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down to the start of the month |
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1st
BASE - Mike, George Butrumlis and Jeremy Alsop |
1st
BASE ready to stroll
27.5.16 - The Spectrum/Ariel
band rehearsals, with special guest Glyn Mason,
have taken up most of my time recently, but in a
parallel universe Mike Rudd's 1st BASE has quietly
been coming to grips with the ins-and-outs of my
oeuvre.
I've had my eye on bassist Jeremy Alsop and piano
accordionist George Butrumlis for quite a while,
but it was the recent solo gig I did at the Adelaide
Fringe that precipitated some phone calls to see
if the pair was interested in joining forces with
me for this one special gig - with the possibility
of more in the future.
The combination of guitar, accordion and upright
bass sounds gorgeous and we're all excited. Hooray!
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1)
Champs lets the 'prog rock' Rudd loose at The Lomond
2) Marg Sellers and Jude Ocean were bystanders
gig
report
Sun.
15.5.16 Mike with the Useful Members at The Lomond
Mike's
identity crisis at The Lomond
16.5.16 - Just when I was getting
comfortable with being a Cool Rockin' Daddy with
Greg Champion and the chaps, I rolled up to the
Lomond last night to find that I'd transmogrified
into a Useful Member of Society! Thankfully the
difference was negligible and I actually remembered
quite a bit of what I was supposed to be playing.
Marg (pic 2) shouted me a G&T and Wayne
(Duncan) wangled me a free meal - I could get used
to this sideman business! |
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Mike
sings mostly to himself |
gig
report
Sun.
8.5.16 Mike at Winelarder
Mothers
Day mayhem at Winelarder
9.5.16 - At just before 4.00
I thought it might be a good idea to warm my voice
up and reacquaint myself with the solo set. I'd
hardly got started when Maria barged into the room
looking quite alarmed and informed me that the gig
was advertised on the Winelarder website starting
at 5.00 rather than the 6.00 I'd been leading people
to believe on FB and this website.
We managed to arrive at Brighton ar a respectable
4.45 and I was underway by the time that people
started to drift in, amongst them an old friend
I haven't seen in ages, Judy Adshead. The Drs Sellers
arrived at 6.00 and Warren just had time to take
a couple of pics. (pic)
The four of us ate a scrumptious consolation meal
over the road at 10 Greek Plates before
heading home for a nice cup of tea. |
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Spectrum
playing the blues in a wash of blue in Warby (MG) |
gig
report
Sat.
7.5.16 The WHO Club Warburton
A
diverting night in Warby
8.5.16 - Maria to took the
call from concerned club owner cum sound
engineer Freddie Abela when we were five minutes
away from The WHO Club in Warburton, but we managed
to get set up in time for the advertised 8.30 start
nonetheless. The observant and technically-minded
might've noticed that I've changed my set-up to
take account of my unbalanced hearing, and the new
disposition actually made the small stage seem fractionally
roomier than our last show there.
Anyway, the stage sound was pretty good and the
crowd on-hand seemed to appreciate the noise we
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were producing
and demanded I open up the CDs box and get the band
to sign CDs and posters at the end of the night.
Local identity Robbie Laister played me his 'anagram'
of Jamaican Farewell between sets (I liked
it) outside the club where the air was pungent with
the smell of dope - Warby's that kind of place.
There was also quite a bit of love in the air but
nobody picked up on my FB suggestion to wear flowers
in their hair. Scott McKenzie would've been disappointed. |
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Addlebrain
oh Addlebrain..
1)
Daz in a hat takes a lead break at the Semaphore
2) Geoff Haines has a chat with Mike at the Barristers
Block |
3)
Spectrum at the Christies Beach RSL in Port Noarlunga
on Sunday arvo* |
gig
report
Fri.
29th Semaphore Workers Sat.30th Barristers Block
Sun. 1st Christies Beach RSL
Spectrum
returns to SA
5.5.16 - After a nearly two
month break, including a holiday in NZ, I jumped
into the van with Broc and we headed to Adelaide
and the prospect of three quite juicy gigs. Robbo
and Daz arrived safely by air on Friday and we set
off to the Semaphore Workers Club full of good cheer
- until I remembered I'd left the song list back
at the accommodation. |
That was
nothing to my dismay when I found that my voice
was way out of match practice, disappearing and
reappearing in erratic yodels - and this was just
at the sound check! Despite this quite major deficit
I managed to get through the night - with nothing
to spare - and the slightly smaller crowd than usual
(we usually play the Sunday evening there rather
than Friday night) seemed unconcerned at the diminished
vocals. I hoped for better the next afternoon.
The Saturday was a glorious day weather-wise, which,
as we were playing al fresco, was a marvellous
omen. The venue was the Barristers Block winery
in Woodside, about forty-five minutes from town
in an area infested with wineries. I'd been there
earlier in the summer to help celebrate Tim Seal's
birthday so I was familiar with the lay-out and
aware how crucial good weather would be.
We were made very welcome by Martin Philcox, who
with his wife Kerry had organised the gig for SA
Variety and who introduced us to the winery's MD,
Jan Siemelink-Allen, who in turn organised our delicious
pies and pizzas before we set-up our equipment.
So far, so good. But as soon as we started playing
I knew I was in for another croaky day. Bugger.
I suppose this might've contributed to my next memory
lapse, because we were just about to start packing
up at the end of the day when I was approached by
Monica Hart, who wondered if we were going to play
Some Good Advice for her partner Geoff
Haines (pic 2) as I had agreed per
email before I left for SA.
I was able to rally the troops for one more effort
- and happily the rendition of Advice turned
out to be pretty special with the crowd all up on
their feet and partying like it was 1999.
The weather had well and truly turned the next day,
but it didn't really matter because we were playing
in the cosy confines of the Christies Beach RSL,
where the lambs fries and porterhouse steaks are
as cheap as chips and taste like they've tasted
at RSL's since time immemorial. My voice failed
to turn up again but nobody seemed to care and we
sold nearly all our CDs and probably would've sold
the lot had I cared to mention them to anybody.
All in all it was a typical SA trip and Daz and
I drove home into the teeth of an icy southerly
feeling tired but happy. I've learnt my lesson though
and I'm warming up my voice for this coming weekend
even as I write this.
*
(pic 1) Stephen Von Der Borch (pic 2) Monica Hart
(pic 3) Sam Pickering |
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