Damn. I was hoping to write this before I left for Sydney, but that didn't happen. So instead I'm going to have to do a quick rundown of what's been going on, before I head out and continue wandering the streets of Paddington pretending I'm a rich Sydneysider.
So in the past month I've been out quite a bit to see some bloody amazing Adelaide bands. First was The Audreys for their Adelaide leg of their tour. It was at Her Majesty's Theatre, a place I hadn't been to in forever, and forgot how gorgeous it was. It was all seated, so a bit different to their gigs of late, but it worked really well. They played awesomely, the sound was fantastic, and that's all I can think of to say. I also saw BrotherSister, another band that Ryan (drummer for Cookie) plays in. Man, these guys are incredible. There is a video floating around on youtube I think, but if nothing else, check out their Myspace to have a listen. Bloody brilliant.
A good friend of ours (and his band, The Mischief) came from Sydney last Thurs to Rads for some shows that Holly booked, which took up most of our time last week. They are the most hilarious bunch of guys, and they fit right in to our way of life. The biggest gig of theirs however was at Jive on Saturday night with a local band called Colonel Kernal and a band from Mildura called Jackson Firebird. The Mischief are amazing - I can't quite describe their style, but it's somewhere in between powerpop/country/folk. Anyway, that doesn't matter, because all that matters is that they're amazing. Jackson Firebird then came on, and it's one of the most organic, dirty rock I've ever seen. Just a drummer and guitarist, but they don't even need a bassist. Very, very good. And Colonel Kernal, well, there has been word on the street that they guys are incredible, but it's taken me until now to finally see them, even though I realised I have a couple of friends in the band (that's Adelaide for you). I'm just repeating myself here, but again, these guys are just insane. You've got jazz/rock/blues and mix in some metal and you are on your way to beginning to understand what I'm talking about.
Last week we also went over to Mildura to play at the Chef's of the Future competition. It's a week long thing they have in Mildura to find the best chef at the TAFE and surrounding areas. The food was amazing... the gig was great fun, and I got to fly on a tiny plain to get there. Not the best fun, but it's definitely made my fear of flying a little less horrible.
And then on Sunday we had our long awaited Adelaide Fringe encore show at TInCat Cafe. To have everyone together again really was something special. The afternoon show was great, and even though there were a few spots of rain, it managed to hold off for our performance. We were also blessed to have Joelie join us for these shows, who's violin playing really did add a little something that wasn't there before.
For the evening show however, the heavens were threatening to open up as we were setting up, and it was a bit stressful. It wasn't until the last minute that we decided we best be safe and move inside for the evening performance. It definitely made things a bit more squishy, but it was one of the most intimate shows I had ever done, and ended up being something really special. We (and I think the audience) had a great night, but it was tinged with a bit of sadness as Timmo was leaving for New Zealand for around 6 months. But that's cool - he'll be back and then all is well again. :)
So we're now in Sydney, staying in a bloody awesome place in Paddington, and we have our one and only show tonight at the Excelsior with Renny Field, Sarah Humphreys and The Falls. It really is going to be a bloody amazing night, and I will do my best to take lots of pics and vids. Ryan and Joelie made the trip as well, so it will be a Cookie Baker format we haven't done yet. I'm sure it will be great.
Health is alright... I realised in the taxi on the way to the airport that I forgot my hypertonic saline, which I use for physio (win for me), so I have to walk down to the hospital this morning to see if I am able to get some more. I'm sure it will be fine. So I'm going to try to take it as easy as possible, but I won't be too worried if I need an admission when we get back to Rads.
Rating: 6.2
What I'm listening to: BrotherSister - The Wundertales
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Another 3 weeks, another bunch of stuff happens
Don't you just love it when you get that feelings that things are really going along awesomely and you just feel so happy? Like, even if you are just cleaning the house or doing something completely mundane, you get this sense of total satisfaction with yourself and how your life is going? Well, I've been feeling that today, so I just thought I would share how awesome it is, and if you haven't felt that yet, you should. It's good fun.
So we had the Mixmasters gig at the grace I was telling you about last time. What a bloody amazing night it was. Holly, Joelie (new violin player) and myself were at Holly's beforehand just so we could go through the songs one more time to make sure we all knew what we were doing (since this was the first gig we had with Joelie). We got there around 7:30 to catch the second half of Delia's magical set. Delia is a local girl who is just bloody amazing. I thoroughly recommend you check her out (here). The place was already packed by the time we got there, but it was only the start of things to come. So we got on stage, played through our set, which was just amazing. The crowd were super responsive, everyone was drinking, but not messy drunk, and we just had a ball. Joelie was magnificent, and there happens to be a vid of a song floating around on youtube, so have a look if you wanna see it. There was also Radelaide's leading music reviewer there, so check out his space to see what he wrote about the night.
