Brian Kennedy at Basement Discs

I’m a bit behind on reporting this In Store performance, but better late than never.

Brian Kennedy did a show at Basement Discs last Wednesday and I managed, in between funeral arrangements, to get down to see him.

An Irish charmer, Brian Kennedy is a very engaging and entertaining performer. Multi- talented - he is a musician, singer and novelist - he spent many years playing in Van Morrison’s band. He also represented Ireland in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest.

Perhaps the most remarkable talent Brian Kennedy possesses is his gorgeous voice. It’s what first struck me when I first saw him perform at Basement Discs several years ago.

His voice has a high register, almost soprano, but probably is classed as a tenor.

As mentioned before, as a live entertainer he is funny and charming. Though I do not own any of his CDs (I can imagine B’s reaction if I brought one home!) I always take the opportunity to see him playing live at Basement Discs.

Last Wednesday was a great little show – very enjoyable to all who attended.

In other music news, Patty Griffin will be touring Australia for the first time in November. I’m certainly looking forward to that, as she is an extraordinary artist - a remarkable singer as well as being a great songwriter. Emmylou Harris is quoted as saying about Patty Griffin “"I would go anywhere, anytime to hear Patty Griffin sing her extraordinary songs". Same here.

Update on the Spring Racing Carnival

So far the Equine Influenza virus has been confined to New South Wales and Victoria has remained virus free. There has been no racing on the East coast for over three days, but Saturday afternoon is looking promising for the resumption of racing in Melbourne. The EI virus has frustrated the training programs of Sydney based horses and it looks like they will not be in contention during the early stages of the carnival or maybe not at all.

The Carnival may end up as a Melbourne centric competition, which would be a shame, as there are champions in Sydney who would have enhanced the entries into the main Spring races. It also looks as if the International contingent will be greatly reduced this year as well.

Fortunately a lot of my favourite racehorses, like Haradasun, El Segundo and Apache Cat, are Victorian based. Haradasun is due to race again next Saturday. He is also likely to be racing on the day I make my annual pilgrimage to Mooney Valley Race Course in mid September. I’d love to see him in the flesh and hope to get a picture of him on the day.