Ok, so after quite a few years, I've decided that I'm not going to blog on here anymore. Why? Just because I get bored and like change, so I've gone over to:
healthyjaan.tumblr.com
I'll still keep this alive as it's got all my old posts from overseas and whatnot, but I won't be updating it anymore.
:)
Love love love.
Haven't forgotten to write another entry - I've just been stupid busy moving house.
That should all be over very soon... then more words for you to read.
Oh, I will mention I had a clinic last week, and my lung function went up to 68%, which is pretty decent since I was feeling like right shite.
So go lungs. :)
But until proper blog, check this - I saw her for the first time supporting Bob Log III with Jackson Firebird last week.
Amazing.
but here is a bloody nice picture of a bloody nice singer that you should all check out.
Her name is Ingrid Michaelson.
That is all.
Proper blog coming soon...
I got sent this link from the CF association, and while in the past I've been careful not to get too excited over these kinds of things, actually I'm still doing the same thing. BUT, you never know - I've known that the only realistic possibility of a cure involves gene therapy, and that's what this is about, so hey, could be a bit of alright news. :)
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/02/17_schaffer.shtml
I'll do a proper update soon. Just thought I'd share this.
My grand plan to keep this going throughout the tour has failed miserably. It was too hot, I didn't have internet connection, I was too lazy, blah blah blah. Let's see how we go with the recap. Excuse the largeness of this entry...
Mildura. Yes, awesome. I'm remembering. It was warm. Very warm. So warm in fact that our original plan to drive there on the Wednesday so we could get an extra day and night before the show fell through as we didn't want the poor car to drive in that heat, so we left the next morning. Although, after suffering through Adelaide's hottest day in 70 years (and later Melbourne's hottest day on record, but we'll get to that one later) 43 degrees in Mildura really wasn't too bad. We kept cool in Hudak's Baker and the river, as well as being moved inside for the gig at the Sandbar. We were originally going to play on the outdoor stage, but it was too freaking hot. It was a great show though - the crowd were really receptive to all of us, had a brilliant pub meal and got to see Jackson Firebird in all their glory in their hometown.
Loxton. It is another riverland town like Mildura, about 2 and a bit hours out of Adelaide. We didn't leave Mildura till the late afternoon as we didn't really want to be driving in the middle of the day in the heat (was still in mid 40's). We had anticipated that the Loxton show could be a complete hit or miss in regards to crowd. The Big Day Out was on that night in Adelaide, so a lot of the youngen's would have gone there for that, and the with the heat, we assumed a lot of people would either be down by the river or at home under their AC. In saying that though, by the end of the night, quite a respectable crowd had turned up, and were all really enthusiastic. That night ended up being the biggest to date. All of the bands were put up in this house at the back of the hotel, so after the show we all went there to start on the rider that had been provided. Won't go into too much detail as to the activities of the night, but rest assured they included: drunk people sitting in a circle playing guitars and singing the blues, funny (and embarrassing) stories about each other, drunk photo's and a late night/early morning swim in the pool that had strictly and specifically been forbidden to band members staying in the house. Brilliant.
Rads! The night after Loxton was our home show of Adelaide. We had been looking forward to this for a little while, not that we weren't looking forward to the other shows, but you know, home town, lots of friends, blah blah. Again, another bloody hot day. But I think we were all getting used to it. Personally, this was probably the most fun show of the tour. The crowd were incredible, absolutely lapping up every band, and it was so great to share the night with so many friends, and give them a glimpse as to how much fun the last couple of weeks had been. We got Lochie to guest on a few tracks on bass, and they were PHAT. At 2am, Lochie and I decided that it was Maccas time, so we went for a quick bite to eat only to come back and find that the Grace Emily had closed. We missed the end of the party. Dayum.
