The concert was fantastic, but one of the real highlights came on the Sunday before the concert. Harry made a one-off public appearance in one of our city's malls. People had the opportunity to meet him and get him to sign CDss and whatever "Harry memorabilia" they could manage to dig up. I waited in line for an hour and a half before he arrived (there were a lot of people wanting to meet him... would you expect anything less?). When it was my turn I got up on the stage. He said "Hey, how are ya?" and I replied "Great, you know I think it's so cool that you're letting everyone meet you like this" (it sounds really gushy in hindsight, but at the time it was really cool). He signed my Star Turtle poster, it was probably one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me (framed, it's now taken a position of posterity on my wall). I never imagined I'd get the opportunity to meet him. I think it just shows what a nice guy he is to spend an hour or so meeting his fans and signing memorabilia for them. There's not too many artists these days that will take that kind of time out. Next time I get to meet him I hope to be able to talk to him a little more and be a little less overwhelmed!

But on to the concert... well, what can I say. It was just funky! There's nothing better than HC Jr live. My position in front centre was the perfect vantage point. You could hear all the band's conversations and it made the whole thing seem like they were just playing for you. The night began with "Voodoo Mama". Most of the songs were 70's hits including "How Sweet it is to be Loved by You" and "How Insensitive". Although I expected to hear more songs from Star Turtle, I wasn't disappointed. Harry took the drums for Sly and the Family Stone's "Thank You". A real highlight of the evening was a New Orleans swing number headed by Harry on trumpet. It's so good to hear that music live. Next came the "Sheik of Arabique", with the whole crowd screaming "He aint got no pants on!"

Just how hot is the band? Jonathan Dubose plays some of the best guitar I've heard and I just can't get enough of that brass! Lucien Barbarin treated us to a trombone solo. He nearly knocked us in the front row out with his slide! Harry is really talented and I respect him and all but it would have been nice if some of the media hype regarding the tour could have concerned the other guys in the band. Together they are just brilliant!

Half way was marked with Harry telling us about his day in Adelaide. Apparently it was his first day off in quite awhile. First, Harry went to go-kart racing where he won, legitimately, he says :). Harry then held up the whole show while he went off to find the trophy that he had won and while showing us declared, "Man, this means more to me than a Grammy. They don't mean anything to me. I had to work my butt off for this!". He talked about everything from tattoos and body piercing to the Spice Girls and an ugly looking animal (a tapir) at the zoo.

The second half of the show just went off. It was great to see the band having fun. They were all playing jokes on each other. Jonathan was victim to a powder attack on one of his towels. 16 bars into "Trouble", Harry stops playing, cracking himself up laughing while Jonathan just stood on the stage with white powder on his face and guitar. There was an explosive rendition of "Mind on the Matter". Harry also danced for us and was met with a joking comment, "Riverdance was last week!"

The closing was marked with "Fire" which was a huge jam session. The guys received a well-deserved standing ovation, a rare thing here. Harry commented that it was the second-to-last show with the band ever and thanked us all for letting him have such a good time. Man, would I have loved to be there for the last one in Perth! Thanks Harry and all the guys! It was a sensational concert. Thank you falettin me have a good time a-gin!