Fourteen years ago today, we are in Brisbane, performing at the Livid Festival. Lou Reed is headlining our stage, and I get to watch from an ideal vantage point: directly behind the guy scrolling his Teleprompter. (Will you believe me if I claim that the final words on it are GOOD NIGHT?) Afterwards, Mark Luecke and I head to the main stage for The Cure, then despite a 4 a.m. lobby call for our flight to Japan, we decide to check out the aftershow doings. I get back to my hotel room, shower, and put on the tv, figuring it’s too late for sleep. Mark apparently feels differently, or so we surmise when an hour or so later all of us except him are downstairs, ready to go. We call his room but the phone doesn’t wake him up; neither does pounding on the door. It’s not easy, but we finally convince the hotel to unlock his door so we can wake him. If only all festivals were that entertaining.