Since there was a few days till we had to be in Melbourne, we thought it a good opportunity to take The Mischief boys down to the farm on Yorke Peninsula. Freaking amazing. When we left Rads it was 40 something degrees, but down at Yorkes it was 27. AWESOME! I could only stay for one night, as I had to work the next day at Alpha, but here's a funny story - my shift started at 4, so I had to leave around 1:30 to make sure I got there on time. I tried ringing my sister to see if she could fill in for me as I wanted to stay down on the farm for a bit longer with the guys, but couldn't get a hold of her. My mobile had run out of battery so I couldn't ring anyone else. Got back home, drove to work only to find a sign on the door that said "Closed due to weather". At home, I recharged my phone to find a message from the boss saying not to come in today. Hilarious. Not as hilarious as what happened to the boys though. Or is that tragic? Their Tarago decided to overheat and explode while they were down at Yorkes, which meant they had to cancel their show in Melbourne the following night. Definitely not a good thing... Long story short, we left the following day for Melbs, with the Tarago at a mechanics that had boats he was working on.
Melbourne. We arrived at The Brunswick Hotel on Thursday night a bit after 8pm, which didn't leave us much time to bring all the gear in and start setting up. It was all a bit manic. The show itself was great fun, but not as many people came that we thought would, not that that ever gets to any of us. There was a friend who I hadn't seen in at least 10 years that came, which definitely made the night worth while. As well as another friend who had moved to Melbs quite a few months ago, so all in all it was a great night. After the show, many drinks were consumed, exchanging of merch, lots of hugs, and stupid photo's a plenty were taken as it was the last time we would all be together on this tour. We got a 3am dinner of Macca's (much to Cookie's disgust) and got to the hotel where we found that we weren't on the booking list. Standing around in a hotel lobby arguing with the guy at the desk at half 3 in the morning when you have to leave for the 8 hour drive back to Rads the next day isn't fun. But in the end we got the room, had a good sleep, and left back home around lunch.
We had another show with The Mischief on the Saturday in Melbourne, but we decided to go back home for a night to see our really good mate John Woods play his final show, along with launching the band's EP. I was so out of it that the whole night is a bit of a blur. It was ridiculously hot and sweaty, but so good to see this part of his life end the way it did. Very glad we made the drive back for it. But next morning we flew back to Melbs into the hottest day on record there - 47 degrees. It really was a bit ridiculous - I felt my eyelids burning. We walked around St Kilda for most of the afternoon before our show at Pure Pop Records - a brilliant record store that is also licensed and has a little stage area out the back of the shop. It was hot, we were sweaty, I broke 3 strings, but it was an incredible show. The Mischief played a killer set, and Blowy had to leave straight after to catch a plane only to find out that it had been cancelled. No wedding for him to attend... (not his own - that would just be silly).
We spent that night getting a brilliant dinner and walking around trying to find a pub that wasn't swarming with people. We found ourselves on a tram heading back into the city, which we then proceeded to walk around for an hour trying to find a specific pub. We did, but weren't allowed in as some of us were wearing thongs (flip flops, whatever). Finally we found an awesome little place, where we sat down, drank and played Shithead (brilliant card game). Got 4 hours sleep and flew back home the next day.
That's it. Spent yesterday on the couch dozing while the cricket was on. Still needing to catch up on some sleep, but over this next week that shouldn't be too hard. Looks like I'll be playing a couple of shows with another good friend of mine Ange for the Fringe and Flinders Uni O'Ball, so really looking forward to that. And then of course there are the Fringe shows with Cookie Baker, which will be bloody amazing. If you are interested in attending that one, you should book tix ASAP as they will no doubtedly sell out fast. Until next time...
Rating: 6.2 (the tour finally started to catch up with me over the last couple of days - should recover no wuckas)
What I'm listening to: Jackson Firebird - Bottle Bin EP
Today reached 45.7C, which made it the hottest day in 70 years.
This means Mildura and the surrounding areas are going to be even hotter, which is where we're driving to tomorrow.
I'm going to have a 6am swim.
So Sydney sexies The Mischief, Mildura men Jackson Firebird, and Radelaidian rockers (HA!) Cookie Baker (and her collective) got together and thought it would be a good idea to do a bit of a tour with each other. Why? Mainly because we just want to see each other play. But in order to sound a bit more profesh, all thought the cross-genre idea would work amazingly well. And so far it has.
