Mike Rudd's mobile Stop Press

Mike Rudd's
Stop Press
April issue #184

gig report - The Indelibles at the Pirates Tavern 5.4.19

The Chicken Shop in Ocean Grove sort of keeps the nautical theme rolling for The Indelibles 27.4.19

Looks like we're playing 'The Song' again (Deb Roberts)

The Chicken Shop makes The Indelibles feel welcome
28.4.19 - The always affable Broc O’Connor, Indelibles’ bass player and close-ish neighbour (in nearby Seville), kindly offered to chauffeur me the two-hours plus drive from Mt Evelyn to Ocean Grove, tucked away as it is deep in the Bellarine Peninsula, so that was nice change.
Keyboardist and inveterate surfer boy Daryl was already there when we arrived and almost set up in the unnaturally brightly lit Chicken Shop and there was oodles of seating optimistically arranged around the shop window space that doubles as a stage area. Given that we'd only had twenty-plus bookings till that stage I decided to put my head down and make sure I was set up properly rather than fret about numbers.
There was a tall, very slim young man with shoulder length blond hair and a not totally convincing '70s’ model moustache setting up the fold-back. He might've been eighteen. His name was Alex. I had a chat to him later in the evening and it turns out he’s a drummer in a local band called ‘Hours’ who have just made a recording in Geelong that Alex seems pretty happy about. I was moved to recount a couple of fun facts from my own career, but I soon detected that Alex was struggling with its relevance to his world.
I had a more in-depth chat with Mark O'Neill, a Connecticut Yankee who hosts the Raised on Rock show on Pulse FM and who generously spruiked the life out of our Chicken Shop show. He was at the Spectrum/Madder Lake Double Bill shows in Warrnambool and Geelong and really enjoyed the shows, saying that he felt like he was catching up on the exciting stuff that he missed out on in the '70s.
My recent technological battles on stage returned to irritate me, but I'd sorted most of it out by the second set and was actually enjoying the noise I was making.
In fact, the entire audience seemed to be enjoying themselves quite a lot given the response and by the last set we had quite a few up dancing and yelling - I noticed that even David Hughes, the venue's owner, was bopping away with a big smile behind the counter.
I had the luxury of almost falling asleep on the way home thanks to Uber Broc's generous offer and we got home at a sensible 2.00. Looking forward the next gig in Ocean Grove already!

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The Pirates Tavern welcomes the Indelibles back to the Williamstown docks 5.4.19

Daz frantically tries to fix his EQ - the only pic I took..

Something fishy in Davey Jones' locker
12.4.19 - I had a clear run to the gig and Maria had put some of her lentil soup into the trusty Stanley thermos flask, so I thought I might be in the clear for a change. But no - when I looked at the stage once we were all set up I realised that I'd neglected to bring our mic stands! Maurice was none too pleased that he had to 'go upstairs' and retrieve a couple of his own stands, but had mellowed sufficiently by the second set to allow me a complimentary G&T.
Daz had a spot of bother too - his equaliser packed it in (pic) and despite his best efforts he was unable to repair it. I thought it sounded fine from my side of the stage, but he wasn't very comfortable with it.
I included Strange Brew and Worm-Turning Blues for something different, but otherwise it was a pretty standard Indelibles' night, although, I can't remember which number it was, but Robbo finished off with a signature flourish I thought I recognised. 'Hey Robbo, you just played a Keaton ending!' Robbo looked surprised and said, 'Wow! I'm ripping off my own son!'
The crowd was down on last time but I didn't take it to heart. CBD dwellers Dave and Maree rolled up as well as locals Greg and Joanne Blunt. Wendy Rowe wasn't taking pics but told me about some of Rob's adventures in New Orleans. It's quality that counts in the end..

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