A Rare Pleasure –The Milk Carton Kids at Thornbury Theatre

The Milk Carton Kids  - live 9 July 2023 at Thornbury Theatre

I’d be the first to admit that I have been neglectful in blogging, though truth to tell there is not much happening in my life worth reporting, as we endure another winter.

In the past I attended many musical events, but these days, with old age diminishing my hearing I’m less inclined to go.

However I made an exception for The Milk Carton Kids having seen them twice before, firstly at Thornbury Theatre way back in June 2013, then again at the Athenaeum Theatre in July 2015.

Before attending I did purchase and listen to their latest CD I Only See The Moon, a masterful collection of ten beautiful songs, and was particularly taken with several of them, namely  One True Love,  North Country Ride and Will You Remember Me.

The Thornbury Theatre was configured for concert mode, in rows of reserved seating and I’d booked tickets early enough to secure seats three rows from the stage in the centre section, a perfect position.

The show was opened by the support act, Canadian- American singer songwriter Vera Sola.

Vera Sola live at Thornbury Theatre 9 July 2023

I must admit her act was quite dramatic, though not really to my personal taste.

The Milk Carton Kids on the other hand were just as engaging as previously witnessed and performed a wonderful set of thirteen songs, drawn from their 10 record repertoire.

They are a minimalist act, just the two of them – Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale – standing around a single mike and combining gorgeous harmony singing with guitar (and banjo) accompaniments.

The Milk Carton Kids – Joey Ryan & Kenneth Pattengale

I was delighted that they performed my favourites from their new record - exquisite renditions as you’d expect.

The audience in attendance were predominantly in the older age bracket, a circumstance remarked on by Joey Ryan when he singled out a young person sitting in the front row during one of the breaks between songs. Us older folk were amused rather than affronted by this, and gave the boys a rousing reception and even a standing ovation at the end of the night, where they returned for an encore of two songs, a fabulous cover of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here and the final track on I Only See the Moon, Will You Remember Me?

They are a class act that I hope to see live again before I die.

 

Milk Carton Kids Setlist

1. Younger Years

2. Monterey

3. Maybe It's Time

4. Honey, Honey

5. All Of The Time In The World To Kill

6. When You're Gone

7. I Only See the Moon

8. One True Love

9. North Country Ride

10. Heaven

11. Michigan

12. All the Things I Did and All the Things that I Didn’t Do

13. I Still Want a Little More

 Encore:

15. Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd cover)

16. Will You Remember Me?

New Computer & Windows 10

Corsair  Mid Tower Case with side window

Having taken possession of my new super duper computer last Wednesday, I have been accustoming myself to Windows 10.

Much as I dreaded upgrading to Windows 10, it has not been all that stressful and is pretty much like Windows 7, except bossier.

Gratifyingly, all my beloved antique software works fine without any problems. Amazing to discover that MS Office 2003 (the last MS Office with the old interface before the ribbon interface was introduced in Office 2007)  is still operable under the latest version of Windows.

The picture above is of the mid tower case of the new computer. Tower cases have gotten groovier these days -  a far cry from the boring beige boxes of the past.  There was one at the computer shop with flashy lighting effects, but I settled on the minimalist Corsair 100R case which has a side glass panel so you can see the computer’s innards, and no doubt how dusty it will get as the years go by.

It is a fast machine that comes with bountiful USB 3 ports and runs quietly.

So overall I’m really pleased I opted for a new computer and that Windows 10 has proved (so far) not to be the gremlin I had anticipated and was easy to customise to my liking.

One good thing about Windows 10, is that Open Live Writer now has a spell checker, unavailable on Windows 7 , so hopefully I won’t be making as many inadvertent mistakes. I have yet to test that it uploads to Google, but this post will be the proof.

On other matters I have several events booked in February and March, two literary occasions – Margaret Atwood at Hamer Hall on 23 February and Neil Gaiman at the Capitol on February 25 – and three music concerts. The first of these is Patty Griffin on March 3, followed by Eilen Jewell on 19 March and Kieran Kane on 26 March. So there’s lots to look forward to in this brand new year.

Hopefully I’ll be back at the races next Saturday at Caulfield. Alas, transport disruptions mean that I will have to catch a bus to Caulfield next week as trains are not running, though the rest of the autumn racing season at Caulfield appears not to be affected, in February at least.

The 2020 All Star Mile will be run at Caulfield this year in mid March and is shaping up as the race of the Melbourne autumn season, with a plethora of classy horses nominated. 

I witnessed the inaugural running of the race last year at Flemington, won by Tassie filly Mystic Journey. She is nominated again and will probably get a start. Let’s hope the P B Lawrence Stakes curse has worn off this autumn and that she can add another win to her tally.

Winter in Ivanhoe

Yellow Rhodedendron – spot of colour to spite the cold

I am not looking forward to this first winter in Ivanhoe, not that I welcomed it in the old house in Northcote either.

This current residence is a cold house, due to the insulation which makes it cool in summer, but in winter it’s a different matter.  A giant gum tree in the next door neighbour’s garden effectively  prevents sunlight from reaching our back yard, and a distinct chill invades the house.

The house has three different warming systems, only one of which we use. B  has objections to the ducted heating system, arguing that it is wasted energy in that it heats the entire house and we both prefer a cool bedroom at night. 

When we first moved here back in September there was a gas flame fire, but it turned out to be purely decorative and was useless as a heater. Thankfully it has been replaced with a real gas flame fire, which works, and is the sole means of heating we use. 

Bingo the cat loves it and toasts himself in front of it when it’ s operating – later in the day when the chill really sets in. The rest of the time we rug up and endure the cold.

Speaking of the cats, Bingo is now fully grown, a small but perfectly formed cat with a big attitude, and is still as naughty as ever.

Bingo shredding the door mat

He has however learned better table manners and now responds (with vocal objections) to NO when told to get off the table when we’re eating.

These days he has been spending a lot of time under the house growling at another cat, an oldish long haired tabby who lives a couple of houses up and visits every morning. According to its owner, Bingo visits their house too and the two cats engage in the same growling and howling activity there as well, though it doesn’t escalate into anything more serious.

There are other cats around – a young rag doll called Theo and other moggies of varied colours.

Talya understandably loathes Bingo, but has learnt some of his bad habits, such as climbing all over the benchtops and licking out saucepans in the sink, something she would not dream of doing before. 

She has also become incontinent, pissing inappropriately on the floor, and shitting on the rugs, which we’ve been forced to take up and put out of her reach and close doors to rooms we don’t use regularly. Her behaviour is stress related I think and we can’t think of any way to break her of the habit, other than forcing her to go outside last thing at night and early morning,  the usual times these “accidents” are likely to occur.

Bingo is merciless as far as Talya is concerned, constantly teasing her and disrupting her peace by jumping on her when she’s sound asleep.  Both cats get fractious when they’re hungry and are terribly distracting until they are fed.

That’s one of the reasons I haven’t been writing any posts of late, but truth to tell I haven’t been feeling all that inspired to add words to a screen and nothing much has happened to excite my interest in writing anything.

