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down to the start of the month |
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The
Famous Blue Raincoat in the previously unheard
of Kingsville South with the Drs Sellers and
Jude Ocean to the fore
gig report
Thurs. 25.10.12 The Famous Blue Raincoat
Mike's
solo stint goes surprisingly well
26.10.12 - I was strangely
calm about the prospect of my first solo gig
for months. I'd made up my mind to keep my
hand in re' the repertoire after my last solo
effort and that must've helped, because it
was just a matter of brushing up in the couple
of days I had available to prepare.
The seaside suburb of Kingsville (next to
Williamstown) had hitherto escaped my attention,
so that was a minor revelation to begin the
evening. I shared tapas with the Sellers'
and then retreated to my my purple stool in
the corner and and resumed my spasmodic acquaintance
with Gorgeous George. I kept up a steady level
of chat throughout the two sets, which caught
some by surprise but which I think most found
endearing. For instance, I know James, the
FBR owner, was favourably struck (almost to
the point of hyperventilating) by my preamble
on The Beatles when I was about to launch
into my only cover, She's a Woman.
I made a few minor guitar blemishes over the
night, but all in all it was the most encouraging
solo effort to date. All I have to do now
is keep the momentum going with a series
of solo gigs. |
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1)
The Greaggs met Bill and me at Gus' for brekkie
2) Let's Create's Gaye Reid at the National
Press Club gig
3)
We supported Ralph Clapton at the HOG Rally
4) A very pleasant Sunday arvo at the Brassey
in Barton
gig
report
Thurs.
18 National Press Club Fri. 19 HOG Rally at
the Canberra Racecourse
Sat. 20 Baywaters Resort Batemans Bay Sun.
21The Brassey
A
mixed bag of lollies in Canberra and beyond
23.10.12 - We'd forgotten how difficult
the National Press Club is to play. They've
gone apeshit with the noise insulation, so
it doesn't matter how loud you play, the sound
refuses to congeal. Nevertheless, we gritted
our teeth and persisted until elements of
the crowd yacking round the bar eventually
peeled off and assembled on the dance floor
and jigged about determinedly - and then positively
insisted we play a couple of encores. The
load-out's special too.
The HOG* Rally gig at the Canberra Racecourse
the following evening was on a wholly different
scale. The room was enormous but so was the
PA, and, even as a small-is-beautiful proponent,
I had to concede the on-stage sound was the
best I've ever experienced for volume and
clarity. We were using their backline too
and that was also of high quality. Almost
embarrassing really, 'cause most of the crowd
didn't even arrive in the room till we were
half-way through our set and, apart from a
dozen or so Spectrum stalwarts, nobody really
knew who the hell we were.
Everybody had come to see Ralph (pic 3)
and, of course, he didn't disappoint. We shared
some Harvey James' reminiscences after sound
check.
The next day we decamped to Batemans Bay and
had a lovely lunch of fish 'n' chips on the
water before setting up at the Baywaters Resort,
which felt uncannily like a set from a '70s
sitcom. It sounded nice though and we enjoyed
ourselves, despite half the prospective audience
having elected to cancel out in favour of
the jazz festival down the road.**
The last gig was at The Brassey** back in
Canberra on the Sunday arvo. We discovered
they weren't serving lunch so opted to pop
down the road with the Greaggs (pic 1)
to grab a burger. This took a little longer
than we expected and by the time we got back
a healthy crowd had gathered. (pic 4)
Healthy and good-natured fortunately - everything
came together for this last gig and it felt
like the sort of Spectrum communion we used
to enjoy on a regular basis in the dim distant.
Our agent, Gaye, (pic 2) did the
best she could with us old hippies and we
actually left town pretty contented with the
way things went overall. What's next?
*HOG
- Harley Owners' Group **See Tom Marsh and
Andrew Purdam's thoughts on the Correspondence
page |
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Maree,
Heather and Lyn prove that St Andrews happened
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gig
report
Sun. 14.10.12 St Andrews Pub
St
Andrews a blessed relief..
15.10.12 - I must've
been a bit tired when I uploaded the gig info
to FaceBook and consequently forgot to make
it public. Or maybe it was the blissful spring
weather. Anyway, for whatever reason, the
crowd was as bit light on yesterday, but they
were mostly our good friends and very welcoming.
It was a joy to stretch out and play more
than just the two songs that Bill and I've
been playing exclusively for the past couple
of weeks on the LWTTT tour and, in my case,
it was good to be playing the guitar again.
I think we would've liked another hour to
stretch out further - but all good things
must come to an end.. Next, Canberra! |
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LWTTT
in pics
1)
Mike shows Pam Cleary how the camera works
2) Bill's been having secret elocution lessons
from Jo Shorrock
3)
Glen Shorrock and Glenn A. Baker get too close
4) Billy Thorpe's daughter Lauren at the Sydney
signing
5) Natasha Marich visited us at the Pier
One 6) My publisher, Gus McNeil, does breakfast
The
Long Way to the Top picture show
29.10.12 - Well, I'm
not going to attempt a blow by blow account
of the recent LWTTT tour. I have added some
of the larger and more poignant LWTTT pics
to the Photos
page, which has been suffering from lack of
attention for far too long. The shots you
see here are pretty self explanatory, with
perhaps the exception of pic 5 which
refers to a visit by our old friend Natasha
Marich, who was working in her capacity as
stage manager at the Opera House, just ten
minutes walk away. The whole disposition of
that area of Sydney is a stark reminder to
Melburnians that we're deluding ourselves
if we imagine Melbourne is a tourist destination.
The Bridge and the Opera House, not to mention
the Harbour itself, are simply iconic in global
terms. There's nothing in Melbourne that even
comes close.
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