We left on a 40 degree day, the first we've had this summer I think, but luckily we had Cookie's dad's twin cab Holden Rodeo. How I love that car... First stop - Mildura. We didn't want to overdo ourselves on the first day of driving, so we did the 4 hour drive to Mildy quite late in the afternoon and made sure to have a good night's sleep. The following day, we knew we needed to sample the fine baked cuisine, so we stopped at Hudak's Bakery for lunch. We didn't end up leaving Mildy till after 2, so instead of seeing how far we could drive, we made it to Wagga Wagga (about 7 hours out of Sydney) and decided it was a good place to stay. Luckily as well because Cookie seemed to have a bit of a bout of heat stroke. Not much fun. Next morning, bright and early, and none feeling the ill affects of the day before, we headed north towards the Central Coast. Bloody lovely drive that is... and once you start hitting the forests, it really is amazing.
So first stop of the tour was a place called Wyong. Since none of the bands were from the area, we really didn't expect to pull a big crowd. We were right in doing so. However, it became almost a rehearsal to see how the gigs would go, and a chance for all of us to refreshen our live experiences of each other. It turned out to be an amazing gig. Sound was great, everyone played really well, and we all got to hang, chat and do Ross faces at each other (for explanation of what 'Ross faces' are, ask me in person - really can't be bothered writing it all down). 
We spent a couple of nights at the wonderful Miss Sarah Humphreys lovely abode. What a getaway that place is... Surrounded by forests, birds, and the sound of nature. I almost forgot what we were doing there in the first place. But was then reminded when we had to make the drive to Wollongong (which I will now refer to as the Gong).
Pulling into the Gong, we were all taken aback by it's apparent chilled nature. Picture this - half 5 in the afternoon, lovely sunny day, the town is all quiet, a few people strolling casually down the road, really quite a picturesque place. Come 9pm, the locals start coming out, and it turns into one of the most hilarious, bogany, rough-around-the-edges places I've been to in quite a while. That being said, Jackson Firebird certainly won over the locals with their brand of dirty blues/rock, and we all had a good time. After we all finished playing, I was peckish so I went and bought a kebab from across the road. It was amazing. We then drove back to Sydney that night, and spent a VERY comfortable night at bass player for The Mischief's Lochie's house. Beds to die for.
The next couple of days were spent enjoying Sydney. We went to Bondi, which was awesome! I know it's prob not the best beach in the area and it's such a touristy thing to do, but you know what? I AM a tourist, so I will go there thank you very much. Also, coming from Rads where the metropolitan beaches are flat as a tack and have great white sharks nibbling at your toes, this was heaven. We went out for coffee's, dinners, lunches and the like. And then we had the Sydney show - The Mischief boys took the cake that night. Being their home show, in front of their home crowd, and being able to go home at the end of it, they pulled out all the stops. Beer chugging, audience members being tangled in leads, it had it all. When it had all finished, we tried to find a pub that we could all have one last drink in as the Jackson Firebird guys were heading back home the following morning, but not much was open, so we got New York Pizza, scoffed that down, and said our goodbyes.
The drive back didn't seem nearly as bad as the drive there. We made the 11 hour journey from Sydney to Mildura in one day, spent the night there, and did the rest the following afternoon. But before we left, we made sure to sample some more local Mildura cuisine, this time in the form of gelati. It was good. :)
So we've been back home for a few days and head off again tomorrow back to the land of Hudak's Bakery and 48 Flavour Gelati, Mildura. This time though to actually play a show there. Then we are stopping through the lovely town of Loxton before ending this leg back in Rads at the lovable Grace Emily. So all those Radelaidians who aren't going to be wimping it by sitting under an air conditioner or going to the beach, come down to the Grace on Sat the 31st for some amazing times. I promise. Amazing. Fact.
