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Mike
blinded by the light.(Newman) |
gig
report
Sun.
26. 6.16 Spectrum at the St Andrews pub
An
edgy day at St Andrews
28.6.16 - I'm speaking entirely
for myself re' the edgy thing. Firstly I managed
to leave home fifteen minutes late, which meant
a perfect set-up was mandatory, not just desirable.
As a result we started ten minutes late and I had
to suffer an un-gelled light shining in my eyes
for the entire first set (pic) - not to
mention the unwanted reverb on my vocals. Sigh!
It should've been a homecoming of sorts. A good-sized
crowd was on hand, including our friends the Scallops,
(whom I didn't get to speak to at all), the Drs'
Sellers and my son Chris, who came up with a party
from Vermont St and who was thrilled to busting
just to be there. Amongst many others, of course.
I ended up amalgamating the second and third sets
and I'm betting we weren't the only ones relieved
when we finally ground to a halt. |
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1)
Lee Bradshaw, ol' codger, Aaron Schembri 2) Mike
with signed Epiphone guitar |
A
busy day for Mike
23.6.16 - First I had to buy
a new B harp before rocking back up to the Burwood
Sound Studios for the session with Aaron Schembri
and putting down vocals and harp on Aaron's song,
A Man's Gotta Do.. (I've heard that title
somewhere before..)
Then Maria and I headed down to the Myeloma
Foundation to sign yet another guitar for the trivia
night this coming Saturday night. |
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Lost
Ragas - Shane, me, Simon, Roger and Matt |
I'll
Be Gone gets another treatment
21.6.16 - I arrived at the studio on time
and knocked, but I had to actually ring the studio
to gain entry. I was surprised to be greeted by
Simon Burke, whom Bill and I played with at Jeff's
Shed eons ago, at which time he was playing keyboards.
He's playing drums (!) with Matt Walker's Lost
Ragas, along with Roger Bergodaz, bass (and
studio engineer), Shane Reilly, pedal steel, and
of course Matt Walker on guitar and vocals.
They played me their version of IBG and
I was very impressed. The pedal steel gives it a
slightly country feel, but the arrangement opens
out at the end with a key change and harmonies that
reminded me of Traffic. Anyway, I think
you'll like their version as much as I do.
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Noonamah,
oh Noonamah!
1)
Matt Taylor tells a tall tale 2) The Marky Greig
and Stu Woods' partnership continues to endure 3)
Wilbur Wilde
gig report
Sat.
11 6.16 Spectrum at the Noonamah Blues Festival
A
funny thing happened on the way to the airport..
14.6.16 - It wasn't that funny
really - well, not at the time anyway. Robbo was
a little late, but we managed to leave Mt Waverley
at about 5.10 for our Virgin flight scheduled to
take-off at 7.55 for the inaugural Noonamah Blues
Festival, about forty minutes out of Darwin in the
NT. An hour and a half later we'd just hit the Domain
Tunnel and the mood was getting quite tense, but
when we got onto the Bolte Bridge the pace quickened
and we still gave ourselves an even chance of getting
to Tullamarine by 7.15.
It was actually 7.30 - a total journey time of 2hrs
and 20 mins for what is usually a 45 min journey-
when we finally got to the Virgin counter to be
told that we weren't going to be allowed to embark.
Our disappointment was palpable (understatement)
but we managed to arrange an alternative flight
for the following morning, (losing half of our performance
fee to cover the cost of three air-tickets in the
process) and then book a room for three (with two
queen-size beds) in what turned out to be a flea-pit
five minutes from the terminal, just so we could
be back at the same Virgin counter by 6.00 the next
morning.
This time we made it OK and with the hour stop-over
in Sydney on the way landed at Darwin airport at
about 2.15 (local time) to be picked up by Daryl,
(who had actually checked in on time the previous
night and flown up with the rest of the crew) and
Bullet, our genial driver for the next couple of
days. We were driven directly to the site to meet
up with The Giants' Stu Woods and the Noonamah Tavern's
owner and festival promoter, David 'Spokes' Wheeler
before checking in to our cabins at the Humpty Doo
Hotel some ten minutes down the road from Noonamah.
