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1) Hippies
play at a Sharpie gig 2) Hippies play in a photo booth |
Good
news, bad news..
26.4.10 - I was trying to find some other
historical pics when these two turned up. The first one shows
Spectrum playing at Lucifers in 1969 and is probably unique.
Lee Neale is seen playing his Farfisa keyboard, which is no
doubt back in fashion again, if I know fashion.
The next shot was taken in a photo booth in 1972 and was in
that awkward transition period when Bill, Ray and I became a
trio by default for a few weeks. We look pretty happy, don't
we?
The bad news? The Manningham has decided to pull the plug on
future Spectrum appearances at the world's most convenient gig.
Bugger. |
| In other unrelated news, Trevor Courtney
has sent me the CD of the Chants playing on Radio New Zealand
back on the 26th of February. It's pretty damn fine and Tim
Piper, Trev, Martin Forrer and I sound like we've never stopped
playing together. Have a listen to the Chants' versions of Kingbee,
Sitting
On Top of the World and Dimples
and I think you'll agree. |
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The
duo heads south..
1)
Lee (right) and friend warm up for the night 2) Andy is lulled
into a shot by Mike, the phantom paparazzo
gig
report
Westernport Hotel San Remo Sun. 25.4.10
Crudd &
Pump on mercy dash to San Remo
26.4.10
- I don't get offers from the Pop Shop agency all that
often, so I gather we were the only suckers left to do the Westernport
Hotel last night. As I probably mentioned the last time we did
this gig, it's really a job for the trio, 'cause in many ways
it's yer typical noisy, boozy pub gig, but there's always a
core group of wistful-looking baby boomers, (like Andy for
instance (pic2) ), quietly appreciating what we're
doing that make the hour and a half trip down the Phillip Island
worh it.
I'd taped up my right ear to allay any further damage until
I get it seen to, (since the SA tour I'm down to about 10% hearing),
which caused a couple of very young boys some concern - I told
them my ear had gone bad and the gaffer was the only thing holding
it on to my head - and it made the gig an interesting aural
experience for me. By 'interesting' I mean it was barely tolerable
and particularly hard to judge volume and occasionally pitch,
but I think I bluffed my way through. Lee, (pic 1)
who Bill remembers from Portland a couple of decades ago, and
her friend had fun dancing provocatively very close to our set
up and, in the event, we were obliged to do a couple of encores,
so I guess we must've done OK. |
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works with Phil Manning and Matt Taylor, and he got us
into places we wouldn't have even thought of, starting off
on Thursday night with the Beach House Café, an hour
or so south of Adelaide at Encounter Bay. It's actually a
Pizza joint, and there's no stage as such, so we had to be
fairly imaginative with where we put everything, especially
as we had a lighting tree as well, but it was great fun once
we got going.
We had some friends turn up as well - the Altschwagers (pic
1) who have moved from nearby Kangaroo Island and my
new friend, Kerry Philcox, (pic 2) who'd been corresponding
with me since she found out we were doing the gig and who
organised a raffle for Variety (for children with special
needs) using our CDs as prizes. There was nearly a riot at
the end of the night and we got called back for encore after
encore - I gave up counting after half a dozen!
The next night was at the Old Clarendon Inn, and, unbelievably
after all the fuss the last time we got lost, I 'Googled'
myself and we took well over an hour to find the place rather
than the suggested forty five minutes. Daryl and Robbo were
(loosely) following the van and were singing 'Ask the Gonad
Brothers' to the Leyland Brothers song every time we stopped
to ask a native directions.
The gig was lovely though and a full house to boot - a group
of Spectrum tragics (guys) were singing the 'we are, we are,
we are' echo in We Are Indelible and I couldn't help
thinking that we should introduce them to our very own Trollops
back here in Melbourne. Well, maybe not..
Whenever we asked anybody about the next night's gig at the
Sandy Creek Hotel, the response was confusing. There's a dog's
home and a women's shelter there apparently and that seemed
to engender some mirth, but we weren't being told something.
On the way to Sandy Creek we dropped in on my SA mate, Iain
Ross in the Adelaide Hills and had a relaxing hour or two
accompanied by a smashing lunch provided by Val. (pic
4) Iain's son Jess provided us with another Google map
but we managed to arrive safely at the Sandy Creek Hotel.
There we met with the owner Karin Schneider and her daughter,
who'd spent the past few days setting up several marquees
and were very excited about having us there.
After we'd set up I met (another) Angie (pic 6) with
tatts on her leg who's an old friend of Chris Bodey's*, but
I also met a rather dubious biker in the bar who made some
loud observation about how old we were, a line he persisted
with over the course of the night. The mystery of the Sandy
Creek Hotel was finally revealed, and the night unfolded with
bikers glowering to the right, and Spectrumophiles nervously
huddled on the left. And, of course, to cap it all off, it
rained.
