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Good
news, bad news.. Wild
Thyme cancelled
3.2.06 - The good news is that I'm leaving January's
Stop Press up for one more day. The bad news is that one of
our advertised gigs for this month has been cancelled at the
last minute. We were to be playing one of our favourite haunts
in Warburton today week (Fri. 10), namely the Wild Thyme Café,
but the good news is that now we're playing there on Sat. April
15th instead. We'll speak.. |
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1)
The White Stripes (honest!) strut their stuff in front of a
big crowd at the Big Day Out night.. |
So, I've
got sunburn.. |
Mike
and Robbo sample a Big Day Out
30.1.06 - Some of you may recall my getting
together with White Stripes tour manager, John Baker, round
this time last year. (Or was it the year before?) Anyhow, I
picked up a call from John on my answering machine on Saturday
night, saying that he was leaving me a couple of passes to the
BDO performance of the Whites on Sunday evening, and that the
passes would enable me to get back stage and perhaps meet the
band or even some NZ contemporaries of mine (like Dave Orams!)
that John had managed to contact.
I knew that even though he was working in Eltham till 6.45,
Robbo would be keen to have a look, so he duly arrived at my
place and we hurtled off together in the van to Princes Park
.
We got to the main stages as Iggy Pop and the Stooges were mystifying
most of the kids as to why the fuck he was on the bill, while
producing the kind of sound that can disfigure the sensitive
for life, so we wandered round some of the other |
adjacent enormous marquees and checked
out some of the other acts while we waited for the Whites to
appear.
We recognised Cog from the time we were in Sydney on the LWTTT
tour, and even though their sound wasn't subject to the vagaries
of the breezes swirling outside, it just wasn't as impressive
as I remembered them being at the Golf Club.
We'd tried to get back stage, but the security guys wouldn't
have a bar of it, so we were condemned to watch the Whites from
near the back of large, (and getting larger by the minute),
crowd of White Stripes fans, which meant the sound was going
to be there one minute, gone the next. What the heck, we could
still see OK.
And then they hit the stage. All two of them. The initial impression
is that three of the band got killed in a bus accident on the
way to the gig, and the remaining two decided to do the gig
anyway, but once you get over that, you have to admire the intelligence
and discipline that turns, what for anyone else would be a severe
limitation, into a logistical and artistic triumph. Well, close
enough anyway.
Jack made pointed reference to Meg being his sister, whereas
I noticed The Age categorically stated she was his ex-wife,
and it's this kind of deliberate 'them and us' tilted obfuscation
that shows how much Jack is in charge. He's chosen his patch,
he's chosen who populates his patch, and he's filled in all
the detail in his own red, black and white hand. 'Now judge
me by my own terms', he demands of his critics, and by his own
terms, Jack White is irrefutably the best Jack White there could
possibly be.
Is that all there is? Well, that's all our four legs could handle,
so Robbo and I trudged off with the other antelopes to get home
just in time for the end of the tennis, and the cricket. The
BDO is based on generational deception, so it's got a few more
years to go I would guess, but it's certainly not the best way
to see your favourite band. Being a curate's egg kinda guy,
I guess you could be exposed to some music at BDO that you mightn't
have otherwise seen or heard. God forbid, Iggy Pop might've
even collected a couple of new fans.. |
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Happy
hungry punters crowd the food bar at Fresh @ Elwood |
Fresh
comes to life
29.1.06 - It actually hasn't been a problem
that there haven't been large numbers of people coming to my
solo gigs at Fresh - I needed some time to work myself out,
as I've mentioned - but it was nice to pull a modest number
of people today, and get some nice feedback in the
process.
Of course, with Spectrum at St Andrews, I'm not going to be
at Fresh this coming Sunday, but I'll be there the following
week. Keep checking the Gigs page. |
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1) Kelly
Auty with Pete Howell on bass 2) Geoff Achison pumpin' 3) Storm
clouds brew overhead |
4) The
storm breaks and this family says sorry, but they're going home..
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gig
report
Australia Day at Mornington
27.1.06 - As we rolled into Mornington
I idly speculated to Bill that there were some clouds building
up and no doubt a big storm would break just as we got on stage.
We were a couple of hours early, so we had a coffee and Bill
had a vegie burger before going to the gig, but I decided not
to eat, which in retrospect was a mistake. Kelly Auty was playing
when we arrived and it was bloody hot, although the cumulus
clouds I'd noticed earlier were gathering overhead and we |
were getting the odd spit of rain.
Daryl arrived while Geoff Achison and the Souldiggers were playing,
and Robbo (and Lisa) cut it fine as usual and arrived just as
their set finished. There had been a bit of a shower and the
temperature had thankfully dropped a few degrees, but it was
still very humid. We'd just got our gear on stage and were setting
up when a massive gust of wind hit, accompanied by dust and
rain. For a few minutes there we wondered if the canvas over
the stage wasn't going to be completely ripped off by the gale,
and the rain just got heavier and heavier. Nearly everybody
had taken shelter, but one poor bloke had come a cropper in
the middle of the park, knocking himself out cold and had to
be attended to where he lay.
