We arrived in Sydney sometime around 5:00. Not Ok was playing an early set at the Landowner as part of some all-day punk fest so that was the reason for the 5AM departure. They parked the bus near the club and we walked down a block to get a taxi to The Excelsior where our show was later. The plan again, just like Melbourne, was to find a place to sleep for the night and as luck would have it, the Excelsior IS an actual hotel. A backpacker’s hotel, but the rooms were clean, and that was most important.

Bryan and Scott opted for some R&R so I went up the street to use the Internet. The one drawback of this backpacker’s hotel was the lack of wifi. And the one drawback of using Internet at a grocery store is the lack of a public restroom. This blog, as much as it seems to be going well, is going to be the death of me before it’s through.

I knew the doors were at 8:00, and it was 10 til 8 when I finally finished the previous days blog update. I cruised back to the venue, saw that a band was on stage, but I did not see the bus outside so I knew that Not Ok had not arrived yet.

I talked to the sound guy about the show’s start time and then went up stairs to give Scott and Bryan the lowdown. By the time I went back into the club, Not Ok was there and had loaded in all the gear. What a bunch of selfish jerks! Always doing the work while HP sleeps and fucks off.

Easy Company opened the show and holy crap did they kick it off well. A four-piece punk band with two guitars and three vocals, they came on loud and fast and never let up. The Optionals were next, and although they were only a three-piece, and played a more melodic style of rock, they were by far the most talented band of the night. Hook, melody, and technical proficiency, I could one day see them taking over the world.

And if that wasn’t enough, Not Ok goes on next and brings the rock like like the seasoned pros they are. With the early show acting as a warm up for the main event, they really upped the ante. It was not a level we couldn’t compete with, but it was one that my beer consumption was not ready for. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a competition every night, but I switched to water anyway.

I think the Pinker brought it as best as we could. Bryan has, for two nights in a row, played awesome, consistent sets even though he was fighting a chest cold that would not show any mercy. Scott must have ridden the attitude bus to Sydney because he was full of piss and vinegar, and he was not even pretending to care what he went off about. Myself, well I had seen better days. A week of abusing my body finally caught up with me and I felt I couldn’t do anything right. My fingers wouldn’t go where I wanted. My voice wouldn’t sound how I needed it. I was a GD mess. But somehow I pulled it off without a didn’t crash and burn, or bring the band down with me.