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Some
Easter eggs for Spectrum..
1)
Ingrid (left) and David Norton (right) braved the chill night
air 2) Jill from Magnetic Island and the Birre's Judith
3)
The banner out the front says it all 4) Greg Champion holds
court at Gladysdale
5)
The crowd goes berserk at the Relief Concert 6) Heather and
Ron Glover take in the band at St Andrews
gig
report
Café
Birre Birrregurra Fri. 22.4.11 Barra / Pinnacles Festival Gladysdale
23.4.11
Christchurch Quake Relief Concert Birrarung Marr & St Andrews
Hotel Sun. 24.4.11
Three
cold-hand gigs and some some hot, sweet love..
25.4.11 - Given the way the year's
panned out so far, this last weekend has been an extraordinary
bonus, not just for the number but for the diversity of gigs.
It began with a night in Birregurra, a small town just out of
Colac some two hours west of Melbourne. Bill and I, and then
the trio, did a series of gigs there at the local pub in the
late nineties and it was there we first met the Ramsays and
their young son James (Little Jimmy) who created his own legend
by dancing on the table tops to our music - I hasten to add
out of youthful exuberance and not for profit. Steve, Sarah
and Long Tall Jimmy Ramsay were at Café Birre on Friday
night, (Good Friday) but there was to be no dancing on the tables
this night. Perhaps Café Birre's owner and chef Judith
(pic 2) had told me when we were discussing the gig
some months back, but at any rate I was shocked to discover
that were playing al fresco, particularly as the night
was, to say the least, on the chilly side.
The chill factor was probably instrumental in the lower than
expected turn-out, but there were some nice surprises, one of
them being my pharmacists from Camberwell (pic 1) who
decided to break their journey to Lorne and take in some Spectrum
music, and the other being that Judith's cooking prowess belied
her bluff country woman exterior - the rockling was quite exquisite.
There were some very nice people who did make the effort to
come out and brave the elements and even the youngsters who
migrated over from the pub later on in the night seemed to enjoy
themselves without causing too much fuss. The band did manage
to sort of enjoy themselves despite suffering from freezing
extremities, and we really appreciated the tea and home-made
Anzac biscuits Judith provided for the journey home.
The next day (saturday) Bill and I had been asked to play at
the Barra / Pinnacles Festival in Gladysdale, a charming orchard
settlement a few minutes from Yarra Junction off the Warburton
Hwy. We played there a couple of years ago and we quite enjoyed
it then, but for some reason that I can't quite put my finger
on I enjoyed it much more this time around. Perhaps it was listening
to Champs' droll set, (even his pointless songs have got a point),
and later conversing with man himself, (pic 4) or perhaps
it was just that I appreciated the laid-back nature of the festival
with its rural version of the TF Much Ballroom in the famous
Barra Shed.
Anyway, our set seemed to go down well and the Barra kids sold
a few of our CDs, so it was all good. Maybe we'll do it again
next year and you'll see your way clear to making the hour and
bit journey to Gladysdale and enjoying the best little country
festival around.
I set off quite early the next morning (Sunday) for my solo
spot at the Christchurch Quake Relief Concert. The good thing
was that I saw the re-formed MiSex perform a complete version
of Computer Games as part of their sound check and
they sounded, well, bloody awesome. Another good thing
was that I sang my OMG song that I wrote especially
for the event. The less than good thing was that, not only was
it quite cold on stage and I sang my songs to virtually nobody,
(pic 5) but I managed to leave a perfectly good guitar
lead behind in my rush to make it to St Andrews on time. I'm
going to pick up the lead tomorrow and I'll find out then how
the rest of the day panned out. I hope they made some money
for the cause.*
St Andrews was just the tonic I needed. There was an unexpectedly
good crowd in the room and they were in a fine mood all day,
but they finished the day in exultant form and we all ended
up hot and sweaty. Now that's the way a rock & roll gig
should be..
*PS
- I picked up my recalcitrant guitar lead from KJ this morning
and she said the crowd hadn't actually built up much throughout
the day, which sounds a bit sad really. Not only that, but MiSex's
sequencer had a meltdown during the actual performance of Computer
Games, which means that my private audition was the one to die
for.. |
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Easter
bunnies
11.4.11 - After fuck all gigs since Christmas, a huge Easter
weekend is coming up for Spectrum and parts thereof. Keep your
eyes open for Mike at the Christchurch Earthquake benefit gig
on Easter Sunday at 12.20!! Tickets/info
map |
I'll
Be Gone on Adam Hills' show
11.4.11 - I've not seen the show before,
but I believe there's a segment where an old song is given the
treatment by some guest musicians. This week it's I'll Be
Gone (hooray!) being worked over by Alex Lloyd
and the Pigram Brothers, (who are IBG specialists).
I'll record it.. |
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No dozing
in front of the telly for Lyn and Heather |
gig
report
Ferntree Gully Hotel Fri. 8.4.11
Home
from the hills..
9.4.11 - The Ferntree Gully Hotel is where
the plains meet the Dandenongs, so you'd expect there to be
some folk from the hills there on any given night, but it's
not class or cultural concerns that keeps the mountain people
at home dozing in front of the telly on a Friday night - it's
age. Not that I'd usually mention the Trollops (pic) and
age in the same paragraph, but they were (nearly) the only people
in the room who might've seen us in our hey-day. Still, it was
fun to be playing and very gratifying to have a succession of
young men approach us at the end of the night and mumble their
heartfelt appreciation - and we did have to do an encore.
You missed an enjoyable night.. |
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1) Meet
the reinvented WOS Daz on guitar 2) Robbo and Heather were waiting
for me..
3) The
professors' Sellers' walk in the room 4) Mike finds Maree's
lap to rest his weary head
gig
report
Wesley
Anne Northcote Fri. 1.4.11
Wall
of Stone CD launch
2.3.11 - I was there because I had been invited
to play and there were quite a few Spectrumites in the room,
so I guess it qualifies as some sort of gig to open our April
account. The venue for the latest Daryl Roberts' CD launch was
the Wesley Anne (House of Assembly) in Northcote, which turned
out to be the same venue the trio worked at a few years ago
when it was known as Fio's. It's quite an atmospheric space
with stripped back stone walls (!) and lots of candles, and
the three piece Wall of Stone band had already begun playing
when I finally walked in the room after finding a park three
blocks away .
I spotted Robbo and Heather first (pic 2) and then
turned around to be surprised by the Sellers' (pic 3)
walking in behind me - and then it eventually dawned on me that
most of the people in the room were known to me from Spectrum
gigs.
Even though I'd listened to the CD it was still a surprise to
see Daz playing guitar, (pic 1) and again, despite
Daz warning me, I was unprepared for just how young his WOS
band is - the bass player in particular looks about thirteen
with a few major growth spurts yet to come.
Nevertheless they were all perfectly proficient players, and
when Daz eventually reverted to keyboards and Sean-the-harnessed
sax player and Joe the guitarist were added into the mix it
all sounded quite full. I duly got invited up to the stage and
performed Hey Gringo's Limbo Man, (a song that has
potential as a Spectrum song now that I've been reminded about
it), IBG and Louie Louie, before retiring
to the bar next door and ordering an entrée
of napoli meatballs as I was becoming a little light-headed.
(pic 4)
In the end, a cheerful night was had by all, CDs were sold and
I'm sure everybody wishes Daz and the other Stoners all the
very best for the CD's success. (Go
to Daryl's MySpace
page for more info) |
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