Well it sure was a long wait, but for Vanessa it was certainly worth it! I knew going in that was only going to be a short performance, but I had no idea of the surprises in store for me…
Vee and Me went to the city at about 12:15. It wasn't until about 5 that we actually waited at the Sea Baths (where Soul Mama's is located in St Kilda). We waited out the front of the Sea Baths.
We started playing tricks on each other saying, 'There's Vanessa!' Or 'There's Jack'. Suddenly a car pulled up. Without even looking I said, 'There's Jack'. To my surprise it actually was! It got rather cold. I decided to go inside while Vee elected to stay outside. It proved to be her mistake. I was just lazing about when I saw a girl smartly dressed walking to the restaurant. It wasn't until she passed by that I actually realized it was Vanessa! I was too shocked to say anything to her and also, she'd already passed by me and I didn't want to delay her.
Later Marcel and Paul came by and talked to us briefly. I got rather bored (and cold) waiting in the courtyard. Either the security was slack or they thought I was part of the act, because I had no trouble getting right up to the restaurant to see her do her sound-check. Vee joined me. We were lucky to hear her sing, 'Back In Love'. While she was singing, she said, 'Jack, do we have to do this song?' in her singing voice, making the whole restaurant laugh. Andrew (standupmono) and Lisa (askme) soon joined us. As she left, Andrew suggested getting a photo of all us together. Andrew caught up to her. He asked her and she agreed. Comedian, Anthony Menchetti took the photos (my one did not turn out as good as I hoped and as usual, I looked like an idiot). Click here to see Andy's copy and my copy.
After a LONG night of entertainers (although the comedians were quite good) Vanessa came on stage. Her first song was, 'Back In Love'. I was rather calm than my usual self and this being a restaurant, I didn't scream out or anything, concentrating on taking as much photos as I could. Her second song was, 'Shine'. I don't care how many times you hear that song, it never fails to touch you deeply.
Then she sang my most favorite song of all time, 'Tent By The Sea'. Ever since I've seen her performing live I've been DYING to hear her perform that. She sang it so beautifully and it was very moving. Her last song was, 'Have A Look'. After she went to get off, but the organizers made her pose for a few photos. I got a photo of her as she walked off stage. Then I quickly asked Jack if I could get a photo. He called Vanessa back and she posed for a photo. Unfortunately he took it rather quickly and I looked even worse in it that I did in my original photo with her (if that's possible). Marcel and Paul happily posed for pictures.
After saying goodbye to Jack, we went to the parking pay machine. Vanessa came up. We convinced her to pose for one last photo with Paul and Marcel. It turned out to be the nicest photo I took of her since the Mercury Lounge concert. Then we said goodbye and watched her leave.
Although this was by far the shortest Vanessa performance so far, this was the closest I'd got to Vanessa so far. It was well worth the fifty dollars we paid to go there.
Go to photo galleries 85-88 to see the pictures from there!
Click Here to see my fifth Vanessa encounter!
