Our YouTube channel features several overseas tour diaries, including this one – Europe Jan/Feb 2010. That tour took us through shows in Poland and Slovakia in the middle of the coldest European winter in 30 years. There are ten 5-minute episodes in the tour diary – which we’ve made into a YouTube play-list. Flick it on, sit back and check out the ice, the snow, the shows, the castles & the many mornings-after…

You can also view other tour diaries in full as play-lists – check our YouTube channel.

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This could be our first ever press shot – taken August 2003 in the Gershwin Room at The Espy.

From the vague memory I have, I think we played a show there that night in support of Epicure (just before they catapulted to high rotation on Triple J). We did part of our Aussie tour with them in the following year, playing shows in Hobart, Launceston, Adelaide & Melbourne. That’s Bernard (keys) in the hat and Rob Oshlack (bass) on the right.

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The shot below taken from our first ever show in Poland – Alchemia Klub in Krakow. We were on our way from Amsterdam to Istanbul via Kiev, on our first overseas tour.

The On Fires at Alchemia Klub, Krakow Poland September 2007.

The show at Alchemia was amazing. They had fixed seating almost to the front of the stage. I remember jumping out & balancing on the backs of a couple of seats for the end of Without (where it speeds up during the lead break). Somehow I managed to bounce on those seats without breaking anything, including myself. Got home at 3am, slept for 2 hours, then on the airport bus at 6am. The following night we played a show in Prague to 6 people and a dog (the dog started mounting it’s owner half way through the set, right at the front of the stage). Everybody had a good time…

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Yesterday in Victoria Street, Abbotsford: Luna Festival (Chinese New Year). We’ve missed the last few years of this festival. I got down there about 4:30, video camera in hand. It looked as packed as ever this year. Carnival rides in the side streets, snaking Chinese dragons, food & record stalls down Vic Street.

Luna Festival, Victoria Street Abbotsford 27th Jan, 2013.

The pubs were overflowing, dance troupes, bands and entertainers in road-side marquis. The festivities went on into the night, finishing around 11. Perfect weather for it. Took a whole bunch of footage for the Abbotsford Song video clip which we’ll be making soon.

Right now, there’s another festival happening in Nicholson Street (Abbotsford) about 12 doors down from our place, in the old Steiner school quadrangle. A long line of punters waiting to get in. Can hear the bands from here – punk/hard rock/rockabilly kinda vibe.

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Massive night on Friday. Went out with Renata from The Vagrants to The Gasometer Hotel (cnr Smith St & Alexandra Pde Collingwood) to see Dirty Harriet & The Hangmen. And they were fantastic. Balls-to-the-wall punk rock n roll with a blistering rockabilly edge. Go see these guys if you can. High energy, wild attitude – great songs powerfully delivered. I met the lead singer after the show & ended up drinking with the band down the street at Ya Ya’s til 5am. Crazy night.

Yesterday, Australia Day, was a little slow for me. Ended up back at the Gasometer around 9 for a beer with TC. Home by midnight.

Right now, the Luna Festival is happening down the end of our street (Chinese New Year). They’ve shut down the main road (Victoria Street Abbotsford) for a huge carnival. I can hear the bands form here. Might have to head down for a look…

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A community service post for this Australia Day & the weekend – how to effectively chill and keep your beer colder for longer. TC sent us a link to this article on FB.

Click here for the full story.

Have a great weekend.
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Midi Festival, Beijing May 2011. We had no idea how big this show was until we walked out onto the main festival stage to a massive crowd. The artist bunker behind a festival stage can be an eerily quiet, subdued place. You’re going over your equipment, talking through the set with the guys, last minute instructions for crew, changing into stage gear etc. Next thing you’ve started the set, crowd roars, the whole thing goes like lightening.

Max at Midi Festival Beijing May 2011.

The shot above was taken by photographer Long Truong who also took some great pics at last year’s Strawberry Festival in Beijing. To see the full set of Long’s pics at Midi 2011, visit our photos page for the slide show.

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Before the show at Zebra Festival, Chengdu China, May 2011.

We’d flown in from Beijing, after a slot on the Midi Festival main stage, in the early hours of the morning before the Zebra Fest show. It felt like days – but it was 24 hours later. I don’t think we slept – too much adrenaline. We were all coming down with something too. A combination of fatigue and not being used to the smokey air. The Zebra Festival show was great all the same, around 30 thousand people at the main stage.

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New festival shots on Flickr – we’ve just loaded a series of pics taken at Strawberry Festival Beijing, May 2012. Photographer Long Truong did a fantastic job capturing the band at this amazing show. Check out the full set.

We’re returning to China in April & May this year. Tour dates announced soon.

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Great Flickr set of shots from a show we did at Arlene’s Grocery in New York City 2011. Click here to see the whole set.

Max & Marty airbourne at Arlene’s Grocery NYC 2011 – Kent Aberle, hidden away on drums.

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