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Mark
Holden with Mike on 774 |
Mark
Holden gives As Well some Breathing Space
6.10.11 - Technically and in every
other way it's actually October, but following on from a slow
ending to the last month it's been an even slower start to the
current one. Mark Holden? Actually Mark has always been a major
Spectrum fan, which may seem at odds with his Australlian Idol
image - and you'd devoutly hope so, of course. I've always had
a soft spot for Mark ever since Bill and I visited him at his
home in LA back in the late '70s. Mark laughingly dispensed
these blunderbuss-shaped guns that shot off ping pong balls
at a great rate accompanied with the instruction that there
was only one rule; the game was never over. A few hours later
I think he was regretting that particular rule as Bill and I
persisted ping-ponging him and his guests despite his increasingly
desperate pleas for us to desist. I'm indebted to Mark for inviting
me on his show today and talking to me - and Max in LA - and
playing Soul Man. It's a great story and it was touching
to hear how moved Max obviously was. Thanks Mark! |
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It's
Grand Final Eve in Melbourne
1)
Who's that man with the P bass, mummy? 2 Suzanne demands her
photo not be taken..
3) The
crowd gets revved up by some obliging entertainers 4) The pipes,
the pipes are calling..
gig
report
Carlton
Football Club GFE luncheon - Melb. Town Hall 30.9.11
Mike &
Bill go to town
30.9.11 - Given
that our recent trips into town have been marred by extortionate
parking fees, Bill and I decided to train it into town for our
Carlton Football Club Grand Final Eve luncheon gig at the Town
Hall where we'd been engaged by the ever-considerate Wally Bishop
to perform just the one song (yes, that song) with
our young friends, The Wesley College Big Band. As we had to
be there at 9.30, we hauled our sad old arses out of my place
at 8.00 to catch a train at the Mt Waverley station and quite
enjoyed the trip in to town, apart from one of those unexplained
delays after we left the Richmond station.
After our 10.00 sound check we had plenty of time to mosey on
down to say hullo to Suzanne at The Basement Discs (pic
2) before wandering back to the Town Hall for our 1.20
spot. We saw most of the parade (pic 3) and although
I had to fix a couple of reeds that had jammed on my harp, the
actual performance went pretty smoothly. I like the public transport
lark.. |
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1)
My namesake Marilyn Rudd and her guitarophile friend 2) Laurie
Richards (left) put in a rare appearance |
3) Chopper
and Anita Monk jointly dazzle the lens.. |
gig
report
The Fleece Hotel Thurs. 22.9.11
Stairway
to Hell
23.9.11 - You should be careful what you
wish for. Bill and I arrived at The Fleece a bit earlier than
usual to allow ourselves more recovery time after the load-in,
and the strategy worked pretty well, too. Jimmie Sloggett couldn't
make it, but we still out-numbered the audience two to one when
we started the first set. Thankfully, by the time the second
set was underway there were a few more bodies in the room and
by their reaction they were enjoying what we were doing as much
as we were.
Sadly that'll be our last performance at The Fleece. Special
thanks to Julie Cavanagh for always making us feel welcome.
I shan't miss the stairs though.. |
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The
History of Australian Rock no less..
1)
Russell 'the Hernia' Morris grins for the camera 2) Speaking
of mugging, the Drs Sellers' had a rockin' night |
3) Madder
Lake riffed like anything till the cows eventually came home
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gig
report
Australian History of Rock - Trak Lounge Bar 16.9.11
Oz
Rock night at the Trak
17.9.11 - The concept of putting some vintage '70s acts
together under a grandiose banner has been well established
in Aztec's Rock of Ages series, but the venue, the
Trak Lounge Bar, (formerly the Trak Cinema), was an unknown
factor and the lead in time was modest, so success certainly
wasn't guaranteed. The idea was hatched by Madder Lake's Debbie
Kaye and Premier Artists' Frank Stivala and there are reportedly
quite a few similar proposals in the pipeline hinging on the
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night's success. I'll be interested
to see how the numbers stacked up.
I'd not been to the Trak before and so I meekly repeated the
suggestions that it was 'swish' - and I suppose it might hold
some superficial allure to the casual punter, but I found nearly
everything about the place tedious and unnecessary. That might
just be me, because the stage itself was spacious enough, the
crew did their best for us and we actually quite enjoyed our
set, not least 'cause it was at a reasonable hour, but the stage
sound was quite acceptable too. There being no compere to hold
proceedings together lent a certain impromptu feel to the night,
but I can't say that troubled me. (Asylum TV was there, so there'll
be some footage eventually on Channel 31).
I felt for the punters though. There was virtually no seating
and the night seemingly stretched into infinity. Bill and I
stayed for most of the Madders' set, (pic 3) but when
the opportunity arose to simultaneously rescue the van from
being trapped in the carpark and get access to the goods lift
to ferry our gear out, we gratefully took it.
