StopPress 93

Rockin’
Ruckers Hill



1)
Haven’t seen Jen and Alana for a while 2) We played at his
50th b’day party but I can’t remember his name..



3)
Robbo was driving his new-ish Gretsch kit 4) Aunty Margaret
was a surprise guest
gig
report
Peacock Inn Sun. 29.5.11
The
trio struts its stuff at the Peacock Inn
30.5.11 – It was a chilly afternoon
in Melbourne yesterday, so I wasn’t too hopeful that at our
first gig in the courtyard at the Peacock Inn in Northcote
a) there’d be a crowd and that b) we would
have a fun time. I was looking forward to it nevertheless
as gigs of any description have been thin on the ground lately
and as it turned out there was already a crowd on hand as
we loaded in and so I started to relax. We got the gig in
the first place as a result of the The Pardoners, who regularly
play there on a Sunday arvo, removing themselves interstate
for a couple of Lizottes’ gigs and nominating us as their
fill-ins – I got a call from Sam See driving down the Hume
this morning asking how it went and if we’d still like to
do the July 3rd date.
My feeling is that on the whole we would -. the crowd was
mostly young but with a fair sprinkling of au fait
boomers and it all seemed to go down very well. There were
one or two there that we knew too, including a surprise visit
from in-laws Marg (pic 4) and Syl Cafarella. And
once the gas heater on the ‘stage’ was turned on, the chill
became less of a factor for the players, so it was quite a
jolly gig all in all. See you in July..

1)
Mike meets fellow Christchurchian Dave Miller (pics
1 & 3 Maz Rudd) 2) Iain McIntyre watches as Linda
Cable speaks

3) Co-authors
Ian Marks and Iain McIntyre wonder if Rudd will ever shut up..

Wild
About You! book launch
26.5.11 – Ian Marks was in full throttle
when I finally arrived after parking the van and so I waited
in the background while Linda Cable (pic 2) and then
an excited Ian McFarlane said their piece. There were several
’60s and ’70s-type identities in the audience, quite a number
of whom I could even put a name to, but perhaps the most unexpected
was Dave Miller, (pic 1) who was one of my heroes in
Christchurch in the early days, but whom I’d never met before.

Chants’
Matt Croke, Marty Forrer and Mike are glowing..
Chants’
summit in Franger
22.5.11 – Last night I was picked up by
Matt Croke, whisked out to Andrew Forrer’s place in Seaford
where Marty and Carol have been staying and thence convoyed
to the Waves on the Beach restaurant in Frankston. Half way
through the night we realised it was a veritable Chants’ summit
and Carol took the accompanying pic so we could say Hi to Trev.
There has been a hint from the John Baker camp that another
Chants’ reunion could be on for the end of the year and for
the moment at least it’s been established that this version
of the band is alive and kicking.
Chants R&B gets an honourable mention in the Wild About
You! book that’s being launched this Thursday night at
Readings of Carlton – see more details on the flyer

1)
Robbo and a trio mood-enhanced Bernd Rohrmann 2) Janice says
yah, boo, sucks to NRG’s Andrew Smith
gig
report
Lomond Hotel Sat. 14.5.11
The
Lomond still hot and sweaty on a cold night in East Brunswick
15.5.11 – The folkies were still
hard at it with their fiddles and acoustic guitars when Bill
and I arrived so we caught up with each other’s respective adventures
on the footpath in the cold and damp while we waited for them
to wrap up their folkie proceedings. There were quite a few
regulars in the room, (pic 1) but with a fair contingent
of interstaters and younger people I’ve not seen before. The
acual temperature in the room was never in question however,
and by half way through the night I was quite smelly – luckily
smells are not really an issue in a pub – and the crowd was
in an ebullient mood with quite a few even dancing sporadically,
including some of the younger girls.
A few of the older crowd left after the retro-Spectrum set,
satisfied they’d heard The Song and some other Spectrum, Murtceps,
Ariel faves, but an influx of late-comers ensured the dance
floor remained full and the momentum was sustained until the
end of the night when an encore was loudly demanded. Judging
by the reaction and comments I got as we packed up from the
‘kids’ in the room they were surprised and delighted at what
we had to offer. Aah, there’s life in these smelly
old bastards yet..

1)
This table arrived well before we started and enjoyed the
whole night 2) Dom Barbuto had far too good a time..
gig
report
Fleece Hotel Thurs. 12.5.11
The
Fleece’s magic works against the odds
13.5.11 – As we were setting
up Bill proposed we should guess how many people would turn
up, given that it was a cold, wet night and Robbo had said
that the night he’d played there with Bobby Bright there were
only about three patrons. Bill predicted three and I said
fifteen, and then I thought Robbo said seven, but apparently
he said seventeen ’cause he was the winner. It wasn’t
a bad crowd at all as it happened and they were in very good
spirits too. (pic 1) There were a few familiar faces,
including the indomitable Dom, (pic 2) The Fleece’s
booker Julie Cavanagh and Di Buettel, (who were leaving for
New York together the next morning), plus a guest appearance
by Mae Parker, who very considerately adjusted the dimmer
for my lights so I magically became visible.
Of course, it was all a bit loose (herumph, herumph) musically
speaking – this business of playing only intermittently doesn’t
allow one to relax – and not having Daz there was a mixed
blessing, but overall it was great fun and the more boisterous
hangers-on were still demanding we play some more music for
them half an hour after we’d finished.
According to the screen at the end of the room, Thursday nights
at The Fleece are safe for the duration of 2011, so there’s
every chance we’ll be back again before the end of the year.
Hooray!

1)
Robbo wasn’t there, but he did a session at Pinewood Studios
2) Ross was at The Bay however and loved it..
gig
report
The
Bay Hotel Sun. 8.5.11
Happy
fucking Mothers Day
9.5.11 – To be honest I wasn’t
expecting a large turnout at The Bay Hotel on Mothers Day, but
I would’ve been happy with a moderate-sized crowd. As it happened
there were about a dozen people in the room when we started
and bugger-all when we finished, which made for a demoralising
afternoon if you were to judge it solely by the numbers. Luckily
the people that were there seemed to enjoy it and Ross
(pic 2) was thoroughly enchanted as it happened and
told us quite a few times we were ‘classy’ – and Bill and I
did have a pleasant enough work-out on the music-making side
of the equation.
Robbo (pic 1) came over in the morning to finish the
session we’d started the previous afternoon when I’d discovered
I was short of a midi lead. He was adding drums to the OMG
track mentioned in the current P&W. Sounded pretty
good too – I’ll be working on it today and should make a decision
soon on whether it will find its way onto the next Breathing
Space EP.