(strangely)(emotional)
Northerly
Firstly, some shots from our fantastic Melbourne launch for (strangely)(emotional) at KINDRED in the west of Melbourne,.
I forgot I’d bought this suit last year. Perfect to wear with my new Gazelles for the 80s Rock look.
Stuart Perera- Blazing Rickenbacker, Stu Thomas, bass.
Our longtime friend and comrade Malcolm Hill put on a “live flesh rock cabaret” in Melbourne at a bar in High Street Northcote. He wanted people to do something different. He presented a theatre type show performing with his band as a long standing Melbourne singer songwriter struggling to write songs and deal with close friends, band mates and an audience.
The venue, Bar 303 had two stages, one in the front room and a slightly larger one out the back. Cam Butler played a set of instrumental guitar in the front and Twinkedigitz did a solo set after we performed.
When I say “we” it involved myself reading 35 pages from Book 1 of GUNSLINGER by American poet Ed Dorn. At different parts of the text the word STRUM appears, sometimes twice. Clare Moore played a guitar chord via her iPad and Will Hindmarsh aka Twinkledigitz played one with added whammy bar for effect on his actual guitar.
I did my best to recite the poem properly. It involves multiple voices- especially the character or voice identified as “I”. It begins. “I met a cautious gunslinger in Mesilla…”
I stopped and told the audience that this “I” was going to change at some point into a passive object or character who lies dormant amongst the others and indeed they fill him with five gallons of liquid LSD in order to transport it. Why? I dunno.
There is also a horse who talks and rolls big bombers of TAMPICO or weed and a saloon madam and of course, the GUNSLINGER.
Reading the text. Malcolm Hill in the background.
The book came out in 1968.
Ed Dorn work can be obtained in one giant Collected Works but I have bought single stand alone books whenever I have found them. GUNSLINGER itself which contains the several books of the epic poem as they came out and also a slim volume called WESTWARD HAUT.
The audience went along with it for as long as they could but eventually got restive and in need of noise and spectacle and I also reached the end of my allotted time so ended the recitation. It was very enjoyable and I intend to do some more appearances reading this poem and perhaps just talking.
We then left the venue to drive up the road to catch RADIO BIRDMAN who were playing the first date of their 50 year anniversary tour at the Croxton.
Clare Moore had seen BIRDMAN back in the original, historical period in Adelaide in 1977. They had also reformed in 1996 to play at the Big Day Out and we had also opened for them on another reformation tour they did in 2018/9. That show was also at the Croxton which is a large pub gig in Northern Melbourne that can fit over 1000 people in it. A big, loud room.
Here is a clip of RADIO BIRDMAN in their prime in Adelaide in 1977.At the Marryatville Hotel where I saw many shows in 1978/79. Clare Moore is in this clip (though well hidden) and many friends were there too.
I was living and working in a timber mill in Mt Gambier in 1977 but all my friends who had moved to Adelaide had seen them when they toured there (Radio Birdman were a quintessential Sydney band -well, they invented a Sydney sound.) I had seen Rob Youngers first post Birdman outfit, The Other Side and had kept up with subsequent bands such as the New Christs. We played as the Moodists on a bill with the latter opening for the Blue Oyster Cult in 2013. (This was a career highlight for me - not the Moodists performance as such as that was below par but I got up on stage to play Kick Out The Jams with Eric Bloom and Rob Younger and a cast of all stars)
A lot of my friends were divided along the Saints vs Birdman fault line (in favour of the Saints) but I always loved both bands.
Rob Younger is a great singer and front man. When performing he does not speak to the crowd or to individuals over the mic. He will talk personally though. Radio Birdman fans are staunch and intense. they sing along to every line.
The set was a masterclass in rock dynamics and power. The lyrics very playful and fun but delivered with such powerful intensity that they always had a superhuman aura.
I loved it. Deniz Tek is such a mythological character. I wrote a character based on him a failed attempt to write a novel years ago. It was a vet living alone with a cat, sharing feline opiates and looking out at the world through the clinic window who then gets a job on a daytime soap opera.
He wrote a fantastic story on his blog about selling. guitar to Keith Richard in Sydney in 1973. A great rock n roll scene.
We met many friends in the crowd and had an incredible time. Stan Armstrong was their guitar tech, a long time road crew worker in Australia, he also sang lead vocals on the Psycho Surgeons classic HORIZONTAL ACTION. A single I bought in 1979 and still treasure.