Eventually the wind and rain started to ease, but the PA's amps
were still sitting in several centimetres of water under the
stage, and it took another few minutes to sort that all out.
One thinks of the demise of the Yardbirds' Keith Relf at moments
like these, and it's prudent to be fairly circumspect when it
comes to the combination of electicity and water.
It was during all this kerfuffle I noticed that I was beginning
to feel faint and I really regretted not having something to
eat earlier, but there now wasn't any time to waste on grabbing
a bite. So, half-an-hour or so after our advertised start time,
and with the remaining bunch of optimists sensibly huddled under
shelter, we finally graunched into action with I'll Be Gone.
I was running solely on caffeine by now and found the whole
experience quite odd, but we had some fun nonetheless, and the
promoter, Bill Dettmer, seemed pretty pleased the way things
had turned out, given all the dramas. |
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Who's
afraid of Liz Taylor? |
Yes
Virginia, Mike's back at Fresh on Sunday
26.1.06 - They say it's going to be hot
again this Sunday, but I have this cunning strategy in place
where I set up inside,
rather than braving the elements in the
courtyard. So, it's quite congenial, and despite the series'
slogan, (Psycho in the City), I don't bite and otherwise
behave like a rabid dog, so you can bring your loved ones with
impunity, or even the children.
Returning to the third person, next Wednesday night, Mike &
Bill do their duo thing at the Clifton Hill Hotel, and on the
following Saturday night, Spectrum returns to the Lomond Hotel
and, providing it hasn't been razed to the ground, St Andrews
on Sunday arvo (with Daryl on keyboards). I'm thinking it'll
be quite a homecoming.
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Hey,
everybody's dancing! Let's take a break.. |
A
hot time in old Moscow
22.1.06 - With nothing but a
fan at home to blow hot air over my swollen body, the thought
of going anywhere in the air-conditioned Izhmash
was appealing, so I thought why not take up on Sonia's invitation
and head over to the East Bronski Hotel and catch up with
the Moscow Blues Appreciation Society fundraiser? The artificial
chill on my arms had already turned to clamminess by the time
I'd walked from the van to the front door of the hotel, and
my offer to pay over roubles was declined with a serious shake
of Sonia's head, so I bought myself a vodka and tried to sink
anonymously into the Bronski lounge ambience.
Bearing in mind this was a fundraising night (to send Flora
Boyski or somebody to Minsk - or anywhere), it was a disappointing
turn up - there seemed to be just the usual nucleus of MBAS
habitués in attendance. Franke Caska (the
man in the ushanka) dragged an unwilling blonde onto the floor
during the Davidov Hoganski and the Chernobyls set, and uncharacteristically
stumbled (and nearly fell) when the woman's protestations
that she couldn't dance proved all too accurate.
It wasn't the fault of the band that the sound was overly
loud. 'If you've got it, flaunt it', should be stricken from
the sound engineers' book of retorts, and anyway, the configuration
of the room (a box) would suggest the very minimum of sound
reinforcement was necessary. Luckily the sound seemed to improve
as my hearing deteriorated.
Corina Simski, a Romanian gypsy with enormous silver earrings
the size of soccer balls was on next. She had problems with
her microphone stand drooping, and made some derogatory comment
about an ex-lover, which had at least two men leaving the
room red-faced, but then proceeded to crackle and sizzle her
way through half a dozen tunes that she and her lumberjack
companion on the Norwegian National guitar made sound like
they'd never played together before.
Next came Rudi Panski and the Gulag Lovers (pic) who
had a bit of a break after setting up to build up the tension,
and then miraculously managed to get most of the people under
seventy five up dancing to their first rocking tune - and
then took another break.
At this point I started getting nostalgic for the Izhmash's
air-conditioning, and wished everybody goodnight and headed
for the oven that awaited me at home.
At some later date I might discuss the perennial problems
that face an organisation like the Moscow Blues Appreciation
Society and its sister societies around the world. Suffice
to say, with such fine exponents of the genre being so available,
it's sad there isn't a more vibrant blues' scene. |
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Miss
Molly asks for more.. |
Yes,
Mike's on at Fresh again this Sunday arvo
19.1.06 - They say it's going to be hot this Sunday
- damn hot - but given that Fresh is usually a couple of degrees
cooler than even the apartments next door, there's something
else besides myself, the food and the organic lasses to recommend
a visit. Plus, in an effort to provoke unconstrained intercourse
in the Fresh courtyard, I've come up with a theme for my residency
at Fresh - Psycho in the City - which I've promoted on a very
colourful poster
you'll see on the Fresh windows. I might even discuss what I
think that means to me on the day, or ignore the invitation
altogether at my own discretion. That's the joy of being at
nobody else's behest - I make and break my own rules willy nilly,
and nobody complains. |
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1) This
is the place then.. 2) Director and exec. producer Ron Brown
chats to associate producer, Steve Woods
3)
Gary Young, Graham Simpson, Kevin Hillier,Jeff Jenkins, Ed Nimmervoll
& Steve Woods |
Now
And Then TV panel show in rehearsal
14.1.06 - I'm not sure that it's a good
omen being on a rehearsal for a show such as this - it may
mean that I'm in the running for a spot when the actual show
is being cast, or it could simply be an end in itself. Whatever
the outcome, I had a bit of fun on the day, and most importantly,
I didn't get a parking ticket.