I did attend the Eilen Jewell concert back in May and it was as good as always. I took along the Canon G16 camera, but found to my dismay that the battery was almost flat as was the spare, so I couldn’t take many photos.

Eilen Jewell and her ace band at Thornbury Theatre – 23 May 2018

I  couldn’t resist purchasing the below poster that was on sale at the merchandise table and get it signed.

Eilen Jewell poster produced by Moon Rabbit Press

As usual I’ve been passing the time reading and playing computer games…

Back in April I downloaded to my Kindle six Joan Aiken novels that had just been issued as eBooks, having been out of print as physical books for many years.  As they were only $6.00 each it was an irresistable temptation.

Joan Aiken is one of my favourite writers who I have been following since the 1960s, when I first discovered her “Wolves” series of alternate history children’s novels, which encompass 12 books in all, the last published after Joan Aiken’s death (in 2004) in 2005.

She was a prolific writer, producing over a hundred books, for both children and adults.

The six novels I downloaded were her delightfully wicked Regency and Gothic romances, and I binge read them one after the other over the past month or so, and thoroughly enjoyed indulging in their guilty pleasures.

Most of the computer games I’ve been playing were ones I had played before, except for Keepsake a game I actually have on DVD, but was unable to play it when I got it in 2006, due to various issues.

It was recently released on Steam, so I purchased it and played it and found it to be a quite engaging game with an interesting plot and unusual puzzles, some of them very hard to crack.

 

It was also a lengthy game with many locations to explore and is set in school for magic ala Harry Potter. The heroine is Lydia who arrives at the school to begin a course in magic, only to discover that the academy is deserted, with no sign of pupils or teaching staff.  Lydia is particularly distressed by the non appearance of her childhood friend Celeste whom she has been looking forward to seeing again after many years.

The game basically centres around Lydia’s search for answers to the mystery of the deserted academy, in which she is assisted by Zac, a shapeshifted wolf who claims he is really a dragon, whom Lydia releases from a cupboard where he had been locked up before everyone went missing.

I’m of course hanging out for the beginning of the spring racing season, still a month or so away, but promising to be a bit more interesting than last year, with a few new potential stars of the turf emerging recently over the Sydney and Brisbane carnivals. And Winx will be back in action soon, quite possibly on 18 August in the newly promoted to Group 1, Winx Stakes  - formerly the Warwick Stakes, now renamed in her honour. 

I’ve already purchased a ticket to the Cox Plate;  Winx’s main target this spring, where she will be aiming to become the first horse to win it four times.

Welcome 2018

B Kliban – Tree Party Hangover

World War III failed to eventuate in 2017, for which we can be thankful, but the odds of it happening in 2018 are much shorter, with Trump and Kim Jong Un causing Global anxiety with their belligerant exchanges of views.

Hopefully, sanity will prevail with 2018 featuring more good news than bad news. With any luck Trump will be impeached, Kim Jong Un will be overthrown, and peace will prevail.

2017 was an eventful year for the Cat Politics domicile, particulary the big move to another suburb and the raising of a new feline companion to fill the gap left by Willy’s death on Boxing Day 2016.

The feline in question is sitting on my knee as I write this post and is being good for change.

Cats – Talya in the cat bed with Bingo outside

Talya appears to have recovered from her stomach ailment, as she has not inappropriately voided her bowels inside for several weeks.  She has however abandoned her blanket on the chair and readopted the cat bed. I must say that the cat bed purchased in 2015 has been a great success as cats seem to love this particular model.

We had Christmas lunch at my brother’s place and I got to meet my new great niece Florence for the first time.

A baby photo! Florence in elf hat

She’s another Leo born into the family. That makes five of us in all.  My youngest nephew became a father this year in November with the birth of baby Tex.  I haven’t seen the nephew for several years as he lives and works in Queensland.

One of the joys of New Year’s Day is putting up a new calendar. I buy a calendar every year and have a huge collection (though I culled it before we moved) of calendars dating back to the 1970s.

This year I purchased the Mimi Vang Olsen cat calendar, which has 12 delightful portraits of cats.

We had a quiet New Year’s Eve as usual and went to bed early, though were awoken briefly by the bang of fireworks nearby around midnight. 

I’ve started the New Year with a head cold, awaking with it yesterday morning. Who knows how I caught it, but it’s not that bad so far and my nose seems to have stopped dribbling.

There are a few things I’m looking forward to in 2018 - a Jason Isbell concert in late March, and seeing New York writer and wit, Fran Lebowizt, earlier the same month at the Athenaeum Theatre. I have an ancient copy of her first book, Metropolitan Life, which I enjoyed reading at the time, though it’s a bit dated now.

There are not many books I’m eagerly awaiting in 2018, other than the new Kate Atkinson novel Transcription, and William Gibson is purported to have the follow up to The Peripheral, called Agency out this year as well. No doubt there will be other books that will catch my fancy as the year progresses.

And - I didn’t think I would be writing this again - the 25th Anniversary Edition of John Crowley’s Little, Big, now awaited for 12 years, will hopefully be published this year. It was supposed to come out last year, and must be close to being sent to the printers, according to the latest news on the Little, Big website.  God, I hope it arrives before I die!

Anyway on this first day of a brand new year I’m mostly optimistic that we will all survive to live a few more.

PS The phone and Internet are now working after a technician came and fixed the wiring in the street just after Christmas.

Ryan Adams Lights Up Margaret Court Arena

Ryan Adams & The Unknown Band live 26 May 2017

Margaret Court Arena is the little sister stadium to Rod Laver Arena and named to honour Australian Tennis star Margaret Court. It will probably be renamed after the said famous tennis star recently expressed homophobic views in a letter to the West Australian newspaper, stating that she would no longer fly with Qantas Airlines owing to  the Qantas CEO ‘s support for same sex marriage.

Ryan Adams, the star of Friday night’s stellar show remarked on twitter that as a Pagan he strongly supports marriage equality and  has since dubbed the venue Marriage Equality Arena. Ryan Adams has never been one for political comment, but since the advent of Trump he, like many other artists, has become more vocal on current social and political issues.

A sign of the New World dystopia in which we live these days, and as a reaction to recent terrorist attacks, there was a long queue at the approach to the entry doors of the arena, where every concert goer was individually searched and scanned before they could enter. This led to a delay in the evening’s time table, not necessarily affecting the support act, The Middle Kids, but causing the Ryan Adams’ set to start later than scheduled. At least that’s what Ryan Adams said at the end of his two hour performance; due to a curfew, rushing through the last two songs in lieu of an encore. 

Anyway, on to the concert…

After enduring the security screening on entering the arena, my friend B and I, after a brief visit to the Merchandise Table,  found our seats and discovered that they weren’t too bad at all, a centre spot on the lower level that provided an excellent view of the stage, but a bit far away for decent non noisy photos. It was my first time at Margaret Court Arena, so I was not sure what to expect. As stadiums go, it was quite intimate in vibe and has a capacity for about 6,500 to 7000 people.

