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Scroll
down to the start of the month |
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| St
Annies rocks again..
1)
People actually up dancing - and not all of them
Scallops either! 2) Chris watches his dad from
the wings
gig
report
Sun. 29.9.13 St Andrews Hotel
St
Andrews welcomes Spectrum home
30.9.13 - Funnily
enough I had absolutely no feelings of apprehension
about Spectrum's first gig with new bassist, Broc
O'Connor. I guess the couple of run-throughs at
home with Broc had convinced me that he knew what
he was doing and so it was simply a case of turning
up and doing it in front of an audience. As for
the size of that audience, you never can tell
the day after GF day, but in the event plenty
of Spectrum's St Andrews' regulars turned up and
made the arvo another typical Spectrum celebration.
My son Chris came along with us (pic 2) and
sat with the Sellers', the Robbos and Broc's lady
Kathleen and watched the band - the Scallops even
prevailed on Maria to get up and join the dancing
late in the afternoon. (pic 1) There
were plenty of friends there besides the Scallops;
Peter Carolan and Bob, Barry and Claire Murnane,
Peter Dacy and the beautiful Julie with son Jack,
Neil Clark, Aaron Schembri, Michael Granat and
many more - Bill's partner Rosemary put in an
appearance too which was pretty special.
Cameron was more than happy with the crowd and
enjoyed the band as well, so it was a grand debut
for Broc.
I
don't know if you've seen this, but in case you
haven't, check out this Madder
Lake track from their new World CD.
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1)
Dan Hall delivers a typically smooth set 2) Nick
Charles shows me how a guitar should be played
3)
Mike and Ross Hannaford on stage at the Clifton
Hill 4) What it's all about - the double album of
the gig
gig
report
Wed.
25.9.13 20th Anniversary Acoustic Sessions Clifton
Hill
20th
anniversary show goes and goes..
26.9.13 - If you were
to ask him, Rod Claringbould would tell you candidly
that many of his Wednesday night Acoustic Sessions
over the years at the Clifton Hill Hotel have been
poorly patronised, which makes his tenacity in keeping
them running for more than two decades all the more
laudable. Last night's 20th anniversary show was
remarkable for the near-capacity crowd but it was
also special because it marked the release of The
Long Run double CD featuring most of the musicians
who have played the Sessions over the twenty years
- and for the completion of the refurbishments at
the pub which have seen the Sessions temporarily
relocated to The Quiet Man for the last few months..
Maria and I arrived shortly after 7.30 and had time
to check out the refurbishments before Dan Hall,
(pic 1) with Miss Vicky driving the new
Ray Moon-mystifying digital PA, opened the evening's
musical proceedings. Dan finished off his typically
ultra-smooth set accompanied on stage by his mum
and dad, which was a nice touch - but not the last
odd coupling of the evening.
Then it was my turn. (pic 3) Thankfully
my voice was pretty much under control but there
were a couple of guitar blemishes I had to swallow
along the way - luckily they were forgotten or at
least forgiven when Ross Hannaford, (looking sensational
in an orange American corrections facility outfit),
joined me for the last three numbers of the set,
after which the dutifully attentive audience gave
us a wonderfully warm ovation.
Nick Charles (pic 2) was up next with his
teeth-gnashingly impeccable finger-picking stylings
and I got to chat to Wayne Duncan at the bar where
Hanna was already swaying happily with a scotch
in hand. I got a G&T and my freebie album and
said hullo to Brod Smith before I decided it was
time we left.
It had cooled appreciably and was raining and I
was half way back to the van when Heather screeched
at me from across the road that I hadn't even said
goodbye - and so I rushed back and gave her a birthday
hug. The Scallops were all there and I think they'll
be there again this Sunday arvo at the St Andrews
pub to see the first New Seekers - sorry, new Spectrum
gig |
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Broc
is relieved not to be sepia and Robbo is just relieved
he's relieved.. |
Broc
on track for St Annies..
25.9.13
- Still smarting from being
pictured last week in sepia and wearing
specs, Broc rolled up with a new bass guitar last
night to have a run through what's left of the repertoire
with Robbo. (pic) I guess it's coming along
OK - we'll only find out when we actually take to
the St Andrews stage on Sunday arvo.
In the meantime I've got a solo spot at the Clifton
Hill Hotel tonight with Acoustic Sessions' veterans
Brod Smith with Shane Bourne, Jimi Hocking, Nick
Charles, Dan Hall and Ross Hannaford. Hooray!
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Frog
and Mike hang out in front of Songland Records |
Unplanned
meeting in the ACT to pay off
20.9.13 - Maria and
I popped up to Canberra on Monday to pick up some
of Maria's things and say hi to her parents. While
I was there I got a message on Facebook that Frog
from Songland Records was trying to get hold of
me - in the nicest possible way, of course! So on
Wednesday we headed out to Songland
Records in Weston Creek and met up with Frog
(he insists on being referred to as Frog) and had
a long chat over a cup of tea and the shortest of
shortbreads. It's always nice to meet someone that's
enthusiatic and knowledgeable about music and records
and Frog is at the high end of both scales. He believes
there's a market for 'heritage' acts and his thriving
record shop is eveidence of that. Maybe we'll link
up in future? |
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1)
Broc O'Connor gets down and brown on the bottom
end 2) Bo Jenkins chats to party host, Leigh Fraser
Broc
O'Connor to play bass for Spectrum and a party at
the Vesbar
7.9.13 - First things first
- with Dirk Dubois unable to become a permanent
replacement, Broc O'Connor (pic 1) has
agreed to pick up the vacant bass guitar position
in Spectrum. Broc has played in bands such as Kevin
McLaughlin and the Murrumbidgee Orchestra in Canberra
back in the '70s and Dear Enemy in the '80s and
has had a longer on-going musical collaboration
with our old mate Ross Ryan. (Read the full
Broc
O'Connor bio)
Maria and I cast our votes today (don't blame me)
before picking up Chris and heading down to Somerville
to join in the afternoon party celebrating The Vesbar's
co-owner Leigh Fraser's 'retirement'. We ran into
his partner Beverly dispensing pizza pieces on the
way in and she said that Leigh was down the other
end of the room talking to somebody or other - who
turned out to be none other than Bo Jenkins (pic
2) We chatted about kookaburras mostly, but
Bo offered to join me on guitar at the Vesbar sometime,
which sounds like a very fine idea.. |
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