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January
 
gig report / The gig that wasn't a gig turns out to be the first gig o' the year 28.1.19

Rick's daughter has a Joplinesque ball with a fan and an all-star band
Rick Evans' Australia Day special
29.1.19 - Of course I'd heard about it somewhere, sometime, a rumour here, a rumour there, but I'd never received an actual request to attend the legendary Australia Day festivities at Rick Evans' rural property in the wilds of Upper Beaconsfield. In the event, it was Brenden Mason who rang me and asked if I'd be interested in singing a couple of (my) songs with him and the Madders after their set at 2.00pm approx. The Indelibles' gig in Maldon set for the previous day had sunk without trace so there was no logistical reason I shouldn't make it quite comfortably.
I couldn't help but notice the audience was a Who's Who of '60s and '70s' rock and pop musos plus their families - Marcie Jones opened the gate for me as I arrived for heaven's sake! I chatted with numerous of them too - Bobby Bright, Ronnie Charles, Normie Rowe, Gil Matthews, Mark Kennedy, Pip Joyce, Marcie Jones, Roger McLaughlin and so many more.
I was in the middle of such a conversation in fact when there was an urgent call for me from the stage - and the Madders hadn't even done their set yet. It turned out that they couldn't find their singer Michael O'Laughlin or their bassist Kerry McKenna who was s'posed to be helping back me as well. I was sure I'd seen Kerry stumbling
around somewhere in the crowd so a call was put out for him over the PA and sure enough he materialised in a matter of moments.
I'd already announced our first song, It's a Lottery, so we launched into it straight away. It went OK but it sounded a bit out of tune to me so I was happy I wasn't playing guitar in the next two numbers. After Kerry had significantly tweaked his bass guitar's tuning (!) we were on to the crowd fave I'll Be Gone (Someday I'll have money) and Esmeralda with its bonus extended ending, which caught Aztec's Gil Matthews (guesting with the Madders on drums) a bit by surprise.
Many thanks to the Madders, and Brenden Mason in particular of course, for going out their way to help me out on the day.Rick was just thrilled that I had turned up and performed, but I got some very nice comments after the set, including from Normie Rowe who proclaimed I'll Be Gone his fave Oz song..
Later on in the arvo it got very, very hot and, old dude that I am, I was starting to feel the strain of the heat and the constant socialising and left surreptitiously before suffering a total meltdown.
 
 
 
 
 
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