1) Dave's frankly not convinced 2) Paul Murphy (left) introduces Ken and Rosemary lately from the Hunter Valley
gig report
St Andrews Hotel Sun. 16.8.09
St Andrews springs a leak!
17.8.09 - It was a blustery day with the occasional shower on Sunday, and when we arrived there was a leak in the ceiling over the stage, right about where the drum kit was to be set up. I knew it wouldn't do any good, but I had a go at gaffering up the offending cracks - and, as I thought, it didn't do any good. If anything it made it worse. St Andrews is St Andrews, and it's never bad, but the audience were the stars on the day, right down to Barry Murnane requesting Health Kick, having cracked a rib doing yoga, (!). Oh, and I sold out of copies of Breathing Space Too - again.

gig report
5 Decades of Cool epic goes off spectacularly
15.8.09 - There was a rehearsal at the Palais on Thursday, but I'd anticipated that the soundcheck on Friday might be a little more complicated and planned on not going home before the show. This made for a long afternoon, but also gave me an appreciation of the effort that Ross was personally putting in to the show. He had quite a number of guests apart from myself, but being the one constant (apart from drummer Haydn) meant that he was on-stage for the duration - of the rehearsals, the soundcheck and then the show itself. I conjectured that had I been in his position I would have been a mental and physical wreck, and that would've been before the show even got under way.

The Party Machine soundcheck was uneventful, but I'd forgotten about Jimmy Barnes being on the show and I managed to surprise him with a sneak pic attack, (pic 4) which he took in good spirits. I watched him run through his paces with Ross (pic 5) and I can tell you that all the jokes about Jimmy not needing fold-back are true.
After the soundcheck I wandered off to grab a burger in Ackland St, and about twenty minutes before I was due to go on I tuned Bill's bass (thanks Bill) and stuck my (only) plectrum under the strings. About five minutes before I was due to go on stage I put on the guitar again, only to discover to my horror that the pick had disappeared! I was quite panic stricken, but borrowed stage manager Julia's torch and eventually located it on the dark back stage floor with a couple of minutes to spare.
I'd been chatting earlier to Brenden Mason, who was there as part of the Asylum video crew, and I jokingly mentioned how easy was it was to miss notes on this unfamiliar and over-sized instrument, and bugger me, I found myself playing half a tone down for about a bar before I picked it up in Virgins, the first Party Machine number! I don't think anybody noticed, and thankfully the next number, Woman of The World, went (mostly) OK. I think a lot of people were surprised that Ross invited me to sing I'll Be Gone - I know I was - and it was a very generous gesture.. Mind you, I think a lot of people were more surpriised to see me playing bass - Aztec's Ted Lethborg wasn't aware that I played bass with the Party Machine, for instance.
To sum up; I'm sure Ross Wilson followers, casual and dedicated, would've been well pleased with the concert. It showcased Ross' various talents admirably, and I think you'd be carping if you objected to the absence of the full Daddy Cool line-up for instance. Sure, Ross' extremely capable MD, John McAll was replaced by James Black on keyboards for the Mondo songs for 'authenticity's sake', but, in any case, whatever you think, it was Ross' call and Ross is the Boss, after all.
The 5 Decades of Cool could be viewed as a retrospective on an ongoing career - that Ross has made a successful musical career for himself in a country that is historically mean to its artists must be a source of considerable pride, and even moreso that it's not been at the expense of his musical ideals.

* If you were there, try and pick yourself out in the large pic taken by the slightly inebriated tambourine player.

Breathing Space Too
Reviews, interviews and other news..
13.8.09 - I missed the Billy Pinnell rave on the Denis Walter's 3AW show on Tuesday arvo, so I'm not sure what was said and if a track was played - if you heard it you might let me know. In the meantime, we're accumulating bulk interviews and radio appearances. Of the interviews already done you can listen to an interview I did with Michael Pursche from his 'Sitting in a bar in Adelaide' show and a very relaxed interview I did with John Broughton goes to air Tuesday week August 25th at 10.00pm on 3SER 97.7fm or streaming online at www.3ser.org.au. Bill and I are to make an appearance on Gary Young's Chicken Mary Show on Triple R next Monday the 17th at about 3.00 or shortly thereafter and we'll have our guitars with us, so we'll probably play a couple of tunes.
We have the first published review (of both EPs) to contemplate from Martin Jones in this month's Rhythms. (If you've not come across Rhythms before you should check it out at your local newsagent). There's another on-line review from the kids at TheDwarf.com.au and while they're still admonishing us for not being serious enough, by comparison with the review for the first EP it's almost a bloody rave-up. (Incidentally, there are excellent pics taken by Carbie at our last show at the Lomond Hotel you can access form the Dwarf site).
I'll let you know about some more upcoming interviews soon.

The trio goes slightly potty in Foster

1) The Rhythm Café's Michael Blyth stands on tip-toes 2) Frank and Theresa standing in for the absent Shirley
gig report
The Rhythm Café Sat. 8.8.09
The gang's all here, but where's Shirley?
10.8.09 - The last time we were in Foster was back in February for Mary Ann Ahern's birthday party, so it was good to hear from The Rhythm Café's Michael Blyth (pic 1) that the Aherns had booked a table for the show that night. (Thanks for the T-shirts, Paul). Michael has been saying for ever that he wants to sell the place, so I was rather surprised to find that he was still there when I rang on spec a month or so back. He told me then that that he'd broken his right arm while pruning a tree and wasn't sure if he'd be able to play his sax with us this time around, but when we arrived the plaster had gone - and the master blaster was back!
Our friend Shirley, who always comes to our Foster shows, wasn't able to make it this night and we missed her, but her friends Frank and Theresa (pic 2) bought an EP for her, so I hope that's some consolation for not being there in person.
We stayed up late after the show and Robbo and I ate a family-sized bar of chocolate between us as we watched the cricket and the first half of the Wallabies v Springboks match, which might help explain why I didn't sleep a wink that night.. When will I learn?

Fi's Big Fun Night

1) The trio poses with the Fun Night hostess Lil' Fi 2) Hugh McSpedden's not sure if he's too pleased to see Mike
gig report
The Big Fun Night Arthurs Creek Hall Sat. 1.8.09
Red shirts all round at Arthurs Creek
2.8.09 - It was Lil' Fi (pic 1) who had the notion of reuniting the people affected by the Black Saturday fires with some of the artists who donated their time to the various bushfire benefits earlier in the year, and it all came together at the Arthurs Creek Mechanics Hall on Saturday night. Arthurs Creek is about half an hour past Hurstbridge on the St Andrews side of town, and the road's hairy enough on a dark, damp night, even without kangaroos - we had one pop out of the bush and hop along the road in front of us for a while. (This way, boys, it seemed to be saying).
When we arrived at the Arthurs Creek Hall, Robbo spotted Bill's torch at the gate and we were soon loading our gear into the Green Room behind the stage, bustling with belly dancers, children with fiddles (and hobby horses), various musicians and volunteer kitchen staff. Bobby Bright said there must've been a sale on red shirts, because he and I and Leslie Avril were wearing 'em.
To cut a long story short, it was a hugely successful night, with acts as diverse as you could ever wish to see strutting their stuff to a good natured and appreciative audience. It was good to catch up with Hugh McSpedden too, (pic 2) and at one stage in our set Bill drew my attention to the images of us past and present that Hugh was projecting on the wall behind us.
Well done Fi - and we all wish you and Dirk the best of luck when you move back to NSW in the next few weeks.