It took a long time for me to see Died Pretty perform live, but the band was worth the wait – we had bulk fun watching them on Friday night at The Factory in Marrickville.
Died Pretty holds a special place in DD’s heart because – way back in the early 90s – he was in a band that supported them twice – once at the Bridge Hotel and once at the Sydney Opera House.
Cool, huh?
Prior to Friday’s gig, I was familiar with the name Died Pretty, but could never recall a song off the top of my head. It’s weird, because the moment DD plays me their songs it all comes flooding back – DC, Sweetheart, Everybody Moves.
Brilliant stuff.
DD first booked tickets for us to see Died Pretty back in 2019, but the concert was postponed when the lead singer, Ron S. Peno, was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. He recovered and the concert was rescheduled for March 2020. Then COVID hit and it was postponed again!
Ron S. Peno is an amazing character and his voice has mostly survived the brutality of his cancer battle. It took him a couple of songs to gain momentum, but he’s quite the frontman. Bernard Zuel once described him in an SMH article as: “Part Iggy Pop, part Jim Morrison, part righteously angry ant, he was the darkly charismatic frontman for the power of Died Pretty.”
It felt great to be seeing live music again, we are very lucky. Although, as DD later noted: “The crowd was 95% male, 50% bald and 20% very pissed.”
I concur. The bloke in the sleeveless T-shirt sitting in front of us had far more hair on his upper arms and shoulders than his head.
As for the rest of the weekend, the infection in my left ear is on the rise again, so I’m not feeling too well. I am nauseous and exhausted, while my throat and nose have been pretty blergh too. I am looking forward to hearing from the ENT this week about what’s causing it and how it can be treated.
DD organised for a few of his friends to come over to my place on Saturday evening for a drink on my new deck and I really struggled to prepared for the visitors. I was leaning heavily on the handle of the trolley as I wheeled it around Woolies procuring snacks. Once people arrived I perked up, but I wasn’t at my finest.
I took it fairly easy on Sunday … for me: a slow walk with my friend Alice, a chat with my sister about her recent holiday (swimming with whale sharks!) while perched at her island bench, and pottering in my kitchen making a pot of Mexican chili to accompany the amazing leftover guacamole that DD’s friend Vin brought on the Saturday night (I hate waste). Then I drove a container of chili to DD for his tea and snuggled on his couch for a few hours.
There was a teenager I’d promised to feed at home, so I didn’t linger too late. When I texted to say I was home safely, DD replied that he presumed I’d avoided the haunted Wakehurst Parkway, as it was after dark. Pfffft, what self respecting ghost goes around scaring people at 7pm? They wait until at least 9.
Oh, and the main pic is the youngest and one of her friends exploring the rockpools on the Northern Beaches as a school holiday outing on Friday. The youngest loves the sea, just like her mum!
Here are two of my favourite Died Pretty songs (“Everybody Moves” is also a corker):
housegoeshome 
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