The album is complete! Cookie Baker's debut album 'Gala Day' is finally recorded, mixed, mastered and in shops ready for you to purchase! How awesome is that?? Well, I'm quite excited, as this little baby has been a little while coming - a year to be more precise. There was a very joyous handing out of the finished products by Holly herself at the wonderful Grace Emily, and if nothing else, the artwork looks bloody amazing! So, if you're wandering past a JB-HiFi, may as well pop your head in and see if you can get a squizz at it. ;)
So now that the album is all finished, there's not a whole lot of Cookie Baker going on for the rest of this year, which I for one am quite happy about. We had a couple of gigs last weekend which were amazing, even if i got completely ruined by the late night shenanigans they led to. On Friday the 7th we supported Epicure at the Adelaide UniBar, a place that I hadn't been to in a number of years, but seemed as though it was stuck in the early naughties - it was LOUD, raucous, and the place was filled with smoke. Not by smokers, like it would have a few years ago, but by a smoke machine, which pretty much had the same affect on me as a room filled with cigarette puffing maniacs would. But never fear - the gig was fantastic, even if I did manage to break a string after the first song, by, get this, putting my capo on! It didn't even have the decency to snap while doing a totally awesome rock 'n roll strum. Ugh... And then I had to change it by mobile phone light on the side of the stage. But even still, I think I managed it in under 3 mins, which I was quite chuffed with. Didn't get home until around 4 the next morning however, so that pretty much killed me for the rest of the weekend. Then we had another gig on the Sunday arvo at the Wheatsheaf which was FANTASTIC, even though I felt like I had drunk copious amounts of alcohol the whole day. I couldn't focus on anything and felt so bloody vague. But the place was packed, and it was great to see so many friends there, some whom I hadn't seen for ages. So I've spent the last week or so trying to recover from that weekend.
Had clinic today, and to my surprise, my lung function is back up to 65%, after being around 60% only a couple weeks ago. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that I did my first yoga session last night in about 4 months. Man was it hard... it wasn't until afterwards that I realised that I had been in an intermediate class, but that's cool - I figure if I can (almost) keep up with it from now on, it'll be a great thing to aspire to. But it felt so good to feel my body working like that again, and to feel my lungs really get a good work out. Still a ways to go before I start to feel really healthy again, but for now, it's going great. I've got another clinic at the end of December to see how I am and whether I'll need another admission before we go on tour in Jan. The last thing I want is to get sick halfway through that. That would be shite... But for now, things are awesome, and I intend to keep them that way.
We have a best friend's wedding on Saturday which we are playing at, and then our last planned gig for the year on Sunday afternoon, so I'm really looking forward to that. For those who are looking for something to do, we're playing at the Whitmore Sq Arts Fair with a couple of other AWESOME Rads bands (The Sea Thieves and Brillig) so come on down and say 'Hi'. It would make me smile anyway...
Rating: 8.3
What I'm listening to: Cookie Baker - Gala Day
A few things to get through, so let's not dilly-dally with pleasantries.
The biggest thing I should mention is that last weekend we went over to the Yorke Peninsula to Holly's parent's farm. Step (Holly's mum) was having a bit of a shin-dig for her 50th that she also decided to make a fundraiser for the Women's and Children's Hospital, and thought it would be a good idea to book the band to play down there. We had an absolute ball! I had dad's car, which makes the drive a hell of a lot easier when you have power steering. It especially made it easier since I had injured myself the week before. Oh yes, I fell off my bike and fractured my elbow. Good times... But anyhoo, the weekend was awesome, with picture perfect weather, lots of friends and a bit of relaxing as well. Was just a pity we couldn't stay longer than a couple of days.
On the day we came back, I was a bit slack and didn't do any of my nebs or physio, which led to me feeling a little bit poorly. I had clinic the next day, which proved that my lack of discipline caused a bit of a drop in lung function. A bit annoying... I still haven't really gotten any better, so I'm hoping that will turn around this week.
I'm loving the weather at the moment. True Adelaide spring weather. low to mid 20's, clear skies, and daylight savings started about a month early, which is wreaking havoc with my mobile, but I'm determined to stick it out and hopefully my calendar will sync up again. We did our first beach dinner on Saturday night, which was a blinding success. Definitely something we will have to keep doing regularly. We had our first bbq of the season last week as well. It's the type of weather where you just want to be out doing stuff, even if it's nothing exciting.