I did not take much heed to the support act other than to note that they were very loud. We basically caught the last half of their set by the time we took our seats.

After watching the roadies set up the stage for Ryan Adams, it was about an hour’s wait for the main act. I’m glad I opted for seated tickets, and didn’t envy the general admission standing crowd. At my age I don’t think I could stand for however many hours they were obliged to.

Favouring a low tech set, Ryan Adams decorates the stage with big amplifiers and banks of TV screens, and stuffed toy cats - three tigers, what appeared to be an ocelot, and a cardboard cut out of a cat perched on one the amplifiers.

Stage being set up

So it was approaching 9.30pm before Ryan Adams and The Unknown Band took the stage and launched into the first song of the set, Do You Still Love Me?,  the opening track on Ryan Adams latest album Prisoner, then followed with the second  track on Heartbreaker – Ryan’s first solo recording of 2000 – To Be Young.

Prisoner is a really likeable album that grows on you the more you play it, so it was no trial to be treated to quite a few songs from the record – Outbound Train, Prisoner, Doomsday and To Be Without You (my favourite song on Prisoner) – interspersed with older tunes from Ryan Adams 15 album back catalogue.

The Unknown Band sounded great for most of the songs, though I found myself longing for Ryan’s former band The Cardinals when they played songs from that era (2005-2009), ie Magnolia Mountain, Let It Ride etc., still vividly recalling the concert at the Forum in January 2009 – one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen. The arrangements seemed strange and somewhat clunky to me who has heard better versions in the past.

Ryan Adams rocking out (with tiger)

There was very little chit chat from Ryan during the concert, the songs being performed in fast sequence with hardly a pause, Ryan occasionally performing solo in the midst of what was a predominantly rock n roll set, his beautiful voice as always carrying clearly across the expanse of the arena.

The Melbourne audience was, as is generally the case, quietly appreciative and I did not witness any bad behaviour,  acknowleged by Ryan, referring to his recent show at Byron Bay which was spoiled by disinterested attendees who chatted loudly throughout his set.

This may be the last time that Ryan Adams will visit Australia, so I’m glad I got to see him perform live one more time.  Ryan Adams suffers from Meniere's disease, a chronic disorder of the inner ear that is exacerbated by long distance flights.

He’s a real trooper of a performer who gives his all in concerts despite his disability.

Ryan Adams Setlist

1. Do You Still Love Me?

2. To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High)

3. Gimme Something Good

4. Two

5. Dirty Rain

6. Outbound Train

7. Stay With Me

8. Prisoner

9. Magnolia Mountain

10. Fix It

11. Wonderwall (Oasis cover)

12. Doomsday

13. When the Stars Go Blue

14. My Winding Wheel

15. Invisible Riverside

16. Let It Ride

17. Cold Roses

18. Kim

19. To Be Without You

20. Everybody Knows

21. Mockingbird

22. Peaceful Valley

23. New York, New York

24. Shakedown on 9th Street

Winter is Coming…

But before it really hits Melbourne, I have several interesting events to attend by the end of May, that involve literature and music.

I could include art in that, but I’m holding off on the Vincent Van Gogh exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria for a month or so, and plan to visit when the crowds have died down.

The Wheeler Centre is having a mini literature festival this May and two of the International writers who will be visiting Melbourne at the time are of interest to me, so I’ve booked tickets to see them at local venue, Northcote Town Hall.

The writers in question are American authors Colson Whitehead, author of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Underground Railroad, and George Saunders, renowned for his short stories, whose latest work is also his first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo. I have read The Underground Railroad on my Kindle and found it an absorbing impressive novel and quite harrowing, the subject matter dealing as it does with black  slavery in the USA.

As for George Saunders, I have copies of his first two collections of short stories, Civilwarland In Bad Decline and Pastoralia, both of which I enjoyed enormously, the quirkyness of his writing style and subject matter appealing to my taste for peculiar literature. I am currently reading Lincoln in the Bardo on my Kindle and it certainly is a strange novel, which I am not sure I’m enjoying all that much.

So seeing both these authors soon, George Saunders on 21 May and Colson Whitehead on 24 May, will be interesting to say the least.

I have noted that Irish author Anne Enright is also part of the mini literary carnival, but have eschewed attending her event as I hated her Booker winning novel The Gathering and consequently felt no desire to read any of her other books.

It will be a busy week as far as events are concerned for the long awaited and highly anticipated concert of my all time favourite singer songwriter, Ryan Adams is on 26 May at Margaret Court Arena.

That will be the icing on the cultural cake as far as I’m concerned.

Some Nights You Gotta Dance–Dixie Chicks Rock Melbourne Again

Natalie Maines – Dixie Chicks live at Rod Laver Arena 2/4/17

It was a chilly night in Melbourne town as my friend B and I set out for the Rod Laver Arena to catch the Dixie Chicks second Melbourne show on Sunday night.

Having last seen the Chicks eleven years ago I was keenly looking forward to the event, despite being somewhat fatigued by the experience of breaking in a new kitten to the house and the change to daylight saving that morning.

All my weariness dissipated as soon as I stepped into the venue and joined the sell out crowd streaming towards their seats.

We had excellent seats, second row from the front on the floor, though a bit to the side. Fortunately photos were permitted, so I managed to get heaps of good snaps from my vantage point of the Dixie Chicks in action.

Martie Maguire – Dixie Chicks live at Rod Laver Arena 2/4/17

The opening act Avalanche City, New Zealand folk singer Dave Baxter was in progress as we took our seats. As support acts go, he was pretty good, playing a pleasant set of his own songs, that included the really catchy Love, Love, Love and Inside Out, among other tunes.

As a large crew of stage hands cleared the stage , then set it up again, the big screens showed a variety of Dixie Chicks slides – trivia notes and trivia questions along with twitter quotes regarding the new POTUS, so it was around 9.00pm when The Chicks finally made it on stage to uproarious cheers from the large audience.

The set lists for all the Dixie Chicks Australian shows are similar, with a few variations for each concert. Along with all the old Chick favourites, such as Goodbye Earl, Wide Open Spaces, Lubbock or Leave It, Travellin’ Soldier etc, they performed several excellent covers.

Dixie Chicks have been avowed fans of Patty Griffin and on Sunday night they performed a total of four of her songs – Truth#2, Let Him Fly, Top Of The World and Don’t Let Me Die in Florida.

Natalie Maines also declared that she was obsessed with Beyoncé, with whom they recently played at the 2016 Country Music Awards. The song they played on that occasion was Beyoncé’s Daddy Lessons, which they have added to their current set list. It’s not a song I am familiar with having never followed, nor even listened to Beyoncé. The Chicks version of Daddy Lessons was so stunning it makes me want to check Beyoncé out.

Emily Robison - Dixie Chicks live at Rod Laver Arena 2/4/17

All the Chicks play multiple instruments – Natalie on guitar and percussion, Emily on banjo, mandolin and dobro, Martie on fiddle. They are all fine musicians.