(I noticed that Matt Taylor's doing the Creek soon, but I'm
sure his brand of blues will delight the bikers, rather than
leave them mystified, as did Spectrum).
Finally it was Sunday, the day of the Semaphore Workers Club
gig, the gig we fell in love with last time we came to Adelaide
in September. (pic 7) Sure enough, by 4.30 the place
was nearly full, and shortly after we started playing at 5.00
they had to shut the doors and put out the full-house sign.
Comrade Dave Pearse tells us that since they opened twelve
years ago they've only done that twice, both times for Spectrum.
By this stage of the tour I have to say I was feeling pretty
tired and I was prone to sloppiness, but it was a distinct
improvement on our last really sloppy appearance
there - having Daryl with us allows us to pull off the retro
part of the set far more convincingly and I felt far more
comfortable as a result. You can see some of the songs courtesy
of 3D Radio's Michael Hunter. Launching
Place Part 2, Jamaican
Farewell, (I forgot the first line - I never do
that!), I
Ain't Superstitious/Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, and
Albatross.
I woke up the next morning feeling very run down and now I'm
riding out a chest infection, but overall it was the best
SA tour we've done. Spectrum's still bloody huge
in Adelaide and we certainly love 'em in return!
* Chris
Bodey ran the Crossing Café in Deniliquin |
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Baby,
it's cold outside..
1)
Sunbury again - Mike and Bill 2) Bren Mason and freezing Mike
join Chain (pics - Newman)
gig
report
Manninghamn Sports Bar 11.4.10
A cosy arvo
at the Manningham
12.4.10 - Mick Newman turned up at the
Manningham Sports Bar yesterday arvo - and he'd sent me the
pics above from the previous evening at the Sunbury Back Road
Festival.
The first one of Bill and I (pic
1) must've been taken at the same time as the one that
appeared in the hard copy version of The Sunday Age - revenge
of sorts for their choosing not to print the pic that we set
up on the Friday. (See Sunbury prepares to rock below).
The second pic was taken during the jam with Chain with Brenden
Mason, by which time the wind had sprung up and it was bloody
freezing. Robbo tells me that I was right up in the mix and
that Bren was virtually inaudible, which is the opposite of
the impression I had on stage, so I just noodled away obliviously
trying not to get frozen to my strings.
But, to get back to the Manningham: by Sunday the cold weather
had settled in with showers etc. but it was cosy
enough inside. The Trollops weren't expected, so we were a
little concerned about the size of the crowd - two ordinary
crowds in two days might be a little demoralising. As it happened
we needn't have worried. Not only did The Trollops show up,
(hooray!), but Alana, Barry and Claire, Bridget and
Dave Rolfe and Marg Bird, plus some people who'd been at the
Sunbury gig the night before and the usual quotient of casual
tourists all made the arvo a treat.
I'd left my wallet at home (Bill left his microphone at home)
but that wasn't a problem for The Trollops and we had our
traditional post-gig meal in the bistro. Altogether a nice
send-off for our upcoming week in Adelaide. |
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1)
Bernard rocks on 2) Jarrah Thompson's Asha flaunts her flute |
gig
report
Sunbury Back Road Festival 10.4.10
Sunbury
- the reality
11.4.10 - Ah, what a bitch is reality.
Bernard Lakey's (pic 1) dream of tapping into the spirit
that drove the original Sunbury festivals rather nose-dived
when only a few hundred punters showed up to savour a mixed
bill that included some of the very same acts that had inspired
the Sunbury generation in the early '70s.
Everything else went to plan and the staging and the amenities
were testament to the effort that had gone into this to make
the Back Road Festival a success - even the weather held off,
although when the wind did spring up it got decidedly chilly. |
As for Spectrum, we had a fine time.
Since our appearance on the Rock of Ages show we've made some
changes to our approach to playing on big stages and the band
actually felt comfortable and relaxed. In fact, all the senior
bands performed well and the crowd, such as it was, responded
warmly. Of the assortment of younger bands on the bill I caught
a bit of Jarrah Thompson (pic 2) and told flautist
Asha afterwards that had she been at the original Sunbury she
would've laid the audience waste. (She would've too).
There will be a post mortem and I guess it's conjecture at this
stage as to whether there will be another Back Road Festival.