Dr Wazz (pic 2) stayed for Russell Morris (pic
1) and said he was very entertaining and he didn't seem
affected by his recent hernia operation, so he already did better
than I did. (See The fickle finger of fate.. on the
ASR page)
Poor old Jim had the 'prime spot', which of course was far too
late for anyone our age, unless you were having a flashback
that you were at Bananas.
4)
Dr Wazz sent me this composite pic of Spectrum in mid-flight
at the Trak Lounge Bar |
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Mike
holds on to Deb McGrath |
gig
report
The Bay Hotel Sun. 11.9.11
Crudd
& Pump survive Sunday massacre
12.9.11 - Of course, there was no massacre
in downtown Mordialloc, but I'm sure there was one somewhere
and the point is, we survived it. I was in full flushing meadows
head cold mode so I was looking forward to playing as it has
the singular effect of clearing my head - I think it's the adrenalin.
Whether there would be anybody else in the room to savour the
moment is always the question - it's always better to imagine
there'll be absolutely nobody so that when somebody does arrive
it's a bonus. Anyway, we were pleasasntly surprised when a dozen
or so people arrived with the professed intention of seeing
Bill and me struggle through the afternoon on our own. Robbo's
friends, the McGraths, turned up en masse (pic) and
hung around to the death and I sold a couple of As Well
EPs to boot. You will never hear us play quieter, so maybe if
you're the sensitive type you should contemplate coming along
to The Bay next time we're in Mordialloc.. |
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1) Normie
Rowe shakes all over in rehearsal 2) Bill enjoys his very own
fanfare for the common Bill (see large
pic) |
3) Mike
enjoys being surrounded by The Trollops plus.. |
gig
report
VTA
Awards Palladium at Crown Sat. 3.9.11 St Andrews pub Sun. 4.9.11
Thank
God for The Trollops!
5.9.11 - But first, the slightly mysterious
VTA Awards at Palladium at Crown, which required that Bill and
I rehearse (!) with the Wesley College Big Band at Wesley College
(see story below) and then front up for a sound check at 4.30
at Crown the following day for the performance (much later)
of two songs, I'll Be Gone, (of course), and more surprisingly
Matt Taylor's I Remember When I Was Young, plus I was
to sit in with Normie Rowe on harp on Van's On The Bright
Side Of The Road.
In fact, it was all an absolute pleasure, especially being
on the same stage as Normie, (pic 1) who I can report
is looking and sounding as good as ever and is as |
consummate a professional as ever,
especially given he was co-hosting the presentation of the awards
as well as performing. Special mention should also be made of
the Wesley kids under the guidance of Peter Foley who were extremely
patient and disciplined and generally a credit to the school.
I'm not sure how it happened, but this year we managed to score
Fathers Day at the St Andrews pub as well as Mothers Day. It
has to be said that the dads weren't nearly as keen as the mums
to hang around and have a good time and if it weren't for The
Trollops turning up in force (pic 3) we'd have had
hardly anybody in the room by the end of the day. Ah well,
I retired to bro' Dick's after the show and celebrated Fathers
Day with Dick and a damn fine pinot (supplied by his daughter
Lizzie) and everything soon seemed right with the world again... |
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Fun,
fun, fun in the CBD..
1)
The crowd builds up at The Basement Discs 2) Patrick is stunned
by my sneaky paparazzo move
3) Young
fans queue up to get their signed CDs 4) Dave Graney was an
hour or so late
gig
report
The Basement Discs Fri. 2.9.11
At
last! The EP is officially launched!
2.9.11 - Well, perhaps the curse
on this EP has finally lifted - or perhaps there never was a
curse and we just needed the official imprimatur of a Friday
lunchtime launch at The Basement Discs. It's been a tradition
for the last few years - since the release of Living On
A Volcano late last century in fact - so perhaps we shouldn't
fight it. Anyway, it was a perfect spring day in Melbourne and
we got the gear set up in plenty of time and there was a good
crowd on hand (pic 1) by the time Patrick (pic
2) stepped onto the stage to prep the peeps on what they
were about to receive. I always imagine we should be playing
for an hour, but in fact it's always half an hour, as Suzanne
patiently explained yet again. It went very fast anyhow, but
everybody seemed to enjoy it immensely and dutifully queued
up to get their signed copies of the EP. (pic 3) Many
thanks go to the tenor sax meister, Jimmie Sloggett,
for adding the vital fifth dimension to our performance.
Once all the formalities were dispensed with, Bill and
I joined Maria Gravias and her ACT friend Karin for a pleasant
lunch in Block Place, after which we returned to TBD to finish
packing up - where we were greeted by Dave Graney, who apologised
for missing the show by an hour or so. (pic 4)
Another outrageous ($51.00) parking fee later (what is going
on there?) and Bill and I were headed to Wesley College for
a rehearsal with Peter Foley's Wesley College Big Band. But
that's another story..
Order
your copy (or copies) of Breathing Space As Well from the CDs
page. You can also check out the clip for the Max Merritt
tribute song, Soul Man, on the Videos
page. |
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