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May
 
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1st BASE - Mike, George Butrumlis and Jeremy Alsop
1st BASE ready to stroll
27.5.16 -
The Spectrum/Ariel band rehearsals, with special guest Glyn Mason, have taken up most of my time recently, but in a parallel universe Mike Rudd's 1st BASE has quietly been coming to grips with the ins-and-outs of my oeuvre.
I've had my eye on bassist Jeremy Alsop and piano accordionist George Butrumlis for quite a while, but it was the recent solo gig I did at the Adelaide Fringe that precipitated some phone calls to see if the pair was interested in joining forces with me for this one special gig - with the possibility of more in the future.
The combination of guitar, accordion and upright bass sounds gorgeous and we're all excited. Hooray!
 
     
 

1) Champs lets the 'prog rock' Rudd loose at The Lomond 2) Marg Sellers and Jude Ocean were bystanders
gig report
Sun. 15.5.16 Mike with the Useful Members at The Lomond
Mike's identity crisis at The Lomond
16.5.16 -
Just when I was getting comfortable with being a Cool Rockin' Daddy with Greg Champion and the chaps, I rolled up to the Lomond last night to find that I'd transmogrified into a Useful Member of Society! Thankfully the difference was negligible and I actually remembered quite a bit of what I was supposed to be playing. Marg (pic 2) shouted me a G&T and Wayne (Duncan) wangled me a free meal - I could get used to this sideman business!
 
     
 

Mike sings mostly to himself
gig report
Sun. 8.5.16 Mike at Winelarder
Mothers Day mayhem at Winelarder
9.5.16 -
At just before 4.00 I thought it might be a good idea to warm my voice up and reacquaint myself with the solo set. I'd hardly got started when Maria barged into the room looking quite alarmed and informed me that the gig was advertised on the Winelarder website starting at 5.00 rather than the 6.00 I'd been leading people to believe on FB and this website.
We managed to arrive at Brighton ar a respectable 4.45 and I was underway by the time that people started to drift in, amongst them an old friend I haven't seen in ages, Judy Adshead. The Drs Sellers arrived at 6.00 and Warren just had time to take a couple of pics. (pic)
The four of us ate a scrumptious consolation meal over the road at 10 Greek Plates before heading home for a nice cup of tea.
 
     
 

Spectrum playing the blues in a wash of blue in Warby (MG)
gig report
Sat. 7.5.16 The WHO Club Warburton
A diverting night in Warby
8.5.16 -
Maria to took the call from concerned club owner cum sound engineer Freddie Abela when we were five minutes away from The WHO Club in Warburton, but we managed to get set up in time for the advertised 8.30 start nonetheless. The observant and technically-minded might've noticed that I've changed my set-up to take account of my unbalanced hearing, and the new disposition actually made the small stage seem fractionally roomier than our last show there.
Anyway, the stage sound was pretty good and the crowd on-hand seemed to appreciate the noise we
were producing and demanded I open up the CDs box and get the band to sign CDs and posters at the end of the night. Local identity Robbie Laister played me his 'anagram' of Jamaican Farewell between sets (I liked it) outside the club where the air was pungent with the smell of dope - Warby's that kind of place.
There was also quite a bit of love in the air but nobody picked up on my FB suggestion to wear flowers in their hair. Scott McKenzie would've been disappointed.
 
     
 
Addlebrain oh Addlebrain..

1) Daz in a hat takes a lead break at the Semaphore 2) Geoff Haines has a chat with Mike at the Barristers Block

3) Spectrum at the Christies Beach RSL in Port Noarlunga on Sunday arvo*
gig report
Fri. 29th Semaphore Workers Sat.30th Barristers Block Sun. 1st Christies Beach RSL
Spectrum returns to SA
5.5.16 -
After a nearly two month break, including a holiday in NZ, I jumped into the van with Broc and we headed to Adelaide and the prospect of three quite juicy gigs. Robbo and Daz arrived safely by air on Friday and we set off to the Semaphore Workers Club full of good cheer - until I remembered I'd left the song list back at the accommodation.
That was nothing to my dismay when I found that my voice was way out of match practice, disappearing and reappearing in erratic yodels - and this was just at the sound check! Despite this quite major deficit I managed to get through the night - with nothing to spare - and the slightly smaller crowd than usual (we usually play the Sunday evening there rather than Friday night) seemed unconcerned at the diminished vocals. I hoped for better the next afternoon.
The Saturday was a glorious day weather-wise, which, as we were playing al fresco, was a marvellous omen. The venue was the Barristers Block winery in Woodside, about forty-five minutes from town in an area infested with wineries. I'd been there earlier in the summer to help celebrate Tim Seal's birthday so I was familiar with the lay-out and aware how crucial good weather would be.
We were made very welcome by Martin Philcox, who with his wife Kerry had organised the gig for SA Variety and who introduced us to the winery's MD, Jan Siemelink-Allen, who in turn organised our delicious pies and pizzas before we set-up our equipment.
So far, so good. But as soon as we started playing I knew I was in for another croaky day. Bugger. I suppose this might've contributed to my next memory lapse, because we were just about to start packing up at the end of the day when I was approached by Monica Hart, who wondered if we were going to play Some Good Advice for her partner Geoff Haines (pic 2) as I had agreed per email before I left for SA.
I was able to rally the troops for one more effort - and happily the rendition of Advice turned out to be pretty special with the crowd all up on their feet and partying like it was 1999.
The weather had well and truly turned the next day, but it didn't really matter because we were playing in the cosy confines of the Christies Beach RSL, where the lambs fries and porterhouse steaks are as cheap as chips and taste like they've tasted at RSL's since time immemorial. My voice failed to turn up again but nobody seemed to care and we sold nearly all our CDs and probably would've sold the lot had I cared to mention them to anybody.
All in all it was a typical SA trip and Daz and I drove home into the teeth of an icy southerly feeling tired but happy. I've learnt my lesson though and I'm warming up my voice for this coming weekend even as I write this.

* (pic 1) Stephen Von Der Borch (pic 2) Monica Hart (pic 3) Sam Pickering
 
     
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