I think it's obvious that while discomfort was a feature
of the original Sunburys, we were all much youger then and that
the Sunbury generation will no longer tolerate the faintest
prospect of personal discomfort. And if it's a toss up between
the footy and a rock concert in a (wind-blown) paddock, the
footy will win. I can only say on behalf of the bands that we
appreciate all the effort that Bernard has expended to try to
create a community-based festival from scratch with the music
and musicians that he loves. Re-jigging the formula might see
a different result and if he wants to give it another go I'm
sure there's enough goodwill out there to help make the concept
a rip-roaring success next time around. (See
Age
review) |
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1) Phil,
Jan, Kerry, Jack and Mike enliven the paddock |
Sunbury
prepares to rock..
9.4.10 - I popped down to the Sunbury Back
Road Festival site this morning to be photographed by Craig,
the Age photographer, with the Madders' Jack and Kerry, Chain's
Phil Manning and Jan Preston's Jan Preston. The stage was taking
shape and was looking less like the back of a truck every passing
minute, but I hope the inclement weather that's being threatened
holds off or passes harmlessly by - I don't fancy our chances
if it turns nasty.
Anyway, all things being equal there should be a photo accompanied
by a story in tomorrow's Age and I hope that a few people turn
up to enjoy the day. Bernard and his enthusiastic band of helpers
deserve a return on their efforts to involve and entertain the
Sunbury community. |
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SLAM
dunk..
1)
Anne O'Rourke checks her SLAM paperwork 2) Ross Wilson combines
being Mr Mom with political activism
3) Mike
demonstrates his paparazzo skills to Nick Polites 4) Greens
MLC Sue Pennicuik speaks on the petition |
5) Choclatté's
Max plus badge |
SLAM
delivers petition
8.4.10 - Anne O'Rourke (pic 1)
has been assiduous in keeping Victoria's security/licensing
issue to the forefront of local musicians' minds over the past
few months and invited me along to represent the 60s' age bracket
as SLAM presented a petition with in excess of 20,000 signatures
to Greens' MLC, Sue Pennicuik, (pic 4) on the steps
of the Victorian State Parliament yesterday. The petition urges
the Legislative Council to act on the terms of the 'Accord'
that resulted from the hugely successful demonstration held
while I was in NZ and to 'institute a proper investigation into
the causes of violence and drunkeness' that will inevitably
find there is no relationship between those problems and the
presentation of live music in licensed venues. (Age
report) (See 2nd Age
report)
This issue strikes home for Spectrum at the Lomond Hotel, which,
as I've mentioned before, is compelled to hire two security
personnel despite having no undue problems with its clientele
in all the years we've been playing there. |
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Byron
Bay Blues Festival
1)
John Mayall ambles onto the Crossroads stage 2) Boris and Hannaford
talk the talk
3) Ross
and Ross and John McAll's back 4) The crowd prepares
to drop their collective daks during Eagle Rock
5) Il
Duce of Earl before the encore 6) The Boss is utterly exhausted
after the encore
gig
report
Byron
Bay Blues Festival Crossroads stage - 5.4.10
Mike
and Ross lose their shirts at Byron
7.4.10 - I don't sleep well when I know
I've got to get up early and so it was actually no trouble to
rise at 5.00 on Monday morning, half an hour earlier than I'd
intended. I must've been snoozing when Ross Wilson's band arrived
at the Gate and so wasn't even aware they were on board until
I saw Ross Hannaford going to the toilet. Horto met us at the
Gold Coast airport and drove us to our accommodation at South
Tweed Heads before picking us all up again after lunch and taking
us down to the new Byron Bay Festival site, some forty five
minutes away.
I took the opportunity to see John Mayall's set (pic 1)
and a bit of Taj Mahal's set before the slightly compressed
version of Ross' 5 Decades of Cool show took the stage. I'll
Be Gone got a fantastic reception, which wasn't really
matched until Eagle Rock, but the whole show went down
extremely well. (I wasn't aware that there's a tradition of
down-trousers when Eagle Rock is played - apparently
this practice has half a dozen dedicated Facebook sites).
When I got back to the motel I realised that I'd left my black
shirt at Byron, and today I heard from Ross that he'd left his
favourite black shirt at Byron too! I think I must be a bad
influence. |
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1) Ross
outlines the program 2) Hanna concocts a lick 3) Chet finally
arrives at the rehearsal studio
The
return of Ross' Five Decades of Cool
1.4.10 - The morning after our Easter Sunday St Andrews'
gig I'll be leaving on a jet plane for the Byron Bay Festival,
but this year without the rest of the band. I'm to join up with
the Cool entourage for an abbreviated version of the shows we
did in Melbourne and Sydney late last year. Ross has cut one
of my fave Party Machine numbers, Woman of the World,
but favoured me by retaining I'll Be Gone. Hanna is
lending me his Beatle bass for Virgins, which I'm looking
forward to. I'll take photos, OK? |
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