The next week was pretty quiet apart, but the weekend was filled with shenanigans once again. On Friday night, some good friends of ours Andy and Jess invited us to the Magill RSL club for dinner. It's something they try to do regularly, and after going there, I see why. The place is full of old diggers who are bloody hilarious, and the nicest/most genuine people you have ever met. There is all this old war memorabilia around the place, 20c pool, and you get a feast for $8. Bloody bargain. After dinner, we walked back to our place and showed them Twin Peaks. We had been planning to get them to see it for a little while, and after the pilot episode, they were hooked, so we followed it with another 2 eps. We endeavour to make this a regular thing, so that's something to look forward to each week. Suckers...
Saturday night we went to another friends house for his 30th. It was a night filled with food, drinks, music and karaoke. Can't ask for much more really. One particularly funny part of the night involved a couple of the party guests (who had come dressed as police officers) went outside to confront some punk-arse teens doing burnout's across the road. Needless to say the teens crapped their pants and fled. Funny stuff.
This weekend was again filled with fun stuff, including a bloody big night last night. Tom was having a birthday 'do at his place, so we got there around 11 or so, and found ourselves leaving by 3. We found out today that Tom didn't get to bed until 8, and that the party didn't actually finish till 12 the next day. Troopers.
On another note, I really need to get another job. Alpha has pushed me down to one shift a week, which doesn't really cut it. I have had a few options, so we'll see where they go. Hopefully I'll be able to get something soon and I won't have to live off Alice's pay.
We have started getting our stuff together for our TinCat show later this month. It's gonna be a fricken sweet day, 2 shows, 7 of us on stage, and some new tunes as well. Those who are thinking of coming really better ring TinCat and book their tickets as they are selling like hot cakes and I can guarantee that there will be none left at the door on the day.
And then straight after TinCat is Sydney! And we got word today that Joelie is coming as well, so all up it will be Joelie and Cara, Alice and me, Ryry and Holly. Not a bad troop I must say.
Health is going about the same as last. Not feeling 100%, but it's not getting any worse, so I doubt that I'll get myself admitted before going to Sydney. Instead I reckon I'll keep a course of orals on me in case things start to flare up, and then if the trip affects me a bit, I'll prob just admit myself once we get back. No biggie. :)
I'm thinking that's all there is to say. Don't you hate it when your G string breaks?
Rating: 6.8
What I'm listening to: Sarah Humphreys - Teapot Trees and Love Birds...
So we had the Mixmasters gig at the grace I was telling you about last time. What a bloody amazing night it was. Holly, Joelie (new violin player) and myself were at Holly's beforehand just so we could go through the songs one more time to make sure we all knew what we were doing (since this was the first gig we had with Joelie). We got there around 7:30 to catch the second half of Delia's magical set. Delia is a local girl who is just bloody amazing. I thoroughly recommend you check her out (here). The place was already packed by the time we got there, but it was only the start of things to come. So we got on stage, played through our set, which was just amazing. The crowd were super responsive, everyone was drinking, but not messy drunk, and we just had a ball. Joelie was magnificent, and there happens to be a vid of a song floating around on youtube, so have a look if you wanna see it. There was also Radelaide's leading music reviewer there, so check out his space to see what he wrote about the night.
The next week was pretty quiet apart, but the weekend was filled with shenanigans once again. On Friday night, some good friends of ours Andy and Jess invited us to the Magill RSL club for dinner. It's something they try to do regularly, and after going there, I see why. The place is full of old diggers who are bloody hilarious, and the nicest/most genuine people you have ever met. There is all this old war memorabilia around the place, 20c pool, and you get a feast for $8. Bloody bargain. After dinner, we walked back to our place and showed them Twin Peaks. We had been planning to get them to see it for a little while, and after the pilot episode, they were hooked, so we followed it with another 2 eps. We endeavour to make this a regular thing, so that's something to look forward to each week. Suckers...
Saturday night we went to another friends house for his 30th. It was a night filled with food, drinks, music and karaoke. Can't ask for much more really. One particularly funny part of the night involved a couple of the party guests (who had come dressed as police officers) went outside to confront some punk-arse teens doing burnout's across the road. Needless to say the teens crapped their pants and fled. Funny stuff.
