I’m standing in line at LAX, waiting to catch a flight to Brisbane. Behind me in the line is a pretty young Aussie girl and behind her, an old dude in a cowboy hat. The old dude in the cowboy hat is putting out a, “look at me, look at me” vibe and making a pathetic effort to chat up the pretty girl who is old enough to be his granddaughter. In an effort to rescue her from the agony, I insert myself into the conversation:
Me to Cowboy hat dude: “Are you travelling to Australia for a holiday?”
Cowboy hat dude: “I’m in a band. We are doing a show.”
Me: “Oh cool! What’s the name of your band?”
CHD: “Oh, it’s a secret. We are playing at something called, ‘A Day on the Green’ in Perth. Have you heard of it?”
Me: “Yeh, I have! That’s great. But you can’t tell me what you’re called?”
Him: “Nah, it’s kind of a big deal. We have to keep it a secret.”
Me: Scoffing, “It sounds like, “I’m in a band” is just a story you’re telling yourself. To be honest, I don’t really believe you.”
Him: “Well, that suits me just fine for you to think that.”
We both laugh awkwardly and the line starts moving and everyone is saved from the conversation.
But then we get on the plane and Cowboy Hat man is sitting behind me. Doh.
He tries to show me a film he has starred in. He has the DVD in his hand and is asking people if they have a computer with a disk drive. I begin to wonder if Cowboy Hat guy might actually legit be in a band.
We chat about the flight and how cramped we are. I start to notice there are a lot of big dudes with guitars getting on the flight. The guy in the cowboy hat sits with a native Indian man.
I decide to google them when I get to Brisbane.
16 hours later…
I sit in the Brisbane airport, sipping my Chai Latte and googling ‘A Day on the Green.’ Sister Sledge is a girl band so that’s not them. Marcia Hines is definitely a lady. I look up ‘KC and the Sunshine Band’ on Facebook and it’s not them either. The third band is ‘The Village People’. I find them on Facebook and my fellow travellers agree that the men in the Facebook photos are indeed the men from our flight.
We have a laugh that we took a flight with a Village People tribute band, and I comment that it’s no wonder he didn’t want to say who he was.
I leave them a message on their Facebook page:
Hey guys. I figured you out. Hope your connecting flight worked out okay. Enjoy your stay in our beautiful state. I’m saying a prayer for you right now that the jet lag isn’t too bad.
2 days later…
I get a slightly aggressive message from ‘The Official Village People’.
Turns out they have had a MASSIVE FEUD and the band has split in two. The FB page I wrote on was the half of the group who did not come to Australia. They wanted me to know that THEY were the Official Village People.
These tribute bands take themselves so seriously.
I decide to google it.
Turns out they are THE ACTUAL VILLAGE PEOPLE!!
Not even a tribute band.
The half who didn’t come to Australia want to know what flight I was on, and they want me to know for sure that the men on my flight are not the legit members.
Guys, I seem to have come in on a nasty fight between an iconic 70’s disco band members Felipe Rose (the American Indian) and frontman Victor Willis (the cop.)
Lol.
See:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/08/15/so-the-village-peoples-australian-tour-is-kinda-complicated_a_23077698/
