I checked out the first of two trailers that is available to view there, and it reminded me of all of those nights spent at The Tote, sweatin', stinkin', and gettin' drunk, all the while watching some of the best live rock music in town!
Oh the memories...
Sunday afternoon BBQ gigs, where the cover charge included a BBQ - snags in bread, with plenty of sauce, all washed down with lots of cold beer! Seeing TISM, Painter & Dockers, Cosmic Psychos, various incarnations of I Spit on Your Gravy, Bored, Hoodoo Gurus, The Huxton Creepers, Mr Floppy, Hoss, The Meanies, The Dirty Lovers, Powder Monkeys, even the Sacred Cowboys – there's just too many shows to name!
Stand out moments include :Roddy Rayda (of the Surfin' Caesars) leaping from the stage in an attempt to grab hold & then swing from the lighting rig (in a lost-in-the moment spontaneous rock 'n' roll act of abandon), but instead, bringing the whole thing down around him. The gig didn't stop, it just got darker! I recall the band completing their set illuminated by cigarette lighters & candles!
Or Mudhoney playing to a “Shhh! It's a Secret” crowd of wiped out rock pigs on a hot February night back in '91 or '92, blind drunk, and playing a punk rock karaoke set.
More recently, Kiwi freaks The D4 rockin' the house supported by a very early gig from The Spazzys – now that was an impressive show! I still recall the steam rising from Dion's slumped body, completely spent after the show, outside in the beer garden on that cold Winter's night!
Suffice it to say, if you're a fan of loud rock music, then The Tote has always been a one stop shop in Melbourne for you! With a great front bar crew, matched only by the best juke box in town, it was my mini-Mecca throughout the late eighties, the nineties, and to a lesser extent, into the 00's.
I can't wait to see this doco – for more details, check out :
http://www.myspace.com/thetotedoco or
http://www.myspace.com/thetotehotel
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