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1)
Lyn, Heather and Maree toast Spectrum's year 2) The Drs Sellers
danced the arvo away with the Trollops |
3) Kath
snaps Syl and Geoff hobnobbing with Mike and Bill |
gig
report
St Andrews Hotel Sun. 27.11.11
St
Andrews Christmas break-up
28.11.11 - It was too quiet when I arrived
at St Andrews, but luckily some people heeded my advice about
this being Spectrum's last St Annies' gig for the year and made
it into the celebration I'd hoped it would be. The core group
of Trollops made it (pic 1) as did the Sellers (pic
2) and I was surprised to see rel's Kath, Geoff and Syl
in the frame too. (pic 3)
Daz reminded us that Christmas was imminent by dispensing
Chrissy presents to the band and Baz* and Pam came all the way
down from Warby to give Bill and me some Chrissy plonk. Hooray! |
| *
Check out Baz's video of Spectrum performing Fly
Without its Wings at St Andrews |
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Moulin
Rouge b'day girl Deb shows her appreciation |
gig
report
Deb's 50th Sat. 26.11.11
Indifferent
weather only inflames passions
27.11.11 - It poured in the morning, so
much so I couldn't imagine it continuing all day - but it did.
When Bill and I arrived at South Oakleigh, Plan B was being
executed and the band was being relocated to the recreation
room cum shed in the backyard. Fortunately, while it
was very wet, it wasn't too cold and the guests, all attired
in fancy dress, were happy to gravitate around the band under
the tarps that kept the worst of the elements at bay.
I mixed up the sets so when people started to dance we could
keep them happy and Deb's Lance (O'Reilly) joined us on fiddle
for an Irish jig (!) late in the night. A lot of the guests
actually knew who we were too - it was a fun night. |
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| The
(old) boys are back in Adelaide town..
1)
Lynley, Bernd Rohrmann and Arnold Upmeyer 2) The brothers
Miller welcome Bill to the SA Debonairs' luncheon
3)
Bill, Bill, Wendy and Peter at the Caffe Casalinga 4) Kerry
and Martin Philcox are
talking up another Variety gig
5)
Lesley (left) and her mates at the Willunga Golf Club 6) Sox
(right) and his very happy mate at the Whitmore
7)
The Semaphore's Dave Pearse chats to Daryl 8) Artist Stewart
MacFarlane and friends at the Semaphore
gig
report
Clifton Hill Hotel Mon. 14.11.11 Caffe Casalinga Wed. 16.11.11
Brahma Lodge Hotel Thurs. 17.11.11Willunga Golf Club Fri.
18.11.11 Whitmore Hotel Sat. 19.11.11 Semaphore Workers Club
Sun. 20.11.11
A
mixed grill for Spectrum in SA
22.11.11 - The week really started with
the 'spontaneous' party on Monday night at the Clifton Hill
Hotel thrown by Bernd Rohrmann for his friend Arnold
Upmeyer (pic 1) who was over from Berlin. Many thanks
are due to the Clifton Hill's Paul, who authorised the use
of the room at the last moment.
Bill stayed at my place over night so we could get away for
SA promptly the next morning - which effort was completely
undone when I discovered forty minutes into the journey that
I'd left my wallet at home!
Nevertheless, we arrived in Adelaide not too late that evening
and stopped off at the Millers' place where Geoffrey invited
us to the Debs' lunch the next day. I have to say that the
SA version of the Debonairs' monthly lunch is quite different
to the Melbourne version. The first thing we noticed was that
the level of conversation was positively muted by comparison,
and the acts, musical and doggerel in this case, were listened
to with rapt attention - Bill and I were even encouraged to
advertise our Adelaide schedule to the politely interested
crew. There was something funny with the fish & chips
Bill and I ordered, but even then we suffered no appreciable
ill effects. I can't quite put my finger on it except to say
it was a thoroughly Adelaide experience.
Our first gig was at the Caffe Casalinga in picturesque Hahndorf
nestled in the Adelaide Hills. Because it was a pizza parlour
it was kind of like doing the Beach House in Victor Harbor,
except it wasn't in Victor Harbor, it was Wednesday rather
than Thursday and it was just Bill and me rather than the
whole band. And it was pretty quiet too, but it it felt different
enough doing the duo thing in SA, so we enjoyed it. It was
good to catch up with Kerry and Martin (pic 4) who
usually run the Variety Club gig at the Lobethal Bierhaus,
which we weren't able to fit in this time.
Thursday night was the Brahma Lodge Hotel. There were a few
snorts when we told the Debonairs about this one, but we found
the audience, (such as it was - I don't really think Thursday
night is a goer in Brahma Lodge), was enthusiastic enough
and bought a load of CDs.
Friday was our first time at the Willunga Golf Club restaurant
and, as it's a fair way out of town we were relieved to see
a pretty good house in attendance. I think it's fair to say
that everybody thoroughly enjoyed the night and I'm sure we'll
be back there again.
Saturday night was the Whitmore Hotel in the heart of Adelaide.
