I'm not sure how I discovered that the Little River Band were playing the Home Hill Memorial Hall with special guest Warren Zevon, but it was probably through the Townsville Bulletin. Given LRB's profile it wasn't that difficult arranging a lift up, but I might have had difficulty persuading someone this Warren Zevon person was worth catching live if LRB hadn't been headlining.
As it was, we filled a van with assorted degenerates, and found ourselves in Home Hill around six thirty needing nourishment with no expectations about liquid refreshment once we'd caught a counter meal at the Malpass.
Once we were inside the hall someone noticed people heading in and out of an alcove on the other side of the hall bearing yellow cans that bore a remarkable resemblance to Queensland's preferred brand of beer. That was something that needed to be investigated, and we headed across fully expecting that the flow of liquid refreshment would be cut off once the concert started. That failed to happen when the support act hit the stage, and as his set finished, an inquiry directed at the bloke in charge produced the news that the bar would be open throughout proceedings.
We returned to the seats for the start of LRB's set with a shuttle service maintaining the flow of liquid, and while LRB were, as expected, quite polished the highlight was the half hour or so of Warren Zevon inserted into the middle of LRB.
I don't know what the Burdekin audience made of Mr Zevon, but a set that included his best known material including Excitable Boy, Roland, Reconsider Me and Lawyers, Guns And Money went down a treat with our crew which included a contingent of rugby players from the Bowen Mudcrabs, who knew how to party.
Needless to say I wasn't a well boy when it came to heading to work on the Friday morning.
I tried to persuade friends to catch Mr Zevon in Townsville on the tour that produced the Learning To Flinch live album, but a combination of Saturday golf commitments and my own cricket responsibilities effectively ruled that one out.
I didn't have the same difficulty a year or two later when Joe Cocker was playing Townsville. It was a midweek show, which would normally have ruled it out, but I was on long service leave to help out with the regional schoolboys' cricket side and the proprietors of the Frockatorium were amenable to providing transport so off we went.