Things on the Cookie front are getting a bit exciting. Album is coming out on 1st of November, but for the eager beavers, you can actually pre-order a copy of the cd from https://www.just-secure.com/mixmastersrecords/order_GC.html (and that includes anywhere overseas). She is also the featured artist on the MusicSA site, which you can have a gander at http://www.musicsa.com.au/. Not too many gigs coming up as we really want to relax before the madness starts in Dec, however we are supporting Epicure at the UniBar on November the 7th, which should be a blast! Haven't seen those guys before, and I'm really liking their stuff. AND I think tix are only $15, so no real excuses not to come along. :)
I'm pretty sure that's it. Oh, the boys (cats) had their first experience in catching a bird today. I was sitting in the lounge room and heard this really awful shriek, and first thought something was wrong with one of the boys. Then i realised that they were chasing a disabled bird that couldn't fly throughout the house. I picked it up, took it outside and threw it in the air to see if it was actually broken (which it was), and then watched the boys run up to it thinking that it would be destroyed in the next 10 seconds. I was wrong... the boys just kept going up to it, sniffing it, giving it the occasional wack on the noggin, and then just watched it. When the bird realised that it was pretty safe and not going to be eaten, it went under a fence into the next door neighbours back yard. Stupid cats...
Rating: 6.0
What I'm listening to: Cookie Baker - Gala Day
Yes, it's been over a month since I last wrote, and because of that, iCal has deleted everything that was written in it before August 30th (which is what I use to tell me what I've been doing to write here), so we'll see how I go...
As I wrote last time, the cf ball was coming up, and I'm glad to say it was bloody amazing. SO much fun! As usual, I drank my year's worth of alcohol in the one night, but happily and strangely enough, didn't get too drunk (as in passing out or throwing up drunk). Got a bit tired towards the end, but that's about it. There were around 500 people that went this year, so it's definitely getting to be quite a big affair. Next year I'm determined to get on top of things early so I can book more than one table and get a whole bunch of us there. We didn't do a whole lot afterwards - hung around the bay for a little bit, and then went back to Joelie's where we all pretty much flaked out and went to bed. Such a good night though, and I'm so happy for all my friends that came along. It means a lot to me.
As planned, after the ball I got myself admitted into hospital for a couple of weeks of iv's. Warning: major bitch sesh coming up. This had to have been one of the worst admissions I've had in a long time. Due to a code white (no free beds in the hospital) my admission day was pushed back from Monday to Thursday. I had my drip put in at 11am, and then had to wait around for my bed to become available. Come 7pm and finally I could move into my room. However, the doctor that was on the ward hadn't written me up for any antibiotics, so they didn't start my treatment until the Friday afternoon. Brilliant... then I had to move rooms. And then after a week they made me do the rest of my treatment at home, which I really don't like doing. But due to the shortage of beds and their new program of sending patients no longer in an 'acute' state, I was made to leave. By the time my iv's had finished, I didn't feel that great still, but I had had enough of the whole thing, so I didn't really care. Luckily though things picked up once I finished my treatment and as of right now things are going really well.
While I was in hospital there were a couple of really awesome gigs on. The TinPan Orange kids from Melbourne popped through Rads for a couple of shows, so Cookie and I supported them at the Grace, which was such a pleasure. Only problem was that I had pretty much had no stamina whatsoever, so after we finished playing, I was sitting on the ground completely ruined and not much company. But TinPan Orange were brilliant, so it was all worth it. :) The next weekend the Grace was having it's 10th birthday, which was an invite only event, and formal dress. Even though I was still in hospital, and didn't want to overdo anything like I had done the week before, I knew I would regret it if I didn't go. We played a small set of around 4 or 5 songs, and I sat down the whole time, just to reserve as much energy as I could. I didn't stay too long this time though, and was back in my dingy hospital room by around half 10.
I have a new job! Believe it or not, Jaan has managed to get another pretty cruisy job that fits in quite well with his continuously-needing-time-off lifestyle. It's at a post office, and quite a lot of fun. Only problem is that it's really not enough hours, so I still have to stay at Alpha, and I'm not sure if I need to still look for something else. But for now, it's a bit of extra cash, so we'll see how I go with that.
