Part 3 of my Divo trip

Here is the the last part of my Divo adventures in Oz.

There were three of us going to the Melbourne show on Monday. Sue, a friend from Launceston joined us in our city motel that morning. Let me say at this point that three women getting glammed up in one motel room at the one time is a major logistical exercise, what with only two mirrors and limited floor space. But we scrubbed up pretty well all things considered, grabbed a bite to eat from Subway (making sure we didn’t choose anything sloppy) then took a cab to the Rod Laver Arena. It was packed. We ended up walking all the way around the entire stadium looking for gate number 17, not realising that there were only 18 gates and that a right turn at gate 1 instead of a left would have had us there in no time.

We knew we were in Row CCC, but we had no idea where that would place us relative to the stage. We were trying to work it out as we made our way gingerly down from the nose-bleed section. Both Sue and Jen were wearing heels that made taking the stairs rather precarious. My heels were a little more manageable and I reached the floor area first. When the usher told me that our seats were in the doughnut itself, I could hardly believe our luck. But the looks on the others’ faces were truly priceless when I told them how close we would be sitting.

Jen could hardly believe that we’d scored such good seats twice in a row - and Sue declared that Jen was to be in charge of ticket booking from now on!

I have to admit that I enjoyed this show even more. I was less distracted this time and managed to ignore the backdrops and focused my attention more on the performances

Some highlights for me were:

Urs telling a joke about Melbourne’s changeable weather. (It might have been an old gag, but he told it well, bless his cotton socks.)

Seb bashfully telling us how much Melbourne and Tim Tams mean to him. Then he persuaded the crowd to join him in to an Oz rallying cheer and then pushed the envelope a little further to sing a John Farnham chorus with him. The crowd lapped it up – and he looked delighted. It was a pity he forgot the words of the song though.

Carlos somehow managing to tell every woman in the audience that he’d missed us, which he followed up by asking if he could ask us a question. ‘Yes!’ screamed back one fan without missing a beat. David and Seb cracked up before Carlos could deliver the punchline ‘Did you miss me too?’

Of course since it was his birthday the next day, they couldn’t let that pass unmarked. Urs appeared carrying balloons and a banner and they all sang an operatic version of Happy Birthday to him. Then they all did the manly hug thing.

Seb then wandered down stage joking, ‘The single will be out in two weeks.’
Urs walked away scratching the back of his head and dryly quipped something like ‘I thought you were talking about his marital status...’ and David nearly swallowed his mike.

I noticed that the encores have been handled differently this tour and they seem to work a lot better now. Instead of sitting on the edge of the stage as they did last time, the men stroll up and down the catwalk; touching hands, shaking other hands, signing autographs and accepting gifts, all while singing their hearts out.

The crowd ate it up – and the guys just kept on smiling and singing for the next two songs.

Honestly, I don’t know how they do it: David in particular is bent over near double, they are singing and managing to stay in tune, keeping their harmonies straight and still remember their cues.

After the first encore Urs had to call back David, who had made his way almost to the start of the catwalk. In fact, he almost missed his last cue and had to run to the front for the final chorus. I figured it’s just as well he’s got long legs.

Once it was over, we filed out slowly, inching our way out of the stadium. I suggested cocktails at the Hilton Hotel and we decided that would be a very pleasant way to debrief.

Jen the intrepid led the way into the Hilton’s revolving door but Sue and I mistimed our entry and we stepped into in the same segment, and had to shuffle around wedged together until we were spat out on the other side giggling fit to bust. I’m afraid that rather set the tone for the rest of the night.

I hadn’t been there for many years. The padded bar I recall from my student days was long gone, but we found a quiet table at the rear where we could check out our photos and vids and ‘ooh and ahh’ to our hearts’ content.

But things picked up when we checked out the cocktail list. I was still reeling at the price of the cocktails when Jen announced we should have an ‘Orgasm.’ and Sue decided that a ‘Sloe Comfortable Screw against the Wall’ was more her speed.

Apparently I heard just enough to look up at the wrong moment and register what they were saying and we promptly fell apart again. All I’ll say is that it was just as well that Jen had tissues in her bag and we were wearing non-run mascara.

We had a leisurely start to the next day, rehashing the show and packing our bags. As a final salute to Melbourne, we popped into a store in Royal Arcade which has the most divine hot chocolate (going on the must-visit-again-soon list), then went our separate ways with promises all around come a Divoing again ( with Jen getting the tickets of course.)

Unfortunately, my mid afternoon flight was delayed in half hour increments for three and a half hours, so I didn’t get home until after eight. I’m not sure how Jen fared getting back to Sydney, but Sue’s 8 pm flight with another airline didn’t leave until close to midnight. It did take the edge off a terrific trip just a bit.

But in the end I was happy with my beautiful program, leather CD ID case, a spiffy gold coloured lanyard, three large format B&W photos and a big swag of top memories.

All I can add now is, bring on the next tour.