On Friday night I drove 45 kilometres into the city to see one of my favourite Melbourne collectives, ON DIAMOND play one of their monthly residency shows at the Cross Street Music Hall in Brunswick.
A fiercely independent and extremely conscious 2024 self styled “six piece experimental pop band”, one of whose members, Genevieve Fry (harp) plays in one of my other favourite collectives, Cold Hands Warm Heart.
These are very committed people. Genevieve transports her harp in a trailer on the back of her bicycle.
This was their third or fourth date and they have two more to come. They are playing songs from an album they have already recorded but which is not yet scheduled for release. I am all for this kind of entertainment. The artist in control, the audience tuning in however they can and - thats how it should be! Nobody dies! No hits, no memories!
Lisa Salvo sings with incredible skill and precision over a powerful and tight rhythm section and all around her is chaos with Scott playing a most avant garde, atonal guitar and octogenarian percussionist (a surprise new addition) Dure Dara at her station hitting, scraping and banging a succession of bells, cymbals and objects. Its all flying off everywhere but very precisely arranged all at the same time. They know what they are doing.
The venue was in a backstreet of Brunswick, nowhere near any kind of nightlife walking strip. A floodlit carpak next to a basketball court and an oval. The stage containing many other instruments which are apparently used by a band who regularly either play or rehearse there. Esala from Cold Hands Warm Heart manned the entrance and sold soft drinks, wine and chai. At their usual home base - EASTMINT in Northcote (Their rehearsal and studio space) they usually also provide vegetarian Laksa. A long way from pub rock.
It was a wonderful night. Over at 10pm.
If you are in Melbourne their next events are at the Cross Street Music Hall. October 25th and November 22nd.
The next day was the AFL Grand Final and I watched it with my sister and her fmaily who all live in Fitzroy and their daughter also plays for Fitzroy under 16s. For foreign readers, the Grand Final was won by the Brisbane Lions who wear the colours of the Fitzroy Football Club from Melbourne who were given to Brisbane to get rid of them and also to establish an Australian Rules team in the Rugby League heartland of Brisbane. They defeated the Sydney Swans who were once South Melbourne who were sold to Sydney in 1982 to get rid of them and ….. etc.. …So it looked liked the scheme worked.
On Sunday I drove the 45k’s again to attend a show by a band I loved as a teen in the country and as an adult. They began as Spectrum then mutated in the Incredible Murtceps and then into ARIEL. Their main songwriter Mike Rudd originally came from Christchurch New Zealand as part of an r&b band called The Chants. In an era of great players he was also a great songwriter which was a much rarer thing to be in Australian music at that time. They had one massive hit in 1971 called I’ll Be Gone which in time honoured freak style they refused to put on their debut album . A song they cannot leave the stage without performing until this day.
Mike has great skills as a stratocaster player and his high voice is still there. They play quite a lot and have kept their skills in fine tune. This was a show to launch a CD of a live album from their historic period in 1976.
The line up was Peter 'Robbo' Robertson (drums), Broc O'Connor (bass), Mike Rudd (guitar, blues harp and vocals) and Daryl Roberts (keyboards. Today they were joined by Brenden Mason on guitar (from a band called Madder Lake) and Glyn Mason on guitar and vocals. Glyn played and sang in the final version of Ariel, an incredibly strong, high and very tuneful voice.
This was an epic prog pop session. My friend Tony commented how great it was to be the youngest people in the room for a change. The players had skills and the audience got involved with all manner of very demonstrative 70s dancing. One fellow in particular looked like the mad scientist character from Back To the Future. (You know - the only cool one in that film …)
I recently got around to reading a great book about Mike, Ariel, Spectrum, Murtceps and I’ll Be Gone and 1971 Australian Music by Craig Horne and totally recommend it if you are interested in underground culture.
Ther show had many highlights but at some point I was focusing on teh bass playing because the guy had that particlular 70s ) mode of sitting in the pocket on one vamping note, never overplaying at all. In subsequent years this has become a bit silly with some players in that they refuse to step out and do any kind of colouring notes at all. I guess I mean that great style you hear the 16 year old Andy Fraser play in All Right Now by Free. (A song he wrote and the bass doesn’t figure until the chorus).
The late Bill Putt was the walrus moustached bass player for all things Ariel/Spectrum until he passed in 2009. (From a heart attack chopping wood after surviving the Huge Fires of that year) During this show I heard them slip into that Australian groove of vamping on an A a couple of times. Once during Some Good Advice. Its almost pushing the song along in a kind of advance shuffle.
I guess the best example of it is in the brutal Rose Tattoo debut single from 1977/78, Bad Boy For Love. Written by bass player the late Ian Rilen. This band had such arch villains, the -late - towering slide guitarist Peter wells and the drummer with three great names, Dallas “Digger” Royal.
Then there is that perfect Melbourne moment when AC DC drove up the middle of the city on the back of a truck miming to Its A Long Way To The Top. This time that mad vamping A chord is struck by the maestro of the Gretsch and leader of the band Malcolm Young. It starts out swinging but has a maniacal ending where they all get ON the beat and play it to submission. Their greatest moment! Again, driven by a great drummer in Phil Rudd as well. (No relation to Mike as far as I know but Phil resides in new Zealand).