We usually do the Whitmore on the Friday and I don't know
if this influenced anything, but the numbers were a bit down
this time. It's a very live room at the best of times, so
it was a challenge to keep it sounding good, but I think we
pulled it off. Bill and I had dropped into Radio Adelaide
for a chat in the afternoon and Sox (pic 6) returned
the favour.
The final gig on Sunday evening was a welcome return to the
Semaphore Workers Club. Everything seemed to fall into place
this time round - the gear was set up and sound checked in
plenty of time and the on-stage sound was perfect from the
word go. The crowd was in the mood and so were we, so it was
a great finish to the tour. There's already been some discussion
with our agent, Peter Serk, as to when and where the next
SA tour will be. We always enjoy ourselves in SA, so I'm sure
it won't be too long before we're back.
9)
Chopped Liver emerges from the shadows 10) A moody shot of
Bill (shots by Michael Hunter)
*See But That's Alright recorded at the Semaphore on YouTube
(Thanks
to Michael Hunter)
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1)
Ash Naylor and Jim Keays run over It's Because I Love You 2)
Super Panel of ex-coaches imparts its wisdom
gig report
Myeloma Foundation
corporate lunch at The Palladium at Crown Fri. 11.11.11
Business
of Winning Luncheon - 'Tough room,' somebody said..
11.11.11 - It's that time of year
(already) and all the rooms at The Palladium at Crown were humming.
Steve Roach, who'd organised the Masters of Rock night
for the Myeloma Foundation at the Hi Fi Bar a couple of months
back had invited me to do my party trick at this lunchtime fundraiser
at the Palladium, but he was surprised to see me there so early.
I'd erred on the conservative side for sure, although he should've
known that if Bill had been with me we would've been there a
whole day early. I dropped my stuff in the Green Room
and popped outside to sit in the sun and watch the people promenading
by the river. When I was going back up the escalator I realised
the long-haired dude ahead of me was none other than Jim Keays,
the reason I'd put up my hand in the first place. Jim's having
a tough time with the myeloma at the moment, but his spirit's
indomitable - I told him he's a pioneer, copping all the shit
now that we're all inevitably going to go through, but I'm not
sure that made him feel any better.
After the sound check Jim, Ash Naylor and I posed for a photo
with David Parkin, Tom Hafey, John Kennedy and Ron Barassi,
the real stars of the show, before finding our table
and having a bite. And a chat. Then Steve said I was on - and
just moments later, I was.
Doing I'll Be Gone acapella was going to be hard enough,
but getting people to join in when most of them were still eating
was probably a little too ambitious. Anyway, I got to the other
end (a little quicker than usual) and fled the stage to meet
Jim and Ash coming the other way. They did rather better than
I did, but the conversation level was on the rise before they
got finished. Corporate gigs..
The Panel of Wise Men (or 'Coach Emeritus') was on next and
commanded rapt attention, (apart from one table who were quickly
shushed). They were painlessly interrogated by Mike Derum and
were great value - Tommy Hafey in particular is a miracle of
good health and positive energy. Still, I can't see myself on
a daily regime of swimming and running etc.
Next week Adelaide. |
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1) Rob
Judd dropped in to say 'Aarrrr!' 2) I had an interesting chat
with Ken and Caroline
gig
report
The Bay Hotel Sun. 6.11.11
Crudd
& Pump idle away a Sunday arvo at The Bay
Hotel
7.11.11 - Reflecting on Noam Chomsky's success atttracting
an audience to his lecture, (see this month's Pith &
Wind), I remembered to advise my FaceBook network we were
playing at The Bay yesterday arvo, but I forgot to survey the
modest audience on hand. 'Modest' is a step up from 'sparse',
so maybe it had a positive effect. My mood plummeted at the
end of the day when I discovered I'd got a parking ticket (!)
but overall it was an enjoyable day from our perspective. It
was good to see Rob Judd again (pic 1) and we got plenty
of feedback to the effect that people had thoroughly enjoyed
the arvo. I'll have to sort out the parking before the next
time.. |
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BNG's
guitarist makes a move
|
gig
report
Musicland Fawkner Thurs. 3.11.11
The
trio's unreality check
4.11.11 - I was a little hesitant about
taking this gig on in the first place. Firstly it was a Thursday
night and secondly, well, it was a night, so we weren't
too surprised to find that the expected crowd wasn't actually
in the room when we arrived. (The 'expected' bit was based on
the previous month of Thursdays where they've been averaging
eighty or ninety plus - somebody suggested that it was because
it was Oaks Day, but that seemed a little far-fetched, not that
a few drunken lasses wouldn't have brightened up the room).
Perennial Musicland supporters BNG (pic) played the
opening set before we took to the stage. We'd been told there
was a back-line, but I brought my amp anyway - I've never quite
mastered Marshalls - and the on-stage sound was crisp and altogether
very enjoyable. In fact, the entire set (we did only the one)
was a lot of fun and we were inundated with admirers after the
show, so we must've done something right. |
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