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cujoyRoad Kill: A Love Story - Part 1
This part of my OTRA Recap series covers Australia. But I'm going to preface this by briefly addressing the Sun article which was published last night. Basically, the infamous Dan Wooten published an article trashing 1D. He said that the boys all hate each other, and that they've been barely keeping it together since 2012. The article also specifically refutes Larry. So needless to say, there is massive drama and meltdown over it. I think there is truth to some of it, but that that it is also highly exaggerated for drama. Niall tweeted last night saying it was false. Whatever is the case, I think it was a dirty deal to publish that article the night before the final show. WHICH IS TONIGHT AHHHHHHHHH.
Moving on to the matter at hand, which is the tour recap...
The tour kicked off in Australia on Feb. 7
Let's start with the arrivals:
I already showed Harry and Louis at the baggage claim, so I won't readdress "Lairport".
Jan/Feb 2015 - Niall actually arrived weeks before the tour start, and had attended the Australian open tennis tournament and been papped many times. This would lead to the first drama of the tour, "NELLY". Oh, how innocent we were...
Feb 5, 2015 Liam arrived from Los Angeles where he and Louis had been on a song writing trip, and for Harry's 21st birthday party:
Feb 6, 2015 Zayn arrives from the UK after 22 hours of flying. He was looking fine.
Feb 6 – The Soundcheck for the first concert took place on Feb 6. The first official drama was that Niall was papped outside the venue with a mystery girl **Fandom Freakout** Even the Narry shippers lost their chill. (It didn't turn out to be much of anything. The girl's name is Melissa Whitelaw, and the ship name was "Nelly")
Feb 7 - Tour finally opens in Sydney – Fans express unhappiness about the setlist which is largely the same as WWA. The Boys did not tour Australia during the WWA in 2014, so apparently they thought that they wouldn't have to debut very many of the new songs from Four for the initial leg. They may have thought that Australian fans would still want to hear the older songs. (Perhaps also, the fact that there had been no tour rehearsal, as the boys were on different continents for much of the Winter break also played a part.) This issue would slowly resolve over the course of the tour as the boys very slowly added the Four songs to the setlist. If only this had been the biggest controversy of the tour.
On the bright side, Harry did, impress with his sparkly golden YSL boots.
And Liam danced with a Giant Spoon.
Feb 9 – Sydney Yacht Tour for Sophia’s 21st birthday. The photo added to the ongoing "Nelly" drama, as Melissa was one of the people pictured on the boat.
Feb 13 – Louis and Eleanor are photographed at Bondi Beach. These are their last photographs together, although we wouldn't learn that for over a month. There was lots of weird commentary at the time related to apparent bruises on Eleanor's legs and body shaming regarding how thin she appeared.
Feb 14 – Melbourne - A very drunk Louis and Liam return from partying at a casino in Melbourne. Louis was filmed saying “Same day, it’s pretty unfortunate, isn’t it.” to a fan who had mentioned that he shares a Christmas Eve birthday. The Larries “mishear” Louis' words, and take the opportunity to freak out about it. They claimed that he had actually said, "I'm gay, it's pretty unfortunate, isn't it." What else is new.
Feb 14 - Also Niall is seen partying with Harry. But more importantly, he is photographed making out with "mystery girl" at the back of the casino.
Feb 18 thru 20 – Zouis go to a holiday on Hamilton Island during the interval between the Adelaide and Perth shows. They almost don’t make it to Perth for the concert due to hurricane near the island which nearly prevented their flight. This was one of several occasions that one or both took last minute flights to reach a concert with minimal time to spare. (Note the photo below is from 2013, and is inserted for nostalgia purposes...)
Feb 20 – Perth: Zayn misses encore for the Perth concert. The others cover for him and say he is ill. But Louis and Zayn leave immediately after the concert to fly to Los Angeles, instead of Osaka Japan which is the next stop on the tour. This was the second time that OT4 performed without Zayn, even though it was just for an encore. I remember at the time thinking this was odd indeed. And indeed I think it was indicative of something big that was yet to come.
