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A
weekend of contrast
1) A
swan glides past the Rainforest Room 2) Robbo eats his last
de-tox lunch during the load in at the Boat Shed
3) Joanne
and Greg Blunt pose with Spectrum (see large
shots) 4) The view from the back door of the shed |
5) Greg
with his daughter Tenille before the show |
gig
report
A
joyous Willy celebration
27.11.06 - The highlight of the
Mike & Bill gig at the Zoo's Rainforest Room for the Frontier
Software Xmas party on Saturday night was former harp student
Malcolm Ebb's playing his harp with Bill and me at the end of
the night - that's if you don't count my accidentally driving
into the Zoo proper earlier in the day trying to find the place!
The real delight of the weekend came the next day, and not just
because Bill and I were reunited with Robbo and Daz for a rare-ish
outing of the quartet version of Spectrum either. Let me enumerate
the ways: 1) The ambience of the boat shed was a pure
delight - the intricate detail of the tools and boats and general
workshop detritus tickled the |
| eyeballs (see the large pics). 2)
The sound was warm with a studio-like clarity, which was as
good for the audience as it was for us. 3) Greg is
a boat-building gentleman and a serious patron of things he
likes and identifies as genuine and sincere - sort of like himself,
really. 4) The audience had that hand-picked quality
and honestly wanted to be there. They were prepared to concentrate
and appreciated the subtleties that we persist with, but are
so often lost in general indifference. Look, I could go on and
on, but suffice it to say that it was a mutual love-fest and
we were all winners - let's hope we can repeat the exercise
in the not too distant future. |
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gig
report
Canapés
and cheese nearly spoil the party
20.11.06 - Anthony, our honorary soda-jerk
for the Kennedys' 100th birthday party on Saturday night,
offered me a selection of tidbits in the middle of one of
our sets - and I picked out a tempting prune-wrapped-in-bacon
morsel, but soon realised my mistake when I choked on it in
the first verse of the next song, much to the cruel amusement
of the unusually high proportion of sadists in the crowd.
Bill and Enza nearly choked in turn laughing at me, but apart
from this inglorious moment, the reunion of Bill and me with
Enza on a warm night in Elwood was a hit with everybody, and
I promptly invited Enza to appear with Spectrum at the upcoming
St Andrews gig next month, from which Daryl has had to withdraw
due to family commitments. Hooray!
Yesterday's (Sunday) gig at the Curly Flat Winery was
also pretty special. We set up in the actual 'cellar' this
time instead of the restaurant, and the acoustics in this
rather large brick and concrete edifice were just exquisite,
not to mention we didn't have to cope with the rather delicate
conundrum of playing to a dining audience. We played a number
of fairly short sets with a 'magical mystery tour' type selection
of all our styles and eras (as suggested by our host, Phillip),
and I have to say it worked wonderfully well, and allowed
us to fraternise with friends, old and well, older. Even my
dentist Bernie and his wife Michelle turned up, and I was
surprised to learn we share the passion for pinots! It's funny
what you find out about a bloke when you're not desperately
trying to avoid choking on your own spittle.
The afternoon at the winery was going so well that Jeni asked
if we wouldn't mind playing an extra set or two, and bribed
us with a couple of bottles each of Curly Flat's finest product.
How could we resist? This time, however, it was the cheese
platter that sent me over the edge, and Silicon Valley
was a chronological puzzlement as a result, and Bill and Robbo
had to be physically woken up after several of my seemingly
endless preambles. All in all though, it was a cracker of
a day, (geddit?), and one which I might hope becomes an annual
tradition..
(I
apologise for the singular lack of pictorial evidence - my
mobile phone crapped out on Saturday and it seemed to blow
out yet another fuse in my ageing brain). |
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Watch
out girls - Nic is loose! |
Back-catalogue
and Matt Finish news
16.11.06 - It's official - Aztec Music
have got the go-ahead from EMI to licence the Spectrum Part
One and Milesago albums, so with a possible release
date as early as March in the New Year, the squeaky wheels on
the Breathing Space project have been replaced with
skates and the blow torch has been applied to various body parts.
Not quite as much breathing space as we thought..
Enza Cadenza made a silky return to the Accidental Music Studio
a couple of weeks back to slot in some luscious vocals, and
Nicolas Lyon (pic) has been adding skads of delicate
fiddle on various tracks over the past couple of days, with
even more to come. Speaking of Enza, we're actually rehearsing
in the morning for an upcoming gig on the weekend, which I'm
hoping might be a foretaste of more live things to come..