We then went and played shows in regional Victoria on subsequent weekends. One in SOMERS and another in TRENTHAM. The Somers show was in a round “observatory” built with mud bricks in the 1970s by unemployed people. It was on an historic homestead and was intended for people to sit and watch birdlife through the large window as if in a cinema type situation. A day time show, a fantastic experience. Another surprise. We never know what to expect in the ways of the size or purpose of the rooms or whether people will turn up. Both of these shows were put on by an enterprising couple who find the rooms and bring in a. small PA and some lights and get a band to make show. That was our job. The Trentham gig was in a long shed in extremely cold weather at the back of an old pub. A sold out room, enclosed wood heaters heating up the situation. Another great time. Regional gigs have been rare in Victoria as people think they can access Melbourne easily.
“back of the stage” in Somers.
Trentham. The Stables - Cosmopolitan Hotel.
We then spent a week in a very cold Melbourne getting ready for another trip. I took the opportunity to visit the dentist. Our van was using a lot of oil. I had a sore toe. General feeling of vulnerability.
We drove out of Melbourne on a Thursday morning to head toward NSW. We drove all day and got into a hotel in Goulburn at about 8pm. Goulburn is a regional town we have always found to have very substandard accommodations. This was pretty nice!
We drove another seven hours the next day past Sydney and Newcastle toward Old Bar , NSW. A great venue which has accommodation supplied. We were to be playing shows as a duo, with guitars, keys and vibes. The vibes took up the back seat of the van. We also had two amps, two guitars, records, books, ads and luggage for two weeks. The venue had been getting noise complaints so I doubt they could ever have drums involved anyway. People drove from places two hours away for the show. We played two sets with a lot of songs from (strangely)(emotional) and IN A MISTLY as well as EVERYTHING WAS FUNNY.
The venue owner let us stay an extra day as the show we had booked for ten next day had fallen through the previous week. Not enough time to put another date in so we made the best of it, walking along a beautiful long beach by ourselves for an hour to the next town and having some lunch.
The back of the venue in Old Bar, NSW. The stairs led up to the rooms and the right is the back of the stage where we played.
The street view of the Flow Bar at Old Bar.
On the Sunday we drove six hours to Bellingen in NSW where we played in a lovely hall in a theatre situation. This show was put on by another young couple who hire the hall and put in a PA and lights. They didn’t bother with liquor at all and just made some lovely hot Chai for people to drink. Nobody complained! We performed Velvets MC for the first time.
Bellingen is a very self sufficient regional town. Lots of political posters in regard to Forest preservation and other political issues, techno bashes in the bush and all manner of self help classes. Also a most amazing clothes shop in a beautiful old department store in. the Main Street. Italian knitwear and suits, trousers, hats, shirts. Quite expensive and I must return next time I get an unexpected windfall.
The next day we took a leisurely six hour drive to Sydney. We took a turn off to see what Kempsey was like and got scared. A song title came to me . (I Don’t Want To Go To) Kempsey! We then stopped at Nambucca Heads which we had played at many years ago with Hunters And Collectors and remembered it a s a quiet spot for retirees. It seems to have fallen on hard times is all I can say.
I bought a bottle of hemp seed oil from a fish and tackle shop by the side of the river at Nambucca Heads. That scene could not have been any more authentic. Though the man behind the counter was also finishing his grilled fish wrap. (I had just had one too - delicious). That sealed the deal. He was a guru. You can take a spoonful ( half for your kids or dog) or rub it on an affected area. I asked whether you got a buzz too. He laughed and assured me that all that stuff had been taken out. “Too bad” I said as I handed over my card. Country singer James Blundell pimps it thusly , “it works for me!”
We also passed through Taree. Thats always been a pretty wild looking place. All these places are river towns. A river running through the place. They always look wild to me. I grew up in a nice town sleeping on the side of an extinct volcano now passing as a series of beautiful lakes. The water just sat there, anyway.
We arrived in Sydney at about 6pm.
The next day we caught up with Bleddyn Butcher and Jude and Peter Milton Walsh and Kate and had a nice dinner. For some reason I had to cook something and made roasted cauliflower steaks with turmeric and Dahl.
I also visited a music shop in Newtown and bought a new guitar. Solid body, nylon strings. Piezo pick up under the bridge. One volume knob, one tone. Haze guitars, made in China.
UPCOMING SHOWS
Friday 5th July, Link and Pin, Woy Woy, NSW
https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1226741
Saturday 6th July, The Vanguard, Newtown NSW
https://moshtix.com.au/v2/event/dave-graney-clare-moore-album-launch-strangelyemotional/165484
Sunday 7th July, Dangar Bowls, Dangar Island NSW
https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1219608
Friday 26th July, Murray Delta Juke Joint, Goolwa SA
https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1234804
Saturday 27th July, Wheatsheaf Hotel, Thebarton SA