This weekend was again filled with fun stuff, including a bloody big night last night. Tom was having a birthday 'do at his place, so we got there around 11 or so, and found ourselves leaving by 3. We found out today that Tom didn't get to bed until 8, and that the party didn't actually finish till 12 the next day. Troopers.
On another note, I really need to get another job. Alpha has pushed me down to one shift a week, which doesn't really cut it. I have had a few options, so we'll see where they go. Hopefully I'll be able to get something soon and I won't have to live off Alice's pay.
We have started getting our stuff together for our TinCat show later this month. It's gonna be a fricken sweet day, 2 shows, 7 of us on stage, and some new tunes as well. Those who are thinking of coming really better ring TinCat and book their tickets as they are selling like hot cakes and I can guarantee that there will be none left at the door on the day.
And then straight after TinCat is Sydney! And we got word today that Joelie is coming as well, so all up it will be Joelie and Cara, Alice and me, Ryry and Holly. Not a bad troop I must say.
Health is going about the same as last. Not feeling 100%, but it's not getting any worse, so I doubt that I'll get myself admitted before going to Sydney. Instead I reckon I'll keep a course of orals on me in case things start to flare up, and then if the trip affects me a bit, I'll prob just admit myself once we get back. No biggie. :)
I'm thinking that's all there is to say. Don't you hate it when your G string breaks?
Rating: 6.8
What I'm listening to: Sarah Humphreys - Teapot Trees and Love Birds...
Sunday, May 18, 2008
No internet (and internet back), ugly parties, gigs, and dvd’s.
Due to the fact that we have no internet at home, updating my oh-so-tantalising blog is a bit hard. So I write on my computer while at home (or work) and when I get the chance to go to Mum's for some food, I hijack my sister's net at the same time. What are family's for?
So there's been parties, gigs, cold nights and sunny days. We went to an 'ugly' party, where my effort for the night was to shave my face, except for my manly moustache. Awesome. I actually haven't got rid of it yet, but it's all blended in with the rest of my facial hair now, so it's not so noticeable (and disgusting).
I had to leave that party prematurely to see one of Ryry's other band's (Mr Wednesday) play. They have been around for ages, and I don't think I've ever seen them. Well, I may have in the good ol days, but since I can't remember anything of what they sounded like, it's much easier (and almost more accurate) to say I've never seen them. Anyway, all garble aside, they were bloody amazing! The place was packed, and even though they took to the stage a bit late, no one really seemed that fussed. Can't really say too much more, other than they are awesome and I can't wait to see them again.
The night before Timmo was doing a solo show at the Worldsy, so Alice and I went down to have a beer and listen. He certainly seemed much better than he did the previous night at Kate Miller-Heidke, so much so that his face was a normal fleshy colour, and not completely white. Luckily he was on first, as I was still pretty knackered from the previous nights shenanigans. But once again, really, REALLY beautiful stuff he has. So many talented people around... makes me sick.
The next week consisted of a couple exhibitions, a birthday dinner at a Thai restaurant, and our internet getting cut off. Not because we are naughty or anything, but because I found that I could be paying less money for faster net. Who's been a schmuck? But in order to get connected again, I had to disconnect from the old provider, wait until the codes cleared off the phone like, THEN wait 5-10 business days for the new one to get connected. Ugh. By my count, Friday (yesterday) was day 4, so hopefully we have net by next week. If not, I think I may very well cry.
It's now been a week since that last paragraph and we have internet! About bloody time... I didn't end up crying, but Alice could tell something was up. All good now though. :)
Not a whole lot been going since then sadly. It has been raining all day and night, so that's been brilliant. Really cold rain as well. Not that rain is usually warm, but it just feels extra cold. Which is nice. And apparently it's going to continue all weekend. Go us. Since tonight was going to be cold and wet, Alice and I planned to have a dvd night. We saw the final episode of Scrubs, which despite being a homage to 'The Princess Bride', was a tiny bit of a let down. But I guess the whole writer's strike thing kinda screwed up the writing for the show. Anyway, bring on season 8.
Then we decided to FINALLY finish watching 'Wonderfalls', which we had started I don't even wanna think about how long ago. But it was bloody brilliant. Seriously good stuff. Thoroughly recommend it if you haven't seen it. Next on the list is 'Pushing Daisies'. We'll get to that in the next few day's I'm sure.