We chose to try and rest up rather than catch some
of our co-performers in action, but did manage to
catch Matt Taylor's performance (pic 1)
back at the festival before taking the stage (the
back of a truck) for Spectrum's one and only performance
as the festival's headline act finishing up the
Saturday night's proceedings with a 90 minute set
of Spectrum faves and some actual blues tunes. Like
everybody else we were using the backline provided,
but we managed to make a reasonable fist of it and
got a large portion of the crowd to come to the
front of the stage to dance and otherwise enjoy
the music.
The next day the chaps wandered over to the Humpty
Doo pub and jammed with Peter Leslie and the Castaways
while I pottered around back at the festival site
and finally made a guest appearance on a harp I
borrowed from Stu Woods during Wilbur Wilde's set
with The Giants to round off the festival.
All there was to do now was to hang around Humpty
Doo most of Monday till being picked up by Bullet
in a bigger bus plus trailer from Humpty Doo with
the rest of the crew and taken to Darwin airport
where I managed to have a meaningful conversation
with Wilbur before we finally embarked on our Virgin
flight home to a less than tropical welcome at Tullamarine.
I think the inaugural Noonamah Blues Festival was
a modest success and I'm sure it could have a future
if they can find the will to persevere. Stuart Woods
is to be commended for his persistent belief in
Spectrum and his willingness to employ us in his
off-the-wall capers. Despite our disastrous start
the band enjoyed the novelty of playing in the NT
for the first time and would hope we get the chance
to visit again. Special thanks to Bullet and Spokes
and anybody else with an odd nick-name I might've
forgotten.
Next! |
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Mike
and the JamMan wonder who's kissing her now |
gig
report
Wed.
8.6.16 Mike solo at the Lomond Hotel
Jam
and jitters at Lomond Acoustica
9.6.16 - Rodney Claringbould's
Wednesday acoustic sessions have moved from the
Clifton Hill pub to the Lomond Hotel after many,
many years and I think the move has been a positive
one. The atmosphere is definitely warmer and friendlier
at the Lomond and the sound is less fragile too.
I'm not sure what it is, but I inevitably get jittery
at these nights and the change in venue made no
difference. After I'd stumbled through my contribution,
I hurriedly packed up my few things and Maria drove
me home for a consolation cuppa with toast and sour-cherry
jam. |
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Spectrum
/ Ariel rips through a magical mystery tour of songs
(Deb) |
gig
report
sun.
5.6.16 1st BASE + Spectrum/Ariel + Glyn Mason at
the Caravan Music Club re-Visionary show
A
splendid arvo at the Caravan Club
6.6.16 - Sunday was a miserable
day weather-wise, but who cares? We were all safely
inside at the Caravan Club and all the tables and
chairs were sold and there was standing room only.
1st BASE was up first and I thoroughly enjoyed the
experience of playing with my heroes, George Butrumlis
and Jeremy Alsop, even if it was for only thirty
minutes.
Then the band plus Glyn Mason romped through two
sets encompassing forgotten and never-played songs
from who knows when, |
as well as
a fistful of faves, of course. But it took quite
a bit of work to get the band up to speed with songs
like Play a Song That I Know, Drifting, Rock
Critic, Real Meanie and Glyn's Redwing
and I'll Not Fade Away demanding a deal
of concentration from every member of the band.
My thanks to 1st BASE's George and Jeremy and to
the Spectrum band members including our special
guest Glyn Mason for stepping outside their comfort
zones and putting in the rehearsal time. Thanks
to Pete Dacy for providing the handiest of rehearsal
spaces at Secret Sound and to Laneway Records' Vincent
Donato and the Caravan Club's Peter Foley for suggesting
the gig in the first place and organising the nuts
and bolts.
But mostly, thanks to you for being there
and helping make the re-Visionary concert
(that's what we used to call 'em) the notable success
it was. |
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Geoff
from Doppler frantically fiddles with the Leslie |
gig
report
Thurs.
2.6..16 Spectrum + Glyn Mason at te 303 Bar Northcote
Off-Broadway
gig does the job
3.6.16 - It's a bit unfair
to characterise the Hammond night at the 303 Bar
in Northcote as an off-Broadway gig, but that's
exactly what it was. The Caravan Club on Sunday
is our Broadway gig in this case and we've had precious
little time to do any more than get the songs learnt
with no time to develop a 'group groove'. I was
actually quite thrilled when we started, but my
voice quickly succumbed to the garbage that's been
coming up from my lungs for the last week.
That being said It was an OK night, but we'll need
to sprinkle some fairy dust on Sunday to provide
the necessary magic. |
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