They had a large supporting band that comprised a drummer, keyboard player, bass guitar and lead guitar. Several of them were Australian session players, but I failed to catch their names.

Throughout the concert a large screen at the back of the stage displayed various scenes relevant to the particular song being performed, hence the different backgrounds in the photos above.

A Dixie Chicks concert is really something to experience before you die. They are a dynamic group – smart and sassy with a rebellious attitude and superb musicianship. The music ranges from sweet ballads like Easy Silence to foot stompers such as White Trash Wedding and Sin Wagon.

The concert lasted for approximately two hours and encompassed about 23 songs.

They closed the night with a two song encore, singing everyone’s favourite Karaoke, the defiant Not Ready To Make Nice before ending with the hopeful Better Way, a cover of a Ben Harper song.

It was a throughly enjoyable evening out and sheer, unadulterated pleasure to see the Dixie Chicks live in concert again after such a long hiatus.

Martie Maguire & Natalie Maines – Dixie Chicks live at Rod Laver Arena 2/4/17

Set List
(not up on Setlist.com yet, so song sequence may be different)

1. The Long Way Around

2. Lubbock or Leave It

3. Truth #2 (Patty Griffin cover)

4. Easy Silence

5. Let Him Fly (Patty Griffin cover)

6. Some Days You Gotta Dance

7. Long Time Gone

8. Something In The Air (Thunderclap Newman cover)

9. Top of the World (Patty Griffin cover)

10. Goodbye Earl

11. Travelin' Soldier (Bruce Robison cover)

12. Don't Let Me Die in Florida (Patty Griffin cover)

13. Daddy Lessons (Beyoncé cover)

14. White Trash Wedding

15. Bluegrass Instrumental

16. Ready to Run

17. Mississippi (Bob Dylan cover)

18. Landslide (Fleetwood Mac cover)

19. Cowboy Take Me Away

20. Wide Open Spaces

21. Sin Wagon

Encore:

22. Not Ready to Make Nice

23. Better Way (Ben Harper cover)

Reasons To Be Cheerful

Global power may currently be in the hands of a scary three year old in the body of a grown man, a sinister former member of the KGB and an ambitious inscrutable oriental power,  but I try not to let that bother me overmuch.

What can you do?

My answer is to find things that make you cheerful and take your mind off the dire new world – world war three  will happen, or then again, it may not.

I have several pleasant things to look forward to in books, music and horse racing.

Firstly, books.  I was pretty underwhelmed by the literature on offer at the start of 2016, but I did find some gems published last year after it was almost over.

I’m currently reading A Gentleman In Moscow by American writer Amor Towles, an author unfamiliar to me, even though he has one other novel, The Rules of Civility, published in 2011.

A Gentleman In Moscow is a real find; a charming and thoroughly enjoyable novel set in Moscow, covering the years 1922 through to the 1950s. 

Though  the novel is set in Moscow in the period following the Russian Revolution,  it is mostly confined to the grand old Hotel Metropol where the novel’s protagonist, Count Alexander Rostov, is detained under house arrest. 

It’s a novel to be enjoyed for its elegant and witty prose style, rather than page turning action.  However, there is plenty to keep the reader amused and beguiled as Count Rostov settles into his prison and adapts to its limitations. He’s a likeable character, a man with good taste and manners -  a true gentleman- who enjoys the good things life has to offer in his confinement, and treasures the friends he makes along the way.

Events outside the Metropol are not ignored; the tumultuous events of post revolutionary Russia  intrude on the charmed lives of the Hotel Metropol residents every so often.

Other 2016 published novels I was taken with are Margaret Atwood’s wicked take on Shakespeare’s The Tempest Hagseed, and Moonglow, a fictional biography by Michael Chabon, wonderfully written as you’d expect. I also read some super short story collections, Joan Aiken’s The People In The Castle, Get In Trouble by Kelly Link and Children of The New World by Alexander Weinstein.

This year’s fiction offerings are far more promising with novels by favourite authors Neal Stephenson (The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O), Nick Harkaway (Gnomen), Phillip Pullman (The Book of Dust) and John Crowley (Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr)  all to be published this year.

As for music, I have three concerts to attend in the next few months, with the Dixie Chicks on April 2 at Rod Laver Arena. My all time favourite artist Ryan Adams will be performing live in May at Margaret Court Arena. In July I’m off to see America, the 1970s band, best known for the song “Horse With No Name”, at Hamer Hall.

Having been awed by the amazing performance of Winx in the George Ryder Stakes last weekend, I had an overwhelming urge to go and see her in her final race for autumn, in three weeks time at Randwick, in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes. I have decided to fly to Sydney for the day and have booked my flight and purchased a ticket to the event, which also covers public transport fares to Randwick Racecourse.  So a sort of mini adventure is on the cards for Saturday 8 April. I don’t care what the weather is like – rain or shine will suit me either way.

Rebecca, if you’re reading this, I can get you a race book (can’t promise to get it signed, but I’ll try) and hopefully a Winx flag. Send me an email at pollycatster@gmail.com if interested.

If you’re wondering at my folly, check out this video of Winx winning the 2017 George Ryder Stakes last Saturday.  Be mindful that the track was a heavy 10 (Heaviest category track, very wet, towards saturation). All the racing fraternity are lost for words at her latest win, but I can’t help but rejoice that a racehorse of her calibre is back with us again so soon after Black Caviar stole our hearts away. 

Bruce Springsteen at AAMI Park

Last night (4/2/17) I had the thrill of seeing Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform live in Melbourne.

The venue, the relatively new AAMI Park, is one I have not been to before, but is a football stadium (soccer and rugby) that is also used as a live music venue every so often.  It has a distinctive rectangular design and the roof, that partially covers the arena, looks like a bunch of soccer balls loaded one on top each other, shrouds the structure.

The concert began in broad daylight (doors opened at 4.00pm) with two support acts entertaining the early arrivals, before Bruce Springsteen kicked off his show at around 7.45pm.

As we had reserved seats, we took our time getting there, dining first at the Corner Hotel in Swan Street, Richmond.

From there is was only a short walk to the stadium in Olympic Boulevard, and we caught some of support act, Jet’s show, from our seats on the floor, a fair way back from the stage.

Cameras were forbidden so I didn’t mind being at a remove,  watching the show on the big screens, to the left and right and above centre stage.

Bruce Springsteen is renowned as one of the best live acts in the world, and I can appreciate why. He was indefatigable, practically playing non stop over three hours, ably supported by the wonderful E Street Band who comprised:

Bruce Springsteen (guitar, vocals)
Stevie Van Zandt (guitar, vocals)
Souzie Tyrell (violin, vocals)
Max Weinberg (drums)
Gary Tallent (bass)
Roy Bittan (piano)
Nils Lofgren (guitar)
Charles Giordano (organ keyboards, accordion)
Jake Clemens (saxophone)

Springsteen is adored by his fans and he reciprocates the devotion warmly, interacting personally with them, shaking hands and allowing certain lucky fans to climb on stage for a five minutes of fame song and/or dance.  Banners seem to be the go if you’re down the front in mosh pit; the camera catching the signs requesting songs, or wishes to sing or dance with Bruce and the band.

