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1) Crudd
& Pump ply their craft at the Whispering Hills Winery. Where
were you?
2) Wine
afficienado Chris Kay arrived by taxi 3) Alice (who went to
Berties) and Max with half of the dynamic duo |
4) A
dolphin disports itself under the San Remo bridge |
gig
report
Whispering Hills Winery Sat. 19.3.11
Westernport Hotel San Remo Sun. 20.3.11
A
tale of two gigs
21.3.11 - Well, I warned you not to come
crying to me after the event and the Whispering Hills Winery
gig was every bit as idyllic as predicted. It's a shame you
couldn't be there - it's only 30 odd minutes from town - and
there is research being conducted to see if the concept could
be improved. Maybe we'll try a Sunday arvo next time. Anyway,
the weather was perfect, which made for a very pleasant experience
if you were seated at a table outdoors. Chris Kay (pic 2)
is a Whispering Hills habitué and thought the afternoon
a qualified success, the qualification being the dearth of experienced
Spectrum people in the room. |
| The next day might've gone a lot
better had I actually read my own gig guide before we left.
For some reason I had it in my head that the Westernport Hotel
started at 4.00 and as a consequence we were there a couple
of hours earlier than we needed to be. What do you do if you
arrive in San Remo a couple of hours ahead of time on a gorgeous
summer day? Well, first I had lunch and then mooched around
the docks checking out the dolphins disporting themselves under
the bridge as the tide roared in (pic 4) and then went
back inside and had a bit of a lie down before eventually deciding
to load in. In the event there were barely half a dozen people
in the room who were actually there to see us and we struggled
to maintain our enthusiasm. Phil told me that Brod (Smith) and
Dutch Tilders had virtually nobody in the room either, but oddly
that didn't comfort me and I was in a darkly philosophical mood
as we drove home under a swollen moon. |
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1) The
Trollops and Robbo pose while Bill munches his pizza 2) Robbo
introduces his friends, the Hadleys |
3) Mike
is always happy to see Wrokdown's Anita Monk |
gig
report
The Fleece Thurs. 17.3.11
Curiouser
and curiouser - The Fleece rocks on
18.3.11 - To have a regular gig is rare
enough, but a regular gig on a Thursday night has to be considered
an aberration. Perhaps it's because we're not often in town,
but for whatever reason the formula seems to work when Spectrum's
at The Fleece and the crowd is very receptive to boot. Have
I mentioned the stairs? Loading in and out is tiresome for us
old blokes, which just proves we have to have something to bitch
about I suppose.
It was St Patrick's Day of course, and Daryl was pleased he
didn't play at an Irish pub for a change. That I wore my green
shirt was pure coincidence, despite my alleged Celtic ancestory.. |
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1)
'One shirt, two heads,' says Mike 2) The Trollops, plus two
ring-ins, molly-coddle Dr Wazz |
3) Melissa
danced with us once |
gig
report
St Andrews Sun. 13.3.11
The
boys are back out of town
14.3.11 - Had I realised that
it was a long weekend when I was booking it, I might've had
second thoughts, so I was pleasantly surprised when more than
a half decent crowd showed up at St Andrews yesterday. The delight
was compounded when we got to I'll Be Gone and the
audience practically blew us off stage with the fervour of their
singing and we knew we were amongst friends.
Mind you, the day started badly when after Chris and I had communed
at Choclatté I realised that I'd left my harps at home
and we had to double back and retrieve them - then, as we were
setting up, Bill observed that the Trollops had arrived and
I thought he was talking about my lunch and I said 'I didn't
order scallops' and he said 'what?' and McTubby fell about laughing.
To cap off a most satisfactory arvo, Stan ghosted in looking
as well as I've seen him for a year or so and the Sellers' invited
Chris and me home for a meal. Hooray! |
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Pete
Laffy's last gig
1)
That's Pete in his urn with the Hawaiian lei round it 2) The
Foss and his red were there
3)
Alex Formosa makes an inscrutable gesture 4) Big Bobby Valentine
5) Wendy Stapleton's smile
6) Karin
Keays and an unusually distracted Jim Keays 7) Lisa Robbo and
Tracy are clearly having too good a time
8) Wilbur
Wilde's calling you Bill 9) Shane Laffy wearing Pete's shirt
10) Mae Parker lets us have it
Peter
Laffy's Memorial night
3.3.11 - I didn't make it to the
Espy on Saturday night, so I was determined to make it to the
Fad Gallery in Chinatown last night and pay my last respects.
When I got there I half recognised a group of people standing
outside with the smokers, but it wasn't till I was about to
shake hands with him that I realised I was looking at Tony Fossey,
(pic 2) who of course played with Bill and me in The
Heaters and the '84 Spectrum reincarnation - and WHY now that
I think about it.
And so we moved inside. Noisy places aren't my favourite environment,
in fact they're a bit of a trial for someone who hasn't correctly
identified a consonant for years, but after fortifying myself
with a couple of G&Ts I felt a little more relaxed and chatted
with Alex Formosa, (pic 3) Bobby Valentine, (pic
4) Jim Keays (pic 6) and the irrepressible Wilbur
Wilde (pic 8) before the Robbos (pic 7) arrived.
I'd ducked outside to get some air before Bobby V gave us a
fine eulogy on his mate Pete, and then Shane Laffy sang a very
touching song dedicated to his brother and the band began to
play. Not that they were particularly loud but I only lasted
two or three songs before I started to feel that it was time
I should be leaving. Dom had assembled a crowd of chaps to be
photograhed in the lane and I snapped them candidly as a parting
gesture. (see Facebook)
I think I told you that Pete once claimed I was stealing his
riffs, a comment I'll treasure as much or more than an outright
compliment, being from a man who gave his heart and soul to
rock and roll without losing the art of being a true gentleman. |
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