Memories from a corner of Sydney
- Brett Moorgas
- May 10, 2020
- 4 min read
Firstly, the wine
So, thanks for the feedback and the suggestions on other wines from the Apple Isle. I will sure to follow up those suggestions and I was also quite happy to find out other fans of Devil's Corner.
So this one I picked up for two reasons; one it was a Shiraz less than $20 and two, the label. When I saw that the I Am George Shiraz 2017 is from the Langhorne Creek region in South Australia, the chances that it would be drinkable were good. Thankfully, I wasn't wrong. It isn't a huge or peppery Shiraz but rather more fruit forward and as such easy drinking. Easy drinking isn't a bad thing either as this isolation thing leads to perhaps a bit more mid-week drinking than what was usually the case. That and because of the style and the age, you can drink it on it's own rather than with food. As was the case with the Devil's Corner, I will be back for more.
So something appeared on my Twitter feed last week which led me down another path of nostalgia. It was an article about the opening of the Sydney Entertainment Centre on May 1, 1983.
At a cost of $41m, Sydney's newest venue for concerts & other related spectaculars was opened with an opening night extravaganza which was broadcast live on national TV. I distinctly remember watching it on a Sunday night and the ever lasting memory was seeing Bert Newton riding an elephant around what would colloquially be called 'the dance floor' of the venue. (And you knew it was a big deal in the 1980's if Bert was hosting it!).
From then on, the Sydney Entertainment Centre was the focal point of any big show, concert or event as I grew up in Sydney. For Sydneysiders, it took over the mantle of Sydney Stadium and the Hordern Pavilion as the place where the 'big names' played.
That was the case until it was demolished in 2016. And I think for many of my vintage, it holds a special place in our hearts as the place where you saw your first 'big' concert.
That said, it was a truly multi-purpose venue illustrated by the first time I went there...to see a yacht! Australia II had won the America's Cup and our world beating twelve metre yacht was on triumphant display for all the public to pay homage. You could walk around the boat and see close hand the winged keel that helped unbolt the Cup away from the New York Yacht Club. Or you could just sit in the new comfy seats and wonder in it's glory.
After that, there were many, many visits to the 'Ent Cent' for concerts and sporting events. They thought of everything when they designed it. It had a Macca's for that pre or post show meal (not that you could ever get a seat though). It also had a Ticketek which was important as that was where you lined up overnight when tickets went on sale for that big artist. They even built a stop for the monorail just outside it (remember when Sydney had a monorail???)
Thinking about the Sydney Entertainment Centre brought back so many memories for me.
The excitement of catching the train or ride into the city with friends knowing you were seeing a big concert. That and the thrill if you had tickets on the dance floor as opposed to getting a nose bleed from the seats in the 'second tier'.
Seeing great artists and bands such as INXS, Midnight Oil, U2, Phil Collins, John Farnham, Eurythmics, Matchbox Twenty, Paul Simon and others.
A day time session of The Australian Indoor Tennis tournament with my uni friends (it was literally around the corner from our campus). One of the more funnier days spent at the tennis.
I got to see a Beatle in real life. Paul McCartney played there in the 1990's and I remember how surreal it was to see the actual person whose vocals I had been listening to for years.
When it transformed itself to 'The Kingdome' for the local Sydney Kings basketball team; especially in the heyday of the NBL from the mid 1980s to the mid 1990's. It was also where I experienced my first taste of corporate hospitality as the company I was working for at the time had a courtside box. Some say I haven't looked back since.
Going there to watch the NSW Schools Spectacular for many years (as my wife was one of the teachers who choreographed the students)...and equally as memorable, the resulting waiting and queuing as you exited the carpark next door.
Heading to the final concert there as Elton John closed it out in December 2015, after playing there a record 46 times since it opened.
I have no doubt that there is/was a similar venue in everyone's hometown but this was mine. It is now replaced by apartments which is sad in a way but not a complete surprise these days. For me though, whenever I go past there it will always stay in my memories forever as the Sydney Entertainment Centre.
Probably the same for many others too.
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