Last weekend we also went down to Victor Harbor for a few days to relax. Poor Alice was feeling very poorly for a day, so we didn't really do a whole lot, which still suited me fine. A couple of friends popped down as well for a day, and we went to Port Elliott for some lunch at the bakery there (which is the best!) and did a whole lot of walking around. It's really nice to be in touristy areas on the coast during the cooler months where you get to really enjoy the beauty of a place and see why it became a tourist spot, without stupid people everywhere.
On Saturday night just gone, Alice's brothers held a dinner party at their house. The theme was 'Paris in Spring', and there were around 30 people invited. It was bloody amazing! Everyone dressed up awesomely, and there was tonnes of wine and magnificent food. There were dining tables strewn throughout the kitchen and lounge room, candles, dim lighting, it really was something special. And the food... man o man. Peter is one helluva cook. Starters was bread, olives, pâté, and some veggies. For main course, we had potatoes, chicken in this wine sauce thing, and the meat was falling off the bones and melting in your mouth. And for dessert we had pear and almond pie. To think every single bit of this was home made, just blew me away. I hope they'll be doing another one soon...
Next weekend we're going over to Yorkes to Cookie's parent's farm for her mum's 50th. She booked us to play there with a couple of other people, so we're really looking forward to that. I'm especially excited to go as I've only been there during summer where everything is dead and brown, and I've been promised that all the fields at this time of year are green. It'll be quite lovely me thinks. Just to get away again for a couple of days will be all I need. To play some music while we're there is icing on the cake.
I think that's enough. Oh, one last point - Cookie's cd is finally finished! Mixed, mastered, everything. It sounds pretty good I must say... For those interested, release date is Nov 1st, but I think pre-orders are from Oct 1st if you're super keen. I'll post details when I get them. But yes, good times ahead!
Rating: 8.9
What I'm listening to: Cookie Baker - Gala Day
So with the whirlwind of interstate beauties visiting Rads over, life has returned to normal. I'm back to being a housewife while I try to find a job, Alice is working her 4 jobs trying to support me, and I'm spending many more nights at home while it's freezing and wet outside. Brilliant. No, seriously, as bad as our summer was this year, I am absolutely LOVING this winter. It's cold, it's been SO wet, it's just amazing. Our front and back lawn now resembles something like the Amazon forest, but I don't care. Better than the dust bowl we'll have once summer comes around again. But enough on the state of our flora.
As I said, not a whole lot has been going on of late. Been to a few friends' exhibitions, which have all been successful and awesome. Adelaide has some serious talent. We have had quite a few dinners with friends, which have been lovely. It was Alice's birthday, so we made sure we could just hang out together since she's so busy with her work. Unfortunately she woke up feeling quite crook, so the majority of the day was spent with us lying on the couch watching bad/awesome crime shows on Fox. Not a bad way to spend the day really. And then we went up to Coriole for a family dinner.
On the Cookie front mixing for the album is going great. 4 tracks done so far, and they sound AMAZING. This is gonna be one corker of an album. We also had the pleasure of recording a little interview and song on 'The Adelaide Show' on Nova, which was tonnes of fun. I think you can actually find it on itunes as a podcast. And a couple of shows have been booked for WA in November, so it'll be great to get out there. I've never been, so I'm quite excited.
As for health, it's not going that great. As I said last time, clinic went well, but since I wasn't feeling tops I went on some oral antibiotics for a couple of weeks. They seemed to work, but as soon as I finished them, I noticed my health declined a bit straight away, so I'm pretty sure I'll be going into hospital after the cf ball, which is next weekend. That's cool though. Especially with the shows in WA later in the year, I want to make sure things are all under control before I head off.
Rating: 6.7
What I'm listening to: Sam Buckingham - My Own Horse
Man time flies... it's almost been a month since I last wrote, and heaps has been going on. A quick rundown...
It's raining!!! Well, it has done, and it's been so bloody brilliant. I'm still finding myself completely amazed every time I hear the water hit the roof or the ground. Anyhoo, other than the cooler weather and rain, things have been going great.
Bloody hell - what an amazing couple of weeks I have had. Hopefully I can remember all of it to tell you all...