It was high powered set encompassing 27 songs, with rockers and slower ballads in the mix.

As daylight faded to night, above the open air arena you could see fruit bats flying over and white birds wheeling above. And towards the end of the show fireworks were detonated off to the side outside the arena with sparks and streaks of light appearing above the top edge of the stadium.

As this was the first time I’d seen Bruce Springsteen live, I was impressed and enjoyed hearing old classics such as Born To Run, Dancing In The Dark , Hungry Heart, Glory Days in person.

I’d certainly consider going to see Bruce and his E Street Band again.

Set List  (from Setlist.fm)

1. American Land

2. Lonesome Day

3. My Love Will Not Let You Down

4. Out in the Street

5. Sherry Darling (sign request)

6. Hungry Heart

7. Glory Days

8. This Hard Land (sign request) (tour debut)

9. New York City Serenade (with strings)

10. Prove It All Night (with '78 intro)

11. Trapped (Jimmy Cliff cover)

12. Youngstown

13. Cover Me

14. Death to My Hometown

15. My City of Ruins

16. Cadillac Ranch (tour debut)

17. I'm Goin' Down

18. Waitin' on a Sunny Day (tour debut)

19. Because the Night (Patti Smith Group cover)

20. Badlands

21. Thunder Road

22. Born to Run

23. Seven Nights to Rock (Moon Mullican cover)

24. Dancing in the Dark

25. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out

26. Shout (The Isley Brothers cover)

27. Twist and Shout (The Top Notes cover)

Music Master–Tim O’Brien at Caravan Music Club

Tim O’Brien live at Caravan Music Club – 11/1/17

Caravan Music Club, out in the wilds of Oakleigh, on the other side of the Yarra, is a fair way from where I live. But it’s such a pleasant venue that the long trek getting there is generally worth the effort.

Such was the case last night, where we saw American master musician Tim O’Brien show off his expertise on guitar, violin and mandolin in a one man show.

Tim O’Brien last toured Australia in 2011, and I had the good fortune to see him perform at the Port Fairy Folk Festival and at the now extinct East Brunswick Club.

As well as being a whiz on various instruments, Tim also has a great singing voice, a warm tenor that suits the kind of music he favours – bluegrass, folk and gospel.

He started his show with one of his own compositions Workin’ a sort of Dylanish monologue detailing various work scenarios. Señor, a Dylan song he recorded on his wonderful Bob Dylan bluegrass tribute album Red On Blonde, followed, and provided an interesting and appropriate segue.

He changed the mood with a traditional English folk ballad Pretty Fair Lady In The Garden, then performed the comical title song from his latest record Pompadour.

Quite a few of the songs on the night were from the Pompadour album.

Tim O’Brien is touring Australia in the company of his partner, Jan Fabricious, whom he invited on stage to sing harmony in the next few songs – Wichita, I Gotta Move, What Happened To Me and Go Down To The Water.

Jan Fabricious at Caravan Music Club 11/1/17

And so the night progressed, Tim switching from guitar to fiddle to mandolin, singing or playing 22 tunes in his main set.

I was a tad disappointed he didn’t play banjo, but you can’t have everything.

Tim O’Brien live at Caravan Music Club 11/1/17

Several of the tunes were instrumental, such as traditional fiddle tunes like Ditty Boy Twang, Say Old Man and Kid On The Mountain, but the whole show was varied in terms of musical styles, making it a very enjoyable and engaging concert.

There was a good crowd in attendance, many of my vintage, who all appreciated the rare pleasure of watching Tim O”Brien play his instruments so effortlessly and with masterful skill.

Set List (stolen from the stage)

Tim O’Brien Set List for 11/1/17

Set List Translated (to the best of my ability)

1. Workin’
2. Señor
3. Pretty Fair Maid In The Garden
4. Pompadour
5. Wichita
6. I Gotta Move
7. Whatever Happened To Me
8. Go Down To the Water
9. You Were On My Mind This Morning
10. Say Old Man (fiddle tune)
11. Working On A Building
12. Ditty Boy Twang
13. Kid On The Mountain
14. Not Afraid Of Dying
15. I’m A Mess For You
16. Brother Wind
17. Jack of Diamonds (Drunkard’s Hiccups)/The Crossing
18. Nellie Kane
19. The Tulips On the Table
20. Gentle On My Mind (John Hartford cover by special request)
21. The Water Is Wise
22. Look Down That Lonesome Road

Encore

Before This Time Another Year

So Long Leonard

Leonard Cohen live at Rod Laver Arena –10 February 2009

I heard the news today that the great songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen had died, so here are my memories of the man and his music.

Ironically, two days after a misogynist ladies man won the US Presidential Election, another much gentler, more respectful, ladies man departed this earth.

The mists of  time shroud my memories of when I first heard of Leonard Cohen, but it must have been back in the late 1960s, as I remember I had  copies of his first few albums in my record collection.

He really suited our generation, or those of us who pretended to be soulful and poetic, in between the sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, though in a way his lyrics expressed all that too.

I was lucky enough to see him in concert twice, first  in 1980 at the Melbourne Comedy Theatre, which I thought an hilarious venue for a singer who was known to write “songs to slit your wrists by”.

My memories of the concert are vague, but I remember being surprised at how funny he was in person, and came away from the concert with a very positive impression.

The second concert was at a considerably bigger venue, the Rod Laver Arena in 2009.

I wrote a review of the show on my blog here, so I won’t go into detail except to say it was one of the best concerts I have ever seen.

The new world will not have Leonard Cohen as one of its citizens, and will be the poorer for it, but his memory will live long with those of us who loved his songs and music all those years ago in the old, old world.

The Dulcet Tones of Liz Stringer & Suzannah Espie at Caravan Music Club

Liz Stringer at Caravan Music Club – 15 April 2016

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a concert at the outer suburban  music oasis of Caravan Music Club once again.

This time it was to see local female singer songwriters Liz Stringer and Suzannah Espie.

I have seen both artists before when I used to patronise the Basement Discs, but not for several years, so I was looking forward to seeing them performing their wonderful songs.

The show started with a short set by Liz Stringer who showcased several of her songs solo, accompanying herself on guitar. She’s acknowledged as one of the best songwriters in Australia and at the tender age of 25 she performs with a maturity beyond her years.  She released her first record at the age of 15.

Liz Stringer at Caravan Music Club – 15 April 2016

There was brief interval after Liz’s set, then she returned to the stage with Suzannah Espie where it was explained that each would sing a few of their own songs turn about, whilst providing backing vocals and accompaniment to each other.

Suzannah Espie at Caravan Music Club – 15 April 2016

They sounded lovely together, Suzannah’s sweeter timbred voice blending with Liz’s contralto in luscious harmonies.