The next segment will cover Japan.
This part of my OTRA Recap series covers Australia. But I'm going to preface this by briefly addressing the Sun article which was published last night. Basically, the infamous Dan Wooten published an article trashing 1D. He said that the boys all hate each other, and that they've been barely keeping it together since 2012. The article also specifically refutes Larry. So needless to say, there is massive drama and meltdown over it. I think there is truth to some of it, but that that it is also highly exaggerated for drama. Niall tweeted last night saying it was false. Whatever is the case, I think it was a dirty deal to publish that article the night before the final show. WHICH IS TONIGHT AHHHHHHHHH.
Moving on to the matter at hand, which is the tour recap...
The tour kicked off in Australia on Feb. 7
Let's start with the arrivals:
I already showed Harry and Louis at the baggage claim, so I won't readdress "Lairport".
Jan/Feb 2015 - Niall actually arrived weeks before the tour start, and had attended the Australian open tennis tournament and been papped many times. This would lead to the first drama of the tour, "NELLY". Oh, how innocent we were...
Feb 5, 2015 Liam arrived from Los Angeles where he and Louis had been on a song writing trip, and for Harry's 21st birthday party:
Feb 6, 2015 Zayn arrives from the UK after 22 hours of flying. He was looking fine.
Feb 6 – The Soundcheck for the first concert took place on Feb 6. The first official drama was that Niall was papped outside the venue with a mystery girl **Fandom Freakout** Even the Narry shippers lost their chill. (It didn't turn out to be much of anything. The girl's name is Melissa Whitelaw, and the ship name was "Nelly")
Feb 7 - Tour finally opens in Sydney – Fans express unhappiness about the setlist which is largely the same as WWA. The Boys did not tour Australia during the WWA in 2014, so apparently they thought that they wouldn't have to debut very many of the new songs from Four for the initial leg. They may have thought that Australian fans would still want to hear the older songs. (Perhaps also, the fact that there had been no tour rehearsal, as the boys were on different continents for much of the Winter break also played a part.) This issue would slowly resolve over the course of the tour as the boys very slowly added the Four songs to the setlist. If only this had been the biggest controversy of the tour.
On the bright side, Harry did, impress with his sparkly golden YSL boots.
And Liam danced with a Giant Spoon.
Feb 9 – Sydney Yacht Tour for Sophia’s 21st birthday. The photo added to the ongoing "Nelly" drama, as Melissa was one of the people pictured on the boat.
Feb 13 – Louis and Eleanor are photographed at Bondi Beach. These are their last photographs together, although we wouldn't learn that for over a month. There was lots of weird commentary at the time related to apparent bruises on Eleanor's legs and body shaming regarding how thin she appeared.
Feb 14 – Melbourne - A very drunk Louis and Liam return from partying at a casino in Melbourne. Louis was filmed saying “Same day, it’s pretty unfortunate, isn’t it.” to a fan who had mentioned that he shares a Christmas Eve birthday. The Larries “mishear” Louis' words, and take the opportunity to freak out about it. They claimed that he had actually said, "I'm gay, it's pretty unfortunate, isn't it." What else is new.
Feb 14 - Also Niall is seen partying with Harry. But more importantly, he is photographed making out with "mystery girl" at the back of the casino.
Feb 18 thru 20 – Zouis go to a holiday on Hamilton Island during the interval between the Adelaide and Perth shows. They almost don’t make it to Perth for the concert due to hurricane near the island which nearly prevented their flight. This was one of several occasions that one or both took last minute flights to reach a concert with minimal time to spare. (Note the photo below is from 2013, and is inserted for nostalgia purposes...)
Feb 20 – Perth: Zayn misses encore for the Perth concert. The others cover for him and say he is ill. But Louis and Zayn leave immediately after the concert to fly to Los Angeles, instead of Osaka Japan which is the next stop on the tour. This was the second time that OT4 performed without Zayn, even though it was just for an encore. I remember at the time thinking this was odd indeed. And indeed I think it was indicative of something big that was yet to come.
The next segment will cover Japan.
