Pearl Jam played in Sydney last night. The temperature topped at over 41, and the promised afternoon cool change / thunderstorm completely failed to happen. I got there very early and secured a good spot about 15m back from the stage, and not too far to one side. Made it through the support acts, but the heat started really getting to me and I was fading fast towards the end of Pearl Jam's first set. Just before they took a break I tapped out and headed towards the back of the field.

Not quite sure where I went wrong - was drinking plenty of water. Maybe I hadn't eaten enough. Or maybe I'm just getting old. But a little while later one of the guards found me crashed out against a barrier trying to stay awake, or at least not be sick, and walked me over to the first aid tent. They told me I was suffering from heat exhaustion, gave me a fresh water bottle and some cool grass to lie on. I picked up snatches of the two encores, but most of it was a bit of a blur.

What I do remember of the show was fantastic. Liam Finn played a set that was much better than I was expecting. He's a very enthusiastic lad, with the world's most phallic theremin. I'm probably going to pick up his album this week.

I haven't listened to much Ben Harper before, but I was looking forward to seeing him, and wasn't disappointed. Very cruisy and enjoyable music, and he thoughtfully included both of his songs I know. As in the other shows they've played in Australia, Eddie Vedder came out to sing a cover of Under Pressure. I think I agree with sun_dress - that song doesn't really suit Vedder. But Ben Harper should sing it more often, and it was still very entertaining.

Pearl Jam, as always, were fantastic. Not quite as energetic and enthusiastic as the last time I saw them (at the Acer Arena in 2006 - the most amazing concert ever), but I can forgive that seeing as Vedder apparently picked up flu in Melbourne, and as previously mentioned it was still really fucking hot. The set list was an interesting mix of old and new, the big hits and a lot of the less common. I was very happy to hear a lot of my personal favourites - Unthought Known, MFC, Elderly Woman, as well as live favourites like Cordoruy and Even Flow. I'm sad that State of Love and Trust took place while I was too out of it to stand. Apparently I also missed Eddie Vedder doing one of his favourite covers, Throw Your Arms Around Me, with Liam Finn. That would have been pretty awesome.

And that was it, really. After the show I had a minor ordeal trying to find my friends - I was slightly lost and walking too fast made me throw up. sun_dress performed minor miracles ensuring that I would be able to stock up on isotonic drinks, and I managed to bump in to an old friend from Yass while doing so. Next time I see her I hope to have something more insightful to say than "urr".

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I'm no fan of temperatures above 40℃ but I've nevertheless done some formidably silly things on very hot days. Scuba diving on a day that reached 45℃, for example, involving spending at least half an hour in direct morning sun wearing a wetsuit that I bought to keep me warm-ish diving in winter. The next best effort was a planned picnic and exploration of Melbourne, which Andrew and I persisted with as the temperature zoomed towards 43℃.

So I was a little overly dismayed to get back from Melbourne last night and discover that Sydney was forecast to sit under a 41℃ blanket today. I don't know quite what I was envisaging, but it wasn't coping. Once I had a plan I did rather better. Andrew was dispatched at 10am (when it was already about 35℃ I think) to make sure we had food and icy poles in the house. For once in our lives we remembered that we had a fan and that computers turn off. And then we sat in the darkened house. I debated for a long time whether or not to take myself to the pool, but it was the right decision, even if at 5:30pm, which was only just after the peak temperature readings, my head kept getting hot if it wasn't submerged and my hair kept drying off.

We were in Melbourne in order to use a flight voucher we had due to not taking a flight associated with our Hobart trip in January. This was false economy after the change fee, but there we go. We booked a mystery hotel for two nights, which didn't have a lot to recommend it except location. I managed to slip in the shower on the slip safety mat, and the bathroom was also so small that I hit my head on the shower wall at 3am while bending over slightly, and not intending to be anywhere near the shower.

Andrew explained in what I thought was an overly pleased fashion the next morning that he can now evaluate me howling at 3am on a case-by-case basis and had decided that those particular howls were not enough to merit getting out of bed for.

I will train the baby to bite him.

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Originally posted at http://puzzling.org/logs/diary/2009/November/22/20091122