We have a gig tomorrow night. Mixmasters (the studio that we are recording at) is having a 5th birthday, and a whole bunch of artists that have recorded there are playing at the Grace. We're on at 8 for half an hour, and we have a new inductee to the Cookie Baker 'collective' - an AWESOME girl by the name of Joelie on violin. It's gonna be incredible.
Health is going alright. I was a bit shit a week or so ago, but I think that's clearing up now. I'm still tossing up whether I should get another admission before we go to Sydney in June. But at the rate I'm going now, I think i'll prob leave that for after we get back. Just thinking out loud really...
Rating: 7.2
What I'm listening to: The Audreys - When The Flood Comes
So there's been parties, gigs, cold nights and sunny days. We went to an 'ugly' party, where my effort for the night was to shave my face, except for my manly moustache. Awesome. I actually haven't got rid of it yet, but it's all blended in with the rest of my facial hair now, so it's not so noticeable (and disgusting).
I had to leave that party prematurely to see one of Ryry's other band's (Mr Wednesday) play. They have been around for ages, and I don't think I've ever seen them. Well, I may have in the good ol days, but since I can't remember anything of what they sounded like, it's much easier (and almost more accurate) to say I've never seen them. Anyway, all garble aside, they were bloody amazing! The place was packed, and even though they took to the stage a bit late, no one really seemed that fussed. Can't really say too much more, other than they are awesome and I can't wait to see them again.
The night before Timmo was doing a solo show at the Worldsy, so Alice and I went down to have a beer and listen. He certainly seemed much better than he did the previous night at Kate Miller-Heidke, so much so that his face was a normal fleshy colour, and not completely white. Luckily he was on first, as I was still pretty knackered from the previous nights shenanigans. But once again, really, REALLY beautiful stuff he has. So many talented people around... makes me sick.
The next week consisted of a couple exhibitions, a birthday dinner at a Thai restaurant, and our internet getting cut off. Not because we are naughty or anything, but because I found that I could be paying less money for faster net. Who's been a schmuck? But in order to get connected again, I had to disconnect from the old provider, wait until the codes cleared off the phone like, THEN wait 5-10 business days for the new one to get connected. Ugh. By my count, Friday (yesterday) was day 4, so hopefully we have net by next week. If not, I think I may very well cry.
It's now been a week since that last paragraph and we have internet! About bloody time... I didn't end up crying, but Alice could tell something was up. All good now though. :)
Not a whole lot been going since then sadly. It has been raining all day and night, so that's been brilliant. Really cold rain as well. Not that rain is usually warm, but it just feels extra cold. Which is nice. And apparently it's going to continue all weekend. Go us. Since tonight was going to be cold and wet, Alice and I planned to have a dvd night. We saw the final episode of Scrubs, which despite being a homage to 'The Princess Bride', was a tiny bit of a let down. But I guess the whole writer's strike thing kinda screwed up the writing for the show. Anyway, bring on season 8.
Then we decided to FINALLY finish watching 'Wonderfalls', which we had started I don't even wanna think about how long ago. But it was bloody brilliant. Seriously good stuff. Thoroughly recommend it if you haven't seen it. Next on the list is 'Pushing Daisies'. We'll get to that in the next few day's I'm sure.
We have a gig tomorrow night. Mixmasters (the studio that we are recording at) is having a 5th birthday, and a whole bunch of artists that have recorded there are playing at the Grace. We're on at 8 for half an hour, and we have a new inductee to the Cookie Baker 'collective' - an AWESOME girl by the name of Joelie on violin. It's gonna be incredible.
Health is going alright. I was a bit shit a week or so ago, but I think that's clearing up now. I'm still tossing up whether I should get another admission before we go to Sydney in June. But at the rate I'm going now, I think i'll prob leave that for after we get back. Just thinking out loud really...
Rating: 7.2
What I'm listening to: The Audreys - When The Flood Comes
Kate Miller-Heidke
This was a night I had been looking forward to for quite some time. It was the first time the whole band was playing together since our Fringe performances, something that I had missed very much.
We arrived around 4 in the afternoon and before we even walked in we could hear the opera-like warm up's of Kate Miller-Heidke, and I found myself grinning like a school boy who had found the answers to the day's test. This was going to be a great night.
We saw Timmo arrive, the trooper he is, and all rushed over to see how his appendix was holding up. To think he only discharged himself from the hospital that day says something about him - extremely dedicated or extremely stupid. Luckily it was the former.
