly, even though there were heaps of new friends to meet. The best thing about the wait for the concert was the sound check. This was the second time I have been in a position to listen to a soundcheck. Lindsay Field singing "Pressure Down" was truly memorable. somehow I don't think I'll hear that too often.
Anyway, getting to the showground early paid off. We got a spot in the front row, and even though we saw nothing at all of the band, we had an amazing view of John. The concert was one of the best I've ever seen. John's voice was at its best, he looked wonderful, and he was in a really good mood, he just didn't do as much of the between song chatter that I love so much. My favourite part of the night was when he made a comment about how the Americans who had come over for the races would have no idea why Glenn Shorrock was singing a song as ridiculous as Sadie. I laughed at that.
For me, the best part of the night came after the show was over. My friend and I had bought a signature bear and written a message to John on it, telling him how wonderful we thought he was. When he hadn't taken it from me, and it was nearing the end of the show, I chose a moment when he was looking in my direction, and threw the bear to him. To my dissapointment the bear sailed right past him and landed on the stage. He didn't even notice it. My friend and I were a little worried that he wouldn't get it after all, but our fears were relieved when he left the showgrounds in the car with Glenn, Gaynor and Jill. John was in the front seat, Jill was in the back, but my teddy was on his lap. I didn't stop smiling for days.
The next morning I called home and was told that my Aunty had heard that John was doing a small show in a little italian place called Romano's, opposite the Marriott hotel. We decided that we would meet up with some other Farnham fans we had met at the concert, and go out to the restaurant, and hopefully we would get to see John. Well, the story we were given was mostly wrong. That night we found that there is no restaurant of any name opposite the Marriott, and indeed there is no restaurant that we could find that was called Romano's. In the end we gave up and headed back to our caravan. The next morning when talking to the owner of the caravan park, we discovered that he had know about the show all along. It was at Aroma's restaurant, opposite the Mirage hotel. We nearly died at the thought that the info we needed was right there and we didn't know it.
All in all it was one of the most fantastic weekends of my life. I just wish I could do it more often.