Mongolian Metal

I've been to a few gigs since I got here way back in October, but none compare to the one we went to last night. It had it all: Cheap Russian beer in brown plastic bottles (a Russian longy, if you will), a raffle with a tattoo session as the main prize, squat toilets (complete with leaky pipes that sprayed a fine mist on you as you peed) and about 10 bands on the bill.

Squeezed in between more straight up indie rock bands were these legends:

This guy was clearly a fan:

Sam was perhaps a little less amused:


Katy won a prize in the raffle, but to her dismay, it wasn't a tattoo. She scored five plastic bottles of the Russian beer. Great for us, not so good for her, considering she doesn't drink beer. Nonetheless, she was very excited:


We later celebrated her win by dancing on stage with bands and then climbing a speaker stack for elevated dancing. Katherine and I further celebrated Katy's win by drinking her beer. Straight Arrows also represented:


As an aside, it should also be noted that Katherine is a winner herself. She's a winner not only because she's amazing, but also because she was given a giant novelty cheque. It's the stuff that dreams are made of. She won a raffle at a shopping centre. I see a trend emerging. Hey Crea, if you read this, can you please buy me a Lotto ticket?


Sketchy squat toilets: we survived! And lived to tell the tale! Or take a photo as the case may be. Here's Katy with the lovely Happiness after conquering toilets that make the Hopetoun's (RIP) look like bejeweled thrones:

More metal please. And maybe a meat tray.

The ARIAs... Doing It Mongol Style

So it was a public holiday in Mongolia yesterday, an independence day of some description. This meant I went to the gym, ate an egg white omelette, and had a lovely Skype date with Meg. GOOD TIMES. Day got better though, because some clever cats organised an afternoon gig to buck the 9pm curfew. Legends, I say, and our first chance to finally see some local bands. Here are a couple of them:

Yes, homeboy is wearing a face mask while playing bass.

Yes, that is a roll of tape

While watching said bands, news came through that my homie Josh Pyke won an ARIA award. CONGRATULATIONS JOSH! He is a gem among men + musos alike and deserves a trillion awards.

Me and my friend Sam had a celebratory vodka in Josh’s honour.

Yes, that is 100ml of straight vodka. That’s how they roll in Mongol town…

Oddly enough the DJ in between + after bands played Empire Of The Sun, The Vines + Jet. AU represent much?

After the vodka, we required some eatings. So we ate buuz, Mongolian dumplings of goodness containing mutton and maybe some onion. Sorry Hungry Jacks veggie burger, you have been usurped by these little pockets of joy.

P.S Please buy this Josh Pyke DVD here. It was the last thing I worked on at Ivy League and it’s pretty cool.