When local band 12 Gold Bars announced a one-off gig with Quo's original drummer, John Coghlan, in Sydney, Lee had to be there and enlisted the company of a long-time Quo mate from Melbourne, Barcs. It was fairly short notice and the gig came about somewhat by accident during John's usual Christmas holiday in the sun (where he and his wife Gillie stay with Dayle Lancaster, wife of the late Quo bass player, Alan Lancaster).
It was a fairly early start on Saturday 11th January with Ky driving Lee out to Avalon airport for the flight up to Sydney. It was quiet on the roads and the trip was dispatched in fifty-odd minutes, leaving plenty of time. An unexpected upgrade to an exit row seat was a bonus but the announcement of a delayed flight was not such good news. The delay ended up being close to an hour and so the JetStar flight scheduled to leave at 10.25 was more like 11.30 before it was airborne. The flight made good time, though, landing into Sydney only about 30 minutes late. Barcs had decided not to wait for the late flight and had already headed into the city, so Lee jumped on the airport train to Museum station before walking the short distance to the Sydney Boulevard Hotel where Barcs was waiting. Although quite early, our room was ready so we dropped our bags, freshened up and quickly hit the town! It was a lovely sunny and warm afternoon as we walked towards the CBD and a thirst soon ensued, so we popped into the beautiful Porter House Hotel (where Barcs had stayed previously) for a cold one in their lovely bar. From there, we walked on a little further to The Occidental Hotel, where we'd seen a photo of John Coghlan next to a poster for Mountain Culture's Status Quo pale ale and so we obviously needed to mimic the same photo with us blokes in it instead! A cooling drink in the bar of this Art Deco pub went down well. With the afternoon wearing on, we decided it might be an idea to get some food so we caught the light rail down to Circular Quay and wandered into The Rocks. Lee's previous good experience at the Endeavour Tap Rooms led to a decent feed and nice cool drink in this pleasant (if very busy) part of the city. We then took an Uber back to the hotel to freshen up and don our Quo gear, before another short Uber ride got us to the venue for the night's shenanigans, The Bridge Hotel in Rozelle by 7pm. We met up with a few Quo friends there before a short Q&A session was held with John Coghlan to kick off proceedings. The gig itself was amazing, with "12 Gold Bars" faithfully reproducing the Quo sound and John guesting as drummer on seven songs across their two-part set. (For full details of the gig and more photos, see Lee's Access All Areas site.) A lengthy post-gig natter and very brief meeting with John closed out the night at the Bridge and we grabbed an Uber back to the hotel at about 12.30am. A great night with great company.
We made a slow start on Sunday after our big night out! The hotel buffet breakfast was very welcome (and a decent spread considering it was thrown in for free with our room), as was a late checkout at 11am. Wandering into the CBD, it was already very hot and sunny as we made it as far as iconic Red Eye Records to check out their Quo offerings. Just across the road, the beautiful Queen Victoria Building offered us respite from the heat and we enjoyed a leisurely coffee stop at Metropole. Catching the light rail down to Circular Quay, we walked as far as the usual harbour bridge and opera house views before ducking into Searock Grill for a very good lunch overlooking the harbour. Another light rail ride was brought to a premature end thanks to a protest march blocking city streets so we walked the rest of the way back to the hotel in the hot afternoon sun! Collecting our bags and walking back to St James station in Hyde Park, it was an easy train ride out to the Domestic airport by 4.15pm. We didn't have much time to kill before Barcs headed off for his 5.30pm Virgin flight, while Lee had longer to wait for his delayed JetStar flight, finally heading off at about 7.15 and landing in Avalon at 8.40pm. Ky was ready and waiting, an easy & quiet drive home seeing out the day.
Seeing John playing drums again was a privilege and likely the last time this will happen on Australian soil given his deteriorating health. The gig was amazing and it was great to catch up with good Quo friends there. Sharing the experience - and weekend away - with Barcs was a pleasure, such an easy travelling companion!