I can’t remember all the songs sung, and didn’t take notes, but the ones that stuck in my mind included Suzannah’s great songs Rosedale and Bluebird Boots, and Liz’s High Open Hills and Angela.

Suzannah Espie at Caravan Music Club  - 15 April 2016

Suzannah also performed the title track of her latest album Mother’s Not Feeling Herself Today, an album of songs relating to her recent status as a mother and the change it wrought on her life. The song itself is sung as a honky tonker.

They finished the night with one of my all time favourite songs, a cover of The Dark End Of The Street, originally written by Dan Penn, but performed by many other artists over the years – Gram Parsons and Ry Cooder for example.

It was a splendid evening of musical entertainment.  Liz Stringer and Suzannah Espie are fine representatives of the Melbourne music scene, and both are superb singers and songwriters.

Check them out, you’ll be pleasantly surprised if you haven’t heard of them before.

I have no other musical treats on the horizon, but I dare say there will be more before too long.

March Music–Jason Isbell & Eilen Jewell

Jason Isbell at Melbourne Recital Centre – 29/3/16

Jason Isbell has been hailed as the saviour of country music by various music critics, though he denies it. His latest record, Something More Than Free won a Grammy for Best Americana Album, and he won Best American Roots Song for 24 Frames, one of the notable tracks on the album.

He is undoubtedly one of the best songwriters around, so it was with keen anticipation that I went to his concert at the acoustically excellent Elisabeth Murdoch Hall in the Melbourne Recital Centre at Southbank.

Everything claimed about the acoustics in Elisabeth Murdoch Hall is true. I’ve never heard such purity and clarity of sound in a venue before. It certainly beats venues like Northcote Social Club hands down, which was where I last saw Jason Isbell perform live.

Eilen Jewell and her band opened for Jason Isbell  and played an engaging half hour set that sweetened the audience beautifully for the rest of the night.

Eilen Jewell at Melbourne Recital Centre – 29/3/16

Jason Isbell was accompanied by his excellent band The 400 Unit who comprise Sadler Vaden on guitar, Jimbo Hart on bass, Derry DeBorja on keyboards and Chad Gamble on drums.

A powerful performer, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit wowed the crowd with a stunning set of songs drawn from his repertoire, encompassing Something More Than Free, Southeastern and his back catalogue, including songs he wrote for the Drive By Truckers.

At the end of his show he was accorded a standing ovation, a courtesy Melbourne audiences seem more prone to doing these days.

Jason Isbell Setlist

1. Stockholm
2. Decoration Day
3. Alabama Pines
4. Something More Than Free
5. Travelling Alone
6. Never Gonna Change
7. Cover Me Up
8. Relatively Easy
9. 24 Frames
10. The Life You Chose
11. Speed Trap Town
12. Different Days
13. If It Takes a Lifetime

Encore:

1. Elephant
2. Codeine

The night after the Jason Isbell concert I went to see Eilen Jewell  doing a headline show at Thornbury Theatre on the 30th March. 

Eilen  Jewell is a real gem of an artist – witty, sparkling - and has a great voice – sultry and sweet. She also writes great songs; on the dark side of the spectrum generally, which belies her innocent looks.

Eilen Jewell at Thornbury Theatre 30/3/16

She opened her set with two songs from her latest excellent album Sundown Over Ghost Town – Worried Mind and Hallelujah Band, then harked back to her 2009 record, Sea of Tears, with Rain Roll In.

Supported as usual by her fabulous band which features Jerry Miller on electric guitar, Johnny Sciascia on upright bass and Jason Beek (her husband) on drums and backing vocals – “singing and drumming” as Eilen puts it.

Jerry Miller & Jason Beek – Thornbury Theatre 30/3/16

Johnny Sciascia – Thornbury Theatre 30/3/16

Eilen and band gave generously of their time playing for over two hours, which encompassed 22 songs all up.

Since last touring Australia, Eilen Jewell has given birth to a baby daughter named Mavis. Her last song of the night is ostensibly about her, and appropriately titled Songbird. “Mavis” is an old fashioned name for a songbird.

It was a great pleasure to watch Eilen and her band in the civilised and comfortable surrounds of the grand Thornbury Theatre,  after  previously seeing her perform two concerts on the sticky carpets at Brunswick Music Club and the Corner Hotel.

Eilen Jewell Set List

1. Worried Mind
2. Hallelujah Band
3. Rain Roll In
4. Where They Never Say Your Name
5. Heartache Boulevard
6. High Shelf Booze
7. Here with Me
8. Bang, Bang, Bang
9. Rio Grande
10. Santa Fe
11. Rich Man’s World
12. Dusty Boxcar Walls
13. Needle and Thread
14. Mess Around
15. Drop Down Daddy
16. Fist City
17. Warning Signs
18. Sea of Tears
19. I Remember You
20. Queen of the Minor Key
21. If You Catch Me Stealing

Encore

1. Songbird

Music & The Machine–An Enchanting Evening

Dave Rawlings Machine – photo from ABC RN Facebook

This is the first opportunity I have had to post about the Dave Rawlings Machine concert at the Palais last Friday night.

Seeing the Gillian Welch / Dave Rawlings duo a fortnight ago, certainly didn’t jade the pallet for more divine music from the pair.

We had better seats this time, four rows from the front, so even though, disappointingly, photos were not permitted, it didn’t in any way detract from the pleasure of the night’s entertainment.

It was quite a different set up and sound. The added accompaniments of Willie Watson on violin, banjo and guitar, Brittany Haas on violin and Paul Kowert on double bass delivered a deeper and richer sonic landscape; quite bluegrassy in fact.

In the Dave Rawlings Machine, David Rawlings assumes lead vocals, while Gillian Welch sings background harmonies and plays her rhythm guitar, though she did sing a couple of songs as lead. Gillian’s voice is warm and honey coloured and stands out even when several male vocalists are singing harmonies.

Willie Watson added his distinctive voice to many of the songs and was lead vocalist on Stewball, a traditional ditty about a racehorse He was formerly a member of Old Crow Medicine Show, so I’ve seen him before performing with them. And Paul Kowerts also took the lead on the gospel inspired He Will Set Your Fields On Fire.

As was the case in the Gillian Welch concert, there was an intermission of approximately 30 minutes half way through the show, where the band goes off to do mysterious things (David Rawlings words) and the audience does likewise.

However, we didn’t go next door to Luna Park and ride on the Scenic Railway as the band purportedly did and cheerfully admitted when they returned on stage for the second set.

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings have been driving to all their Australian concerts, crossing the Nullabor early in their tour, performing shows at Perth and Adelaide, then Sydney, Canberra, Bangalow and Melbourne. They have an aversion to flying, which explains why it took them 11 years to return.

Both the Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings Machine shows were wonderful in diverse ways, so I’m glad I seized the opportunity to see them this time around. I doubt if they’ll be back this way anytime soon.