Now And Then was born out of the making of the Daddy
Cool DVD, and involves some of the same people, most notably
Ron Brown, Ed Nimmervoll and DC's Gary Young.
The show's format is being adjusted as the rehearsals progress
(this was the second rehearsal), but it's essentially a panel
show, with regulars Kevin Hillier, Graham Simpson, Jane Holmes
and Jeff Jenkins combining with Gary Young and 'rock guru'
Ed Nimmervoll to cheerfully interrogate the guest musician,
who then performs two or three songs with the studio band,
directed by none other than Gary Young.
The show is unashamedly aimed at the baby boomer demographic
and so will interest me, at least, and it's sufficiently different
to the two quiz format shows currently on mainstream TV not
to induce tedium. I personally hope the show gets off the
ground and is a huge success - and it would be nice if I can
get on it, thereby increasing my TV profile by 100%. |
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Centrefold
of the month! |
NT
T-shirt hits rock bottom!
13.1.06 - (Now that I have a second look
at it , maybe it isn't exactly rock bottom). I got
this pic from George Lummis, a very happy punter in Queensland,
who got a free T-shirt with his CD order. (I'm not sure why
now - I think it was because it was quite a large order). Anyway,
George took the opportunity to say a few nice words about the
mailorder service and mention a few other things as well, all
of which I've reprinted on a special Feedback page, which can
be accessed from the CDs page.
Amongst other things, George mentions the following, which may
be of interest to some of you: 'A few years back thanks to the
wonders of the Internet I found a site www.progressiveears.com
with lovers of progressive music discussing their passion. I
have been a member for about 5 years now and entered Spectrum
and Ariel in the Artists Directory section a while back. Not
many Aussies were members then. Have a look if you get a chance.'
Thanks George - if you haven't had a look already, check the
CDs page and see how easy it is to buy Spectrum and Ariel CDs.
And T-shirts! |
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Mike's
back at Fresh @ Elwood this Sunday 15th
12.1.06 - Yes, I'm back! Round about the
same dimensions and as annoying as ever, me and George, a stool
and a fraction of a PA will be back somewhere at Fresh @ Elwood
in Ormond Rd between 2.00 - 4.00 this Sunday arvo. Whether in
the courtyard or inside is moot at the moment, but I know I
shall be served delicious organic food and coffee by delicious
organic gals at some stage, and that makes the arvo worthwhile,
even if nobody else shows up. |
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New
kids on the block
11.1.06 - Richard Griffiths, the brother
of party-boy Michael Griffiths, sent this rather poignant shot
taken by his partner Nicole on Sunday evening - two bands setting
up, probably fifty years between them. That the kids appreciate
and enjoy the musical currency of our generation is testament
to the longevity of the music; that the blokes in Spectrum,
puffing and farting in the background, do the same is more of
a testament to lucky genes and chronic suspension of disbelief. |
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Another
year, another fab feature..
10.1.06 - I'm sorry to begin with an apology
(oops!), but the January edition of The Bloody Newsletter
is late - but only moments away. I've dispensed with the Odd
Spot - call me a jaded old 'Net surfer, but the unusual and
worthy is too hard to find on a regular basis. So I've added
another column to supplement the regular-ish Pith & Wind
essay, this time written by my brother Richard (nepotism rules!)
called Dick's Toolbox.
The title is totally misleading of course - Richard is never
a Dick - and you'll find him an amusing and diverting essayist,
I'm sure. Enjoy! |
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1)
Party boy Michael Griffiths welcomes the guests 2) Money For
Jam strut their Ruddy stuff |
3)
Mike with Xavier Rudd's family, Peter, Max, Iggy and Chris
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A
surfeit of Rudds in new Torquay
9.1.06 -
The
first gig of the year was a 50th birthday party - perhaps a
sign of things to come. It was for one of that rare breed, a
rabid Spectrum fan - or fans really, because Mike's
brother Richard was as much into Spectrum and Ariel as his elder
brother - and was held
at the Sands Golf Club just outside Torquay proper, a brand
new building with all the modern accoutrements.
Before we started playing, Michael asked if it would be OK if
a local band played a short set. The band (Money For Jam) turned
out to be three very young surfer dudes, with Michael's son
Sam on percussion and a couple of Xavier Rudd's younger brothers,
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Iggy and Max on drums
and guitar respectively. Despite being a few personnel short
on their regular lineup, they really had it all together, and
rocked the house with half a dozen or so instrumentals. (I felt
like well-meaning uncle when I helped Iggy gaffer down his drums
after they started migrating to the other side of the dance
floor). I got to meet the parents, Peter and Christine Rudd,
a little later and had a nice little chat - very loving and
supportive parents they are too. If that isn't incentive enough
to write the Xavier Rudd Is Not My Son song, I don't
know what is.
It turned out to be a terrific night, with a great bunch of
people enjoying themselves in a great location. Mind you, I'm
feeling it today.. |
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