I guess first port of call was our Fringe show. Every show ended up selling out, so you can imagine every performance was amazing just from the atmosphere alone. I can't thank everyone who came enough - you all make it the special event it was. I can tell you all that we were all quite emotional after the final show on the Sunday, especially Cookie. So much so that her voice was pretty much completely gone by the end of the show, but being the trooper she is, even gave in to the request of an encore, so what did she play? 'One More Time' by the one and only Britney. Brilliant.
There wasn't much time to get all sentimental though as on the Tuesday we had to drive the 4 hours to Mildura. By this time, there was a massive heatwave beginning in Adelaide, and Mildura is ALWAYS hotter than Ads, so we were blessed with temps between 37 and 41 for the entire week we were there. However, the heat aside, we had a bloody amazing time. We had a couple of side shows while we were there before the big final night one, and we saw some awesome acts that were part of the festival as well. But the big night was the Sunday night when we played at Music Under The Stars at the Perry Sandhills. Man, what an amazing place. Out in the middle of nowhere, they set up a stage in the midst of all these massive sand dunes, and thousands of people come, with picnic rugs in hand, and set up for the evening of music. Around 3000 people rocked up, but seriously, we were so blown away just by where we were, we didn't even notice them all while we were playing. It wasn't until we finished and walked out to where our friends were sitting that we realised the scale of the crowd. It was just insane. Then Ben Lee closed the night, and he was great! I have to admit that I haven't heard much of his stuff, and hence not the biggest fan, but I gotta take my hat off to him. He performed brilliantly, and the crowd absolutely lapped it up. And all done in acoustic mode as well, with just one other guy accompanying him on keyboard. And despite some of the negative reports I had heard about the guy, he was nothing but awesome to us. Had a few nice chats with him, and that's all I can really say about it.
So we came back to Adelaide for a few days before flying to Sydney. Cookie being the hard and tough musician she is, decided 'it would be best' to stay in a 5 star hotel for a couple nights upon arrival. Hey, I wasn't going to argue with that logic. So we made ourselves comfortable and tried to enjoy it all... ;) We played 4 shows during our week there, and they were all excellent, and all totally different. We did the first two supporting a friend of Cookie's (Renny Field) which were just amazing. He is the shit. Seriously, if he's ever in your area, you HAVE to check him out. He's actually going to the UK and Europe mid year, so just something to keep him in mind.
The last 2 gigs we did were at Balmain and Manly. The Balmain show was part of a night called 'Poptarts' which is a showcase of female songwriters, and it was here that we had the pleasure of seeing a girl by the name of Sarah Humphreys. We had met her a couple nights before as she was singing back-up's for Renny's gig, but when we realised we were both playing the same show in Balmain, we just about lost it. And I'm not kidding when I say everyone should check her out. Her album (which I bought on the night) is one of the most beautiful things I have heard in a LONG time. But yes, the whole week there was so much better than I had expected. We met some of the funniest people, and I think 80% of our time was spent laughing. And I just got a call from Cookie today that she has already booked another gig for us up there in June. Good stuff! But in the meantime, we have a couple gigs here in Ads that are going to be fun - supporting Angie Hart (of Frente! fame) at the Wheatsheaf Hotel, a couple of stints up at Nepenthe Winery, and we just got a call that we're supporting Kate Miller-Heidke at The Gov, which will be a full band show. Oooh yeah!
Well that's a quick rundown of the last two weeks. Oh, one more piece of news - Alpha Video, my place of work for the past 8 and a half years, got sold on the weekend, so come mid-april, I will officially be un-employed. Awesome... so if anyone knows of any casual jobs where they would be cool with me taking some time off every now and then (hospital and music) hit me up. :)
Healthwise I'm doing amazingly well. I definitely thought that I would be suffering a bit after the trips, but my lungs have held up fine. Hopefully that will continue.
Rating: 8.5
What I'm listening to: Sarah Humphreys - Teapot Trees and Love Birds...
Oh, and I’ve put pics up from all things the past month (Fringe show, Mildura and Sydney), so if you wanna see what things have looked like for me, check em out on my Flickr site. :)