Setlist (from Setlist.fm)

1. The Weekend

2. Bodysnatchers

3. Pilgrim (You Can't Go Home)

4. Wayside/Back in Time

5. To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High) (Ryan Adams cover)

6. Bells of Harlem

7. Keep It Clean (Charley Jordan cover)

8. The Trip

9. It's Too Easy

Intermission

10. Ruby

11. The Last Pharaoh

12. He Will Set Your Fields on Fire (Bill Monroe cover)

13. Sweet Tooth

14. I Hear Them All / This Land Is Your Land (Woody Guthrie cover)

15. Stewball ([traditional] cover)

16. Short Haired Woman Blues

17. Queen Jane Approximately (Bob Dylan cover)

Encore 1:

18. Look at Miss Ohio (Gillian Welch cover)

19. Method Acting / Cortez the Killer

Encore 2:

20. The Weight (The Band cover)

21. Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby ([traditional] cover)

****************************************

Music Festival time is only a few weeks off, when music lovers in Australia are spoilt for choice.

I’ve got tickets to five upcoming shows in March, April and June.

I’m looking forward to seeing Jason Isbell at Melbourne Recital Centre on 29 March. His opening act is non other than the delightful Eilen Jewell, whom I’m catching again the following night in a headline show at Thornbury Theatre.

On April Fool’s Day Frazey Ford (of The Be Good Tanyas fame) is at Caravan Music Club, and local singer writers Liz Stringer and Suzannah Espie are performing there together on 21 April.

And in June I’m seeing John Mellencamp at Rod Laver Arena, courtesy of a Ticketek Gift Voucher from Nu Country.

Summer Daze & Christmas Greetings

Ronald Searle Christmas Card

With Christmas only a few days away, here’s a post to celebrate the season and review 2015.

Despite the world in general being in tumult, my 2015 was reasonably stress free and a good year overall, with plenty of things to keep me interested and engaged.

Melbourne experienced its first heat wave of the summer earlier this week, where the temperature reached over 40°C last Saturday. You would think, considering the hype put on it by the media, that we’d never had a few days over 35°C before. They must have been scratching around for news.

As usual, I’ll be glad to have Christmas out of the way. We’ll be spending the day at my brother’s on the coast, but driving back afterwards, so the cats won’t be put out.

What bliss it is to be writing this post in Open Live Writer after clunking away on the Blogger editor for a couple of posts. Open Live Writer works well and runs smoothly in Windows 7 , thank goodness.

Highlights of 2015

There weren’t that many books that really wowed me this year, but a few stand out as keepers. I really liked Anthony Doerr’s All The Light We Cannot See, A God In Ruins by Kate Atkinson, David Mitchell’s spooky Slade House and Margaret Atwood’s very funny dystopian novel The Heart Goes Last.

I also read and enjoyed the latest Kazuo Ishiguro novel. Written in his characteristic understated prose, The Buried Giant is a haunting novel on memory and loss, set in the Dark Ages.  I purchased the US hard cover edition and I must say that it’s a beautifully designed book and enhances any bookshelf.

After reading Neal Stephenson’s new novel Seveneves, which I enjoyed enormously, I felt an urge to reread his Baroque Cycle a three volume historical novel set in the Age of Enlightenment (17th century and early 18th century). Each book in the trilogy is about 1000 pages long, so it took me a while to read, but Stephenson is such an entertaing writer it certainly wasn’t a chore. He obviously had a lot of fun writing it.

Neal Stephenson is wanton with words. He’ll use 100 words where 10 would normally serve, but he’s such a brilliant writer you go with the flow willingly. Here’s an example:

The quill swirled and lunged over the page in a slow but relentless three-steps-forward, two-steps-back sort of process, and finally came to a full stop in a tiny pool of its own ink. Then Louis Phélypéaux, first comte de Pontchartain, raised the nib; let it hover for an instant, as if gathering his forces; and hurled it backwards along the sentence, tiptoeing over i’s, slashing through t’s and x’s, nearly tripping over an umlaut, building speed and confidence while veering through a slalom course of acute and grave accents, pirouetting through cedillas and carving vicious snap-turns through circumflexes. It was like watching the world’s greatest fencing master dispatch twenty opponents with a single continuous series of manoeuvres. – page 119, The Confusion (Vol 2 of the Baroque Trilogy)

You are educated and enlightened reading Neal Stephenson, as he always takes time to explain complex ideas in simple terms and even though he uses a lot of acronyms, they are fully spelt out several times until you get used to them. He also writes action scenes that leave you on the edge of your seat and is laugh out loud funny at times.

I didn’t purchase much new music this year, just a few favourite artist CDs like Ryan Adams’ Live At Carnegie Hall and his version of Taylor Swift’s 1989, Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell’s Travelling Kind, Eilen Jewell’s Sundown Over Ghost Town, Servant of Love by Patty Griffin, and Something More Than Free by Jason Isbell, all of which are wonderful, though I haven’t listened to them all that much. My top pick is probably The Milk Carton Kids’ exquisite Monterey.

The discovery of the year was local Melbourne band Raised By Eagles, whose newest release Diamonds In The Bloodstream is up there with my favourites for the year.  I’ve never see them live, but hope to catch them next year whenever.

My music kicks were mostly got from the live shows I attended, all different but all enjoyable.

And of course both the Melbourne autumn and spring racing carnivals were full of interest and saw the emergence of several new stars of the turf, Cox Plate heroine Winx being the stand out.

So on that note I wish readers of this blog, whoever or wherever you are, a very merry Christmas and hope that the New Year is kindly and grants you health, wealth and good luck.

Bowie Unzipped–Jeff Duff at Caravan Music Club

Jeff Duff live at Caravan Music Club 11/12/15

Ever since I attended the Robert Forster concert I’ve had the David Bowie song Golden Years playing in my head, occasionally alternating with Starman and Ashes to Ashes, all of which were played on the night in question by the Thin White Ukes, the ukulele David Bowie tribute band. You could say they were the catchiest tunes of the evening.

On Friday night I had the pleasure of seeing Jeff Duff, founding member of iconic Aussie band Kush, perform his riveting tribute show to the same artist, at Caravan Music Club.

A consummate showman and  entertainer, Jeff Duff channelled the spirit of Bowie through two sets and twenty four songs.

The show started with the recorded soundtrack of the opening sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey (Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss) and the band – Jak Housden (guitar), Glenn Rhodes (keyboard) and Jess Cianti (drums) – climbed onstage dressed in white space suits and took up/sat behind their instruments.

In his first (of six) costume of the night, Jeff Duff entered dressed in a sparkling gold suit, fitted with angel wings and launched into a medley of Starman and Ziggy Stardust with a snippet of Ashes To Ashes thrown in.

Jeff Duff live at Caravan Music Club – costume 1

China Girl was the next song to be performed, then Changes, Space Oddity (with audience participation in the chorus) and Life On Mars.

Jeff Duff live at Caravan Music Club – costume 2

Whilst Jeff was executing a quick costume change Jak Housden entertained the audience with a rendition of Oh, You Pretty Things.

Jak Housden in space suit singing Oh You Pretty Things

Jeff returned to the stage resplendent in a gorgeous red suit topped off with a top hat, to take over the vocals again with Modern Love.