We got our gear on stage and started to plug everything in so we could make some noise. Due to the Gov's weird shape and acoustics, we were warned that sound check could be a bit of trouble. But with Brett at the helm of the sound desk, we had full confidence in him and that he would get the sound as crisp and beautiful as it should.
Sound check went along quite smoothly, apart from having to turn off the front of house speakers so we could hear our levels in the foldback on stage. We ran through the new song as a band for the first time, and went surprisingly smoothly. Well, not really surprisingly since we have some of the most talented musicians in Rads.
Once we were happy with how it all sounded, we all went back to Holly's house to get some grub and run through the new song once more, pretty much to make sure I knew what I was doing. But it was all sweet, and we enjoyed our gourmet pizza knowing that we were totally going to nail the song.
Due to the fact that the Foo Fighters were playing across the road the same night, do you think we could find any parks? Ryry decided to do the honourable thing by driving 5 blocks away, while I did the opposite and parked illegally in the carpark right in front of the door, blocking 4 other cars in. Hey, they would have been there for the show, so I doubt I would have to move out of the way until the end of the night. So it was all cool.
When we walked on stage, there were already the faithful KMH fans leaning on the stage and that extended to most of the room. It wasn't packed mind you, but there were certainly plenty of people prepared to stand and watch us until KMH took to the stage.
We started the set with 'Clean Sheets and a Bottle of Gin', just to kick things off with a bang. The crowd were surprisingly receptive and seemed to like what they were hearing. There was even a couple right at the front who were dancing away. Mind you, I have no doubt that alcohol played a part in their shenanigans. Either way, I'll take it. :)
The set was incredible, the sound was bloody awesome, and the crowd were great. We got to the last song, the newie, and played it like it was one of our oldest and most familiar. All until the very last chord, where due to me blissing out a tad too much and not really paying attention to Ryry's tempo slow-down, finished a whole beat too early. I laughed. Alot. It seems like a regular thing for me to do now - final song, final chord, mess up. Well, not mess up. As Timmo says: "There's no wrong notes in music - just bad choices".
We arrived around 4 in the afternoon and before we even walked in we could hear the opera-like warm up's of Kate Miller-Heidke, and I found myself grinning like a school boy who had found the answers to the day's test. This was going to be a great night.
We saw Timmo arrive, the trooper he is, and all rushed over to see how his appendix was holding up. To think he only discharged himself from the hospital that day says something about him - extremely dedicated or extremely stupid. Luckily it was the former.
We got our gear on stage and started to plug everything in so we could make some noise. Due to the Gov's weird shape and acoustics, we were warned that sound check could be a bit of trouble. But with Brett at the helm of the sound desk, we had full confidence in him and that he would get the sound as crisp and beautiful as it should.
Sound check went along quite smoothly, apart from having to turn off the front of house speakers so we could hear our levels in the foldback on stage. We ran through the new song as a band for the first time, and went surprisingly smoothly. Well, not really surprisingly since we have some of the most talented musicians in Rads.
Once we were happy with how it all sounded, we all went back to Holly's house to get some grub and run through the new song once more, pretty much to make sure I knew what I was doing. But it was all sweet, and we enjoyed our gourmet pizza knowing that we were totally going to nail the song.
Due to the fact that the Foo Fighters were playing across the road the same night, do you think we could find any parks? Ryry decided to do the honourable thing by driving 5 blocks away, while I did the opposite and parked illegally in the carpark right in front of the door, blocking 4 other cars in. Hey, they would have been there for the show, so I doubt I would have to move out of the way until the end of the night. So it was all cool.
When we walked on stage, there were already the faithful KMH fans leaning on the stage and that extended to most of the room. It wasn't packed mind you, but there were certainly plenty of people prepared to stand and watch us until KMH took to the stage.
We started the set with 'Clean Sheets and a Bottle of Gin', just to kick things off with a bang. The crowd were surprisingly receptive and seemed to like what they were hearing. There was even a couple right at the front who were dancing away. Mind you, I have no doubt that alcohol played a part in their shenanigans. Either way, I'll take it. :)
The set was incredible, the sound was bloody awesome, and the crowd were great. We got to the last song, the newie, and played it like it was one of our oldest and most familiar. All until the very last chord, where due to me blissing out a tad too much and not really paying attention to Ryry's tempo slow-down, finished a whole beat too early. I laughed. Alot. It seems like a regular thing for me to do now - final song, final chord, mess up. Well, not mess up. As Timmo says: "There's no wrong notes in music - just bad choices".
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