BTW, I spoke to Rob Prior today and he says that the Matt Finish
dates have been replaced with the Corner Hotel and the Basement
respectively. (see
website) |
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Another
Liberation launch
1)
Steve Romig pours honey over troubled waters 2) Jim and the
band let fly in the nicest possible way |
3) Jim's
life flashes before him |
gig
report
Keays unlocks a softer, gentler Jimbo
16.11.06 - After my teaching commitments
last night, I headed out into the unseasonal (is there such
a thing these days?) wintery conditions to attend the Jim Keays'/Liberation
launch at Manchester Lane in the city. I was accosted at the
door by fellow Debonaires Dom Barbuto and Adrian Barker, and
indeed the audience inside seemed to be largely constituted
from that august group of right ravers. Steve Romig (pic
1) was on stage as I walked in, so I surmised that I hadn't
missed Jim Keays' set with whomever he might have with him -
I'd even speculated he might get up alone and do a solo spot.
Bobby Valentine invited me to sit at his table as the show commenced,
and it turned out that Steve Romig was playing slide in the
Keays' band with another guitarist and drummer. Initially it
sounded a bit like somebody had turned the power off in mid-set
and left the band struggling with no amplification - the arrangements
of the old Masters' favourites |
were left pretty much the same, only
without bass and amplified twang. Jim kept up his usual swagger,
highlighting the drama that would've been there had there been
a knob to turn up to eleven, as well as telling us of his Spinal
Tap misadventures with a toppling space capsule when presenting
A Boy From The Stars at the Myer Music Bowl, but the
highlight of the night was inevitably the best song they ever
wrote, It's Because I Love You, which was saved for
the regulation encore, and apart from an effective cover of
Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, best survived the transition
from crushing crescendo to mezzo piano.
* See Jim's website
or Liberation's website
for info on Jim's acoustic CD 'Resonator'. |
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An
even Shorter Note - Matt Finish gigs off
14.11.06 - I've just got off the phone with Rob Prior,
(brother of MF's drummer John Prior), and it looks like the
gigs with Spectrum and Matt Finish at The Palace in Melbourne
and the Enmore Theatre in Sydney are off. Matt Finish will go
ahead with plans for a Basement gig to replace the Enmore Theatre,
and it's still possible there might be a replacement gig in
Melbourne, maybe at the Corner Hotel, both of which will be
without Spectrum, and both of which I'll let you know about
as I get the info.
Damn shame - I was looking forward to those, and I know from
the response we got when I mentioned it at the Lomond, a lot
of you will be disappointed too. |
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Fun
(of sorts) in West Melbourne
1) The
Gringos in rehearsal (with Robbo) wonder what Paul Gadsby's
on about |
2) The
Sound Vault's Matt looks busy at the console 3) Bill tries to
look alert with Balckfeather's Neale Johns |
Hey
Gringo live at the Vault
11.11.06 - It seemed a long day, but mind
you, all the elements of a long day were well in evidence -
i.e. many hours spent in one place with much of the
time spent doing not much at all. There were compensations,
including a rare opportunity to appreciate the fine playing
and wry humour of Paul Gadsby and the tootling of Gringo's regular
sax-player Sean, not to mention catching up with old friends
and acquaintances, and of course the prospect of yet another
release from Hey Gringo propelled by the irrepressible Daryl
Roberts. Most of the set ended up being played twice, and for
the most part I thought it sounded better the second time around,
but, perhaps recklessly, I eschewed the opportunity to reprise
Daryl's and my song, (Limbo Man), my judgement being
hopelessly skewed by the latter part of the evening. |
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And
the result is...
9.11.06 - First let me say that it's been
a most rewarding exercise. The feedback has been constructive
and informative, and I shall now feel confident in sending out
the Spectrum gig guide advisories - once a month! Yes, that's
the verdict - and by a handsome majority of three to one! The
good, and perhaps unexpected thing, is that the guides will
actually become more regular, as I now know what you want. As
some people suggested, when something extraordinary happens
- like a late cancellation for instance - I'll let you know
about it poste haste, and without waiting slavishly
till the end of the month. I'd like to thank everybody who participated,
and we'll speak soon! |
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Ted is
surprised to see us |
The
people have voted! (mostly)
8.11.06 - Most of our Victorian
readers will have received our latest mailout, and there has
been a strong response to the poll on whether you prefer to
receive your Spectrum gig guide weekly or monthly. I'm hoping
that the balance of the e-mails will be out by lunchtime tomorrow
and I'll make the official announcement then. It's almost as
exciting as the Melbourne Cup!