Jeff Duff live at Caravan Music Club – costume 3

Two more songs were sung before the end of Set 1, Under Pressure and Young Americans.

After the break there followed ten more songs that included Heroes, Golden Years, 1984, Rebel, Rebel and a great cover of Lou Reed’s classic Walk On The Wild Side, which song always reminds me of my long departed dog Arabel, who used to howl along with the coloured girls going doo, doo, doo...

The audience were encouraged to sing the doo, doo, doo bit, which they did with enthusiasm.

Jeff Duff live at Caravan Music Club – costume 4

The second set ended with Suffragette City, but Jeff Duff and band returned for a three song encore that included the Kush hit Livin’ on Easy Street and MacArthur Park, which was also covered by Kush back in the day.

Jeff Duff live at Caravan Music Club – costume 5

It was wonderful evening of high class entertainment. The room was packed for the sell out show and the band was hot. Though only a three piece outfit, they packed a big sound. The charismatic Jeff Duff was the star act and is a great live artist and he performed the quirky songs of David Bowie with wit and style.

I dare say I’ll have the whole back catalogue of David Bowie songs on my brain for another month.

Jeff Duff live at Caravan Music Club – costume 6

That was the last of the concerts I will see in 2015, and a fine way to segue into 2016.

I really regret that I missed going to see the David Bowie exhibition at Melbourne ACMI when it was on. It’s decades since I’ve listened to his music. Latterly his songs can be heard with a fresh ear, eons after hearing the originals, and although familiar come with a new awareness of the uniqueness of his artistic output.

Set List

Set 1

1. Starman
2. Ziggy Stardust
3. China Girl
4. Changes
5. Space Oddity
6. Life On Mars
7. Oh, You Pretty Things
8. Modern Love
9. Under Pressure
10. Young Americans

Set 2

1. Wild Is The Wind
2. Heroes
3. 1984
4. Sorrow
5. Walk On The Wild Side
6. ? (sung by Jak Housden)
7. Rebel, Rebel
8. Golden Years
9. Jean Genie
10. Let’s Dance
11. Suffragette City

Encore

1. All The Young Dudes
2. Livin' On Easy Street
3. MacArthur Park

November Music

During the past month I have been to three concerts, only one of which featured International artists, the others being performed by local musicians.

Fleetwood Mac at Rod Laver Arena - 4 November 2015

The first was the Fleetwood Mac concert at Rod Laver Arena on the day after the Melbourne Cup.  I never was a big Fleetwood Mac fan, but of course their songs were familiar, so I went along with an open mind and enjoyed the the concert, it exceeding my expectations over all.

Fleetwood Mac played for over 2½ hours and their set covered 19 songs with the band returning for two encores.  They played all their hits, Rhiannon, Go Your Own Way, Landslide, The Chain and You Make Loving Fun etc.

We (that is my ex neighbour B & I) travelled to St Kilda for the second show on the 14th November,  a concert celebrating Neil Young’s 70th Birthday at Memo Music Hall.

A sterling line up of local Melbourne musicians performed songs from Neil Young’s repertoire over several hours.  Led by guitar maestro Shane O’Mara and his ace band,  it featured Lisa Miller, Rebecca Barnard, Chris Wilson & Sarah Carroll, Angie Hart, Nick Barker, Gallie and Simon Bailey.

It was the first time I’d been to the venue, which is run by the same mob who manage Caravan Music Club. It is a comfortable space at the back of St Kilda RSL in Acland Street.  I’d certainly go there again.

Angie Hart – Memo 14 November 2015

The concert was excellent, with the various artists presenting great versions of Neil Young’s songs, including Old Man, Wrecking Ball, Needle & The Damage Done etc, etc.

Nick Barker – Memo 14 November 2015

Gallie – Memo 14 November 2015

Chris Wilson – Memo 14 November 2015

Shane O’Mara – Memo 14 November 2015

An Evening With Robert Forster was the most recent concert I attended and it was closer to home at Thornbury Theatre.

Robert Forster live at Thornbury Theatre 27/11/15

I must admit I am not familiar with the career of Robert Forster  formerly of the Go-Betweens, and would not have thought of attending the show if I hadn’t been invited by ex neighbour B to go. 

He is acknowledged as one of  Australia’s top singer songwriters and writes clever quirky songs that are performed with great panache. His music reminded me of Talking Heads and I believe they were one of his major influences along with Lou Reed and the 1970s New York rock scene.

He had two support acts, the first being a David Bowie tribute band, The Thin White Ukes. As their band name suggests they perform David Bowie songs with ukuleles and are very entertaining. They are Betty France (soprano ukulele) Michael Dwyer (concert ukulele) Rob Stephens (baritone ukulele).

The Thin White Ukes live at Thornbury Theatre 27/11/15

They played a short set of David Bowie songs that included Starman. Ashes to Ashes and Golden Years.

Jen Cloher, singer songwriter partner to Aria winner Courtney Barnett was the second support and played a gritty set of tunes from her repertoire and included one Gillian Welch cover, Everything Is Free, in the mix.  I have never listened to her music before so wouldn’t have a clue as to the names of her songs, though she did mention the name of two of them, one written when she was in New Zealand to care for her ailing parents and entitled My Mother’s Desk and the other called Mount Beauty about obsessive love.

Jen Cloher live at Thornbury Theatre 27/11/15

She also called The Thin White Ukes back to the stage for two songs.

Jen Cloher & Betty France live at Thornbury Theatre 27/11/15

With the two support acts warming up the audience for over an hour, it was quite late in the evening when Robert Forster and his excellent band took the stage.

Robert Forster live at Thornbury Theatre 27/11/15

They were worth waiting for and from the first song, I knew I was going to enjoy his act enormously and continued to be beguiled throughout his set.

He has recently released his first new album in seven years, entitled Songs To Play, and has been touring in support of it.

Several songs from the record were performed on the night - Songwriters On The Run and I Love Myself (And I Always Have), Turn On The Rain are three I recognise from the night

I must say his band was terrific. They were Scott Bramley and Luke McDonald of The John Steel Singers playing guitar, keyboards and bass, and Robert Forster’s wife Karin Baumler contributed  tasteful violin and backing vocals.

Scott Bramley & Luke McDonald – Thornbury Theatre 27/11/15

On December 11th B and I return to the Caravan Music Club for Jeff Duff’s  Bowie Unzipped performance. I’m not sure what to expect, but no doubt it will be entertaining and unusual, so thanks B for the invitation and for expanding my musical horizons with shows I normally wouldn’t attend.

The big news last week was of a return tour by Gillian Welch & David Rawlings after an absence of 11 years. They’re doing two shows in Melbourne, one with the regular duo, the other with the band known as The David Rawlings Machine a fortnight later.  I intend to go to both, and have tickets already for the second concert, buying them this morning on the pre-sale. Amazingly, I managed to score really good seats. Hopefully at the public sale tomorrow, I can get seats of equal quality for the first concert – cross fingers I get lucky.