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Scroll
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Bill,
Robbo (and Keaton), Mike and Daryl at the Debonairs
Chrissy luncheon - more on that to come..
(pic
Lia Robbo)
Another
year, another Chrissy card..
4.12.12 - I mouth
off a lot about Christmas, but it is a
good opportunity to kick back, crack a relaxant
of your choice and reflect on the human condition.
The band got together socially today at the Debonairs
Chrissy party and had the annual band shot taken
by Lisa Robbo (again) and here it is on the band's
Chrissy card. There's young Keaton Robbo providing
the human interest and there's the band looking
optimistically into the New Year. What lies ahead
for our intrepid grey gonads? Stay tuned in 2013
and find out.
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.See
I Play My Guitar guitar solo on YouTube
courtesy of Peter Carolan |
gig
report
Sat. 8.12.12 Lomond Hotel
A
spesh night at the Lomond
9.12.12 - The header's
misleading 'cause it's always a bit special
at the Lomond, but I get the impression from
resident piano player, Tony Hargreaves, that
it's just a little bit more special
each time we play there.
I feel the same really. I don't know if it
was just people getting into the Chrissy spirit,
but we sold lots of CDs - and with no prompting
from me, so the audience clearly enjoyed it
as much as we did. |
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1)
Alana's pleased to have got her licence 2)
The patient Dr Wazz and Jude Ocean |
gig
report
Wed. 5.12.12 Clifton Hill Hotel
Miss
Vicki - sure do!
6.12.12 - Next
year it'll be twenty years since Bill and
I played at the inaugural Wednesday night
acoustic sessions hosted by Rod Claringbould.
Then it was at The Victorian Hotel on Beaconsfield
Pde, but it's been at the Clifton Hill Hotel
for years now and Bill and I have remained
regular contributors. |
For some reason
we've not always felt comfortable at these
sessions, but last night things seemed to
fall into place. Mind you, the night began
inauspiciously with my not leaving home until
the very last second and then discovering
I'd left various items behind in the rush,
but as it turned out there weren't any dire
consequences - apart from neglecting my good
friends, Dr Wazz and Jude Ocean. (pic
2) On reflection I think Miss Vicki,
(the honourary sound engineer), has been the
missing piece in the puzzle - the sound last
night was spot on and that makes it so much
easier to stay focused. And then we're older,
of course..
Anyway, whatever the reason, the audience
seemed to be very happy with our part in the
evening's entertainment. Rodney tells me there's
going to be a 20th anniversary show in late
May next year - I hope Miss Vicki's in town.. |
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Jingle
bloody bells..
1)
The Robbos' family portrait - Keaton's already
got an attitude 2) David Pepperell and Wilbur
Wilde chatting
3)
Arch conspirators, Dom and Wilbur successfully
add to the confusion 4) Gloria and Jimmie
Sloggett say hullo
5)
Bill sulks as his vego dish finally arrives
- cold 6) Rob O'Toole told me all about his
recent trip to the States |
7)
Steve Romig goes soul-o.. |
The
Debonairs' Chrissy luncheon
5.12.12 - I generally
find the Debs' functions a little too noisy
for my taste, added to which is my embarrassing
tendency to forget everybody's names, but
the Chrissy one is a chance to get the band
together socially and pretend that it's a
dedicated Spectrum party - and get the band's
pic taken for the Chrissy card. Although we
were sitting as far away as possible it seemed
to be even noisier than usual for some reason
- just as well Keaton was wearing some very
becoming ear muffs while Steve Romig (pic
7) was doing his soulful thing.
It was good to see the family Robbos there
(pic 1) and Rosemary even turned
up in a dress bought especially for the occasion.
I think it was Daryl's first time.
Unfortunately the food was sub-standard and
Bill's vego meal (pic 5) didn't arrive
for a good half an hour after we'd eaten our
first course - and we'd all left before the
promised mud cake arrived. Well, I assume
it eventually arrived.
Anyway, it's all for a good cause (Support
Act) and we'll be back again next year.. |
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ASFD
- the greatest of all our albums? |
A
Strange Fantastic Dream now available on CD
Baby!
4.12.12 - We finally
ran out of the CDs a couple of weeks ago,
so I've now got Ariel's A Strange Fantastic
Dream album available as an mp3 download
on CD Baby. What does that mean exactly? Well,
simply go to the CDs
page and scroll down to the selection
of Ariel albums and click on the CD Baby link
and you'll be able to purchase the album,
or individual tracks for that matter, and
download them to your hard drive.
It's easy - and it's quite modern too. I know
there's still a significant demand for this
album, which is easily the most virtuosic
of all our recordings, mainly due to the sublime
guitar playing of Tim Gaze, and so I recommend
you pay CD Baby a visit and sample the quality
of the sound before you buy, if that's a concern.
I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
In the meantime, it's possible there'll be
some developments shortly in the area of distribution
and further back-catalogue releases, so stay
tuned.. |
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Harpist
Selwyn and Phill Raymond play more in hope
than in anger |
gig
report
Sat.
1.12.12 The Music Man Bendigo
A
quite splendid night in Bendigo
2.12.12 - I'd been reading
a report about the latest Rolling Stones'
concerts in London where The
Telegraph writer referred to the Stones
as 'cadavers' and so I was already feeling
a bit sensitive. We nearly always mention
that Bill and I have been playing together
for a long time (forty three years this year),
which means our audience is likely round the
same vintage as we are, and so when our host
Phill Raymond took the stage with his harp
player Selwyn (pic) and played a
set with virtually nobody in the room, we
started to think that maybe our luck had |
finally
run out and nobody might turn up at all..
We adjourned for a meal at The Hotel Shamrock,
an enormous gold-rush period edifice that
Bill had fancied as we drove into town, and
by the time we arrived back the other support,
The Old Buzzard Medicine Show, had thankfully
attracted a few more punters. (Before we started
playing I had a chat with former Vibrants'
guitarist Marc Leon who was playing some very
tasy licks and was making his SG sound uncannily
like an arch-top).
The hoped-for large crowd never eventuated,
but the room looked presentable enough and
they were a very enthusiastic bunch. For our
part we revelled in the excellent stage sound
(thank you Paul) and, with the audience's
encouragement, responded with a bravura trio
performance. Hooray!
It's a shame we won't get to play at the Australia
Day ceremony at Lake Weeroona next Australia
Day, but hopefully Phill will find a way to
get us back to Bendigo before too long. |
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