Last week I made an appointment for this Thursday with Aztec
Music's Ted Lethborg to get updated on any progress with plans
to release Spectrum's back catalogue, only I must've written
it on the wrong day in Outlook and Bill and I rolled up twenty
four hours early! Fortunately affable Ted made himself available
for our wide-ranging discussions, and even offered to make my
favourite coffee - and it was very good! (pic) I'm
happy to report there is good news in the offing about Spectrum
Part One and Milesago, and as soon as I hear back
from Ted I'll pass it on to you. *check
the Aztec
Music site for more info |
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Mike
and Bill comfort Susie Seale on her birthday |
Saturday, (it's a long story, and
it involves a white witch!), but a persistent chest infection
had obscured any observable differences in his demeanour. However,
we were soon going to find we had a brand new Robbo in the Pod!
In any case, the drive to Deniliquin was pretty uneventful,
except we had two vehicles on the run with Daryl added to the
mix for the couple of gigs away, and Bill swapped to drive with
Daryl at Heathcote to see if Daz's seats were more comfortable
for his recovering back. (They weren't).
The Crossing Café's Chris Bodey made us most welcome
when we arrived and supervised a snappy load in so the Deni
Municipal Band could lay a brass salvo on the early diners on
the verandah - all part of the Deni Spring Blues |
Festival going on over the weekend.
After a fine meal, (well, Robbo was confined to vegetables),
Bill, Daz and I went back to the motel and rested up a bit,
while the ubiquitous Robbo played a set with The Wolfegang (pics
3 & 4). When we came back, we discovered that Bob the
Artist had begun painting a record of the evening's proceedings
in real time (pics 5 & 6), which shows that Deni
is keeping up with the latest trends in the big smoke without
even trying. Spectrum's set went down well, and it was good
to catch up with a few old friends, as well as having Paul Murphy
and Kathie from Aztec Music coming up from Melbourne especially
for the weekend.
The next morning, Bill and I were shocked to find Robbo the
first up and full of energy, not to mention good vibes! This
is a new and disconcerting version of Pod Boy - I wonder how
long it can last? We had breakfast with Chris and Brett back
at The Crossing Café and took in a concert by local sixteen
year old guitar prodigy Shane McGrath (as part of the Blues
Festival) before heading off to Shepparton for the unknown quantity
of the Custom Bike & Car Show at the Overlander Motel.
On arrival in Shepparton we made contact with James, the Shepparton
PC Doctor, before having a pleasant lunch at the Lemon Tree
Café and heading down to the Overlander. When I was doing
the booking with Whiskas, I hadn't quite been able to picture
what a Custom Bike Show and concert would look like at a motel,
and I hadn't tumbled to the fact that this was an Outlaws' show
either. Nonetheless, Whiskas and the other leather lads made
us very welcome, and I was pleased to find that the PA was a
sensible size and being run at a sensible volume, not to mention
that the weather was sunny but not too warm, despite a flukey
wind.
We did two sets, interspersed with a prize-giving ceremony for
the best bikes and cars on show, (pic 8), but the most
energetic crowd reaction was reserved for the bikes burning
rubber as we started the second set (we played Sleepwalk
as an ironic backdrop). Despite the crowd giving nothing away,
we got a couple of offers of future gigs to contemplate, so
I guess we did OK, and Whiskas was keen to make Spectrum at
the Bike Show a tradition, so we might very well be looking
at a repeat next year.
To top off the weekend, Bill and I had been engaged to play
on Sunday arvo at Susie Seale's birthday party in Donvale, and
in the event we spent a very pleasant afternoon playing and
chatting to all and sundry. Some of our old mates were there
too: Richard and Di Hauser and their guitar-shredding son Nick
(who was a toddler the last time I saw him) and Martyn Sullivan,
(who played bass with us in the Mike Rudd Quartet and Quintet),
not to mention Brecon Walsh and his mum Ruth. Susie's mum Nellie
sang Summertime with us, and the only bummer was when
both my F harps decided to clag out definitively at the same
moment, thoroughly emasculating the blues set!
It's Monday now, and I'll have to go down to Camberwell to see
if the banks - and Gusto - are open, before trudging back home
and finishing off my overdue essay for Mike's Pith & Wind.
It's on Asparagus, which funnily enough, in yet another example
of feeble synchronicity, came up at as a topic at the dinner
table with Diana Wolfe |
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Ash Wednesday
(second from right) with Jab in the late '70s |
Ash
Wednesday gets in touch
2.11.06 - As I suggested he might, Ash Wednesday,
(whom I ran into at the Bar Open gig last Sunday), got in
touch and gave me some contact details - you can read his
e-mail on the Correspondence
page. You may or may not remember him from the Models'
days, but he also featured in a band called Jab, (pic)
whom I helped produce in the late '70s for an album called
Lethal Weapons on Mushroom's Suicide label. I thought
I'd retired from active playing then, but it turned out I
was just 'between bands'.
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