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Scroll
down to the start of the month |
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1)
One of the many posters on display 2) Ed Nimmervoll
strikes the pose and talks the talk at Storey Hall
Music, Melbourne and Me: 40 years of Mushroom
and Melbourne's Popular Music Culture
26.11.13 - The inflated
title says it all really.
The exhibition apparently 'developed
from research by RMIT's School of Media and Communication
into aspects of celebrity, nostalgia and popular
music culture',
which might explain the tack taken by
today's speakers, Dr Kipps Horn, Program Director
of RMIT's Bachelor of Arts (Music Industry) and
'our own' Ed Nimmervoll at the RMIT
Gallery, or Storey Hall (where Ed confided that
he saw his first live rock band). Not that I heard
every word over the thirty or so minutes they were
speaking - Storey Hall's acoustics were always questionable
- and that underscored the feeling I got that the
posters, videos, stageclothes and other artefacts
on show were somewhat hollow relics from a bygone
era.
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1)
Broc has a pleasant chat to one of the Carolan guests
2) Robbo plays an air chord while Mike sings Happy
Birthday
3)
Peter Carolan reads a special 60th birthday piece
to the family (plus Maria) which got Natalie adjusting
her hair..
gig
report
Sun. 24.11.13 Peter Carolan's 60th
Peter
Carolan's birthday party defies the odds
25.11.13 - The weather had
turned quite nasty as we left Mt Waverley for Forest
Hill so I was a bit concerned that Peter's birthday
BBQ by the pool might be washed out altogether,
but in the event the showers trailed away and by
the time we started playing it had decided to settle
down and be pleasant - and what little rain there
was would be successfully deflected by Peter's impromptu
awning over the band. Musically it was another good
run-through for Broc and as a special treat Peter's
daughter Natalie got up and sang Summertime
with us, which was very lovely despite the theme
being perhaps a little premature.
All in all it was a happy reunion though - Spectrum
played at Peter's 50th ten years ago and Bill and
I played at his 40th ten years before that. I don't
know if Elene is thinking about booking us for Pete's
70th, but we might have to celebrate it a few years
early if she wants me to be there..
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The
view from the artist's stool on a quiet Sunday
evening at The Vesbar in downtown Somerville -
then to dinner!
gig report
Sun. 17.11.13 Mike at The Vesbar Somerville
An
evening of quiet solitude at The Vesbar
18.11.13 - I squibbed on
my determination to debut Bill's Lottery song
at the 3MDR Big Gig the previous night, so I was
damned if I wasn't going to pull it off in the
relaxed surroundings of my Vesbar gig in Somerville
- and happily I did exactly that. It went well
too, so the next thing is to record a version
to go on the blues album that Bill helped record
before he died so suddenly.
As to my performance, there were less blemishes
overall and the Jam Man behaved itself for the
most part. As well as It's a Lottery
I debuted a solo version of John Lee Hooker's
Dimples, which I used to do with The
Chants way back when and which Spectrum's also
recorded for the blues album..
Bev and Leigh had invited Maria and me to join
them at the Indian restaurant after the show and
we had a smashing meal together. They are a generous
couple and I'm looking forward to working The
Vesbar again - maybe Bev will join me for a version
of Having a Wonderful Time..
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Catfish
Voodoo do do what they do so well - it's called
the blues kids.. |
gig
report
Sat.
16.11.13 3MDR fundraiser Emerald Hall
Sixties
back for 3MDR Big Gig
17.11.13 - I'm assuming it
was Catfish Voodoo on stage when we arrived and
they very much reminded me of a typical sixties'
band. Anyway, they were great and I didn't really
mind that they played into Spectrum's time by a
good ten minutes they were such fun. Finally it
was our turn and after opening the set with IBG
we followed suit with a totally blues set and
even though I shied away from trying Bill's Lottery
song I think we did OK - another notch in Broc's
belt. *
Some excellent pics from the show on Jovian
Projects FB page |
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| And
the Melbourne Cup goes to..
1)
Mike with the Sandman release of Ariel's last
concert 2) Ross Wilson fires up at the Way Out
West Roots Club
3)
Eric McCusker - the guitarists' guitarist 4) Ross
and The Peaceniks go for it at the Caravan Club
gig report
Fri.
1.11.13 - Mike with Ross Wilson at the Willy RSL
Sat. 2 & 3.11.13 Ross Wilson at the Catravan
Club
A
rockin' Cup Carnival weekend with Ross Wilson
4.11.13 - Before
I start I should mention that while at the Myeloma
Foundation Luncheon at the MCG on Friday, Ted
Lethborg of Sandman Records presented me (pic
1) with a couple of copies of Ariel's Aloha
and More From Before double CD (Ariel's
final 1977 concert at the Dallas Brooks Hall)
which I know quite a few people have been chasing
over the years. I shall get it in stock and put
it up on the CDs
page later this week. (It's up!)
I saw Ross Wilson at Bill's Last Gig back in August
and he invited me then to appear with him and
The Peaceniks at three gigs over this Spring Racing
Carnival encompassing the Willy RSL on Friday
and the two appearances at the Caravan Club on
Saturday and Sunday. At the time I thought the
invitation showed considerable solidarity which
is perhaps at odds with the public perception
of Ross as somewhat cool and detached. So, by
your actions you shall be known.
Anyway, last Thursday it all started to take shape
at the Deluxe rehearsal studios where I re-established
contact with Chris Paraha, Haydn Meggitt and Eric
McCusker and met keyboardist Colin Snape for the
first time. It was only after we'd played through
my modest list of songs I realised that a)
I'd forgotten that I'd parked in a one hour zone
and b) that the rehearsal was solely
about getting my songs together - I'd imagined
that the band had other things to run though as
well.
In fact, I didn't know the actual format of the
evening until after we'd sound checked at the
Willy RSL, where, incidentally, I was made to
feel very welcome by Rob and Wendy Rowe and fellow
Way Out West travellers. Unfortunately, duiring
my opening set there was an 'incident' with my
amp, (there's some sort of hoodoo at the Willy
RSL - that's not the first time I've had an amp
issue there), which meant I was quite uncomfortable
for the first three numbers, but fortunately that
was rectified when Ross joined us for Good
Mornin' Little Schoolgirl and the rest of
the set went OK.
The next night at the Caravan Club the on-stage
sound was noticeably tighter and my set seemed
to go over a little better and by yesterday arvo
everybody had relaxed and the crowd really got
involved - but of course that was the last of
the Rockin' Spring Carnival trio of gigs. As I
sat out in the audience with Maria and the Robbos
and Daz and Deb watching Ross' set I reflected
on our parallel careers over the last forty-six
(!) years and came to the conclusion that if it's
attitude that makes us 'old' then neither of us
is going to throw in the towel anytime soon. So
there.
* Check
out some pics by Glenn Bear on Facebook
and feedback from Andrew Smith on the Correspondence
page |
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