1) Deja Vu! Dreamboogie strut their stuff in Ocean Grove 2) Dirty Soul preceded the Spectrum set at the Driftwood Café
Spectrum sizzles at the Light of Day Winter Festival
Fri. 21.7.17 Spectrum at the Driftwood Café for the Light Of Day Winter Festival
22.7.17 - Back into the realityof a Victorian winter, plus a significant drive to reach the seaside township of Ocean Grove from Mt Evelyn through Melbourne's Friday night traffic. I'd left in plenty of time, so even after a three hour drive I was early enough for a casual check in at the Artists' reception, with time to nonchalantly eat some of the free nosh on offer as well as decant my gear into the silver caravan outside the Chicken Shop opposite the Driftwood Café where we were due to kick-off at 9.45. I was surprised to see Dreamboogie (pic 1) setting up at the Driftwood Café after running into them recently at the Humpty Doo Blues Festival. They sounded better in the small environment too, even though Robert Dillon (yes, the same Robert Dillon that played drums with The Heaters) confided to me that the fold-back sounded really woofy on stage. (It did too).
Dirty Soul (pic 2) was on next and I kinda liked them too, but I was glad I was wearing my ear plugs.
I'd had time to write a special Driftwood Café song list and I think the choice worked well enough, although I had a couple of tunes too many and we had barely enough time for The Song, followed as it was by a dynamic drum solo from five-year-old drum prodigy Keaton Robertson.
Then it was into the van for the drive back to Melbourne (via Queenscliff!) to tend to my injured partner Maria as best I can. Another couple of drives and Spectrum's annual commitment to the Light of Day cause is done and dusted for another year. See you at the Chicken Shop tonight!

1) The Giants play on their home turf at the Humpty Doo Blues Festival 2) Robbo, Broc, Daz, Peter Leslie, Martin Fisher and me at the Wharf
The Humpty Doo Blues Festival is alright with me
Sat. 8.7.17 Spectrum at the Humpty Doo Blues Festival
10.7.17 - What a terrible thing it is to be uprooted from a typical Melbourne winter's day and be put on a jet plane up the top of Australia and be subjected to pleasantly warm temperatures all day and all of the night - as well as get to play a set of your own music (and blues) with yer mates to a receptive Festival crowd! Even worse, you have enough down time to be taken by Peter Leslie (pic 2) an old mate of Broc and Robbo's into the township of Darwin to have a very pleasant lunch of Barra, salad and chips on the Wharf and meet a fellow Kiwi who is also a musician (and a lawyer) who has a predeliction for oysters and a passion for rugby amongst the other fine things of life. (Martin Fisher pic 2)
This exquisite torture was organised at the behest of The Giants' Stu Woods, who brought us up to the NT last year at about this time to play at the Blues Festival at the Noonamah pub, just down the road from this year's venue at the Humpty Doo pub. Stuart is a long term fan of Spectrum (and subsequent outfits) and is in a position to indulge his musical preferences from time to time and fellow old boy Matt Taylor and Spectrum are the grateful beneficiaries of his largesse.
Really the only slight inconvenience was the late night/early morning flights there and back (and Jetstar's recent imposition of a $25 - $50 charge for the carriage of guitars), but all the rest was just varying degrees of enjoyment.
Mind you, our drive to Darwin for lunch did feel like an escape of sorts. The airport was the closest I'd been to the township, so driving into the CBD was like all my Australasian Post memories coming to life. We met up with Martin Fisher at the wharf and sat down to a civilised meal and equally erudite conversation.
The Friday night had been light on for a crowd and Daryl's 'solo' set was played to practically nobody, but fortunately there was a respectable crowd on hand when Spectrum took the stage on Saturday night. Of course we were a little bit rusty, having not played at all since our SA trip in May, but there was enough good stuff to keep the punteres - and onlooking musos - ecstatically/reasonably happy.
We got back to a chilly Melbourne airport at 6.30am on Sunday morning, sadly missing the 'blues explosion' that Stu had planned to wind up the festival - and the unseasonable NT warmth.