New ‘smart’ meters installed in the venue yesterday – replaced the old power meters. We like to keep the excitement coming…

Fires out.

Awesome drummer Albi Fabri just returned from 3 dates in Perth with the Australian INXS Show. I see on their website they’re heading to Darwin in June.

Albi Fabri on drums with the Australian INXS Show.

Albi was one of our lesser-known drummers – probably because we never actually got to play live with him (that’ll do it). But he was absolutely sensational. It was a real shame we lost him. At the time (2006) we just couldn’t keep a rhythm section together. Guys were coming & going like shoppers through a revolving door. Anyway, fast forward & it’s great to see Albi out there rockin’ the road. Good on ya mate.

Fires out.
PS – blistering weekend gone, working on the new venue.

Knocking down a wall at the venue entry yesterday. Been a huge week of building activity here. Still at it today. Big Anzac Day long weekend about to start. Building crew here again 7am tomorrow.

Marty on ladder, new venue, Collingwood 23rd April 2014.

Fires out.

Diva Demolition at the Espy, Sunday night. Been a long while since I’ve actually been down to St.Kilda. Think the last time might have been for a Vagrants show at the Espy. Either way, it was good catching up with the guys from Diva Demolition who were a long way from home. First met em at a sky-diving festival norhtwest of Brisbane in 2010, they were one of the local bands on the line-up. We’ve kept in touch since, never quite managing to catch up or play on the same line-up again. Great show guys. Blistering, solid guitar rock, punk attitude.

Diva Demolition, Espy front bar 20 April 2014.

Fires out.

Many thanks to Gav for sending this link – ‘Amazing Tron Dance’…

Hope you’re having a great Easter Sunday.

Fires out.

Here in Australia we have a unique tax-payer funded television & radio broadcasting service, the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Despite being infiltrated by a wealth of right-wing & corporate agenda, it still maintains a semblance of it’s independence – the last bastion of ‘main-stream’ media not owned and therefore, not completely subject the whim of a few powerful business-people. In the ABC we’ve got half a chance of hearing the truth about the most important issues affecting Australian society, culture and politics. Sadly, despite pre-election assurances to the contrary, this might not be the case for much longer as the federal government gears up to attack our national broadcaster.

People-power movement GetUp are currently running a campaign to hold the Australian government to account & keep the ABC funded as promised. Sign on if you feel the need.

Fires out.

China video archives. Strawberry Festival Beijing. ‘New’ song – and still unrecorded for release (definitely a major contender for the next album) – Next To You.

I told someone recently that I felt this show was an intimate gig. The person I was talking to & who I showed this footage, scoffed & called me a wanker. She was adamant that a show with an audience of this size couldn’t possibly be intimate. I gave up trying to explain & dropped the matter. I’d never felt that way about a festival show before. There was just something about the connection we had. Check out the video & see what you think.

Fires out.

Fun times dealing with paperwork for the new venue. Drafting floor plans for what’s existing & what’s ‘proposed’. Slow going in the design part of the process. Interesting but fastidious detail. Knocked off for the day. Family Guy & American Dad on TV. Clearing mind for tomorrow.

Venue plans. Stage on the left (street side).

Fires out.

OK, OK – Friday’s post was a hoax (sort of). We weren’t actually off on any ‘world tour’ as such – but we did play a couple of ‘gigs’ in southeast Queensland over the weekend. After some stoopid stuff on the flight there (delayed 2 hours on the tarmac before takeoff & aborted landing at Brisbane) we rented a car & drove out to Toogoolawah to catch up with the Ramblers sky-diving crew. In 2010 we played their Equinox Sky-diving Festival – and they very kindly threw the whole band out of plane the following morning. We’ve missed the guys & haven’t been back til now. One of the jumpers threw a great birthday party at their place Friday night. They’d set up an outdoor cinema complete with drop screen, projector, PA & everybody lounging around the backyard drinking beer in the balmy night air. Awesome. We played a couple of sets unplugged after the movie. Didn’t wanna leave the following morning. Great catching up with Sonja.

Arrived at Spicers Peak Lodge in the mountains west of Brisbane for a mate’s wedding around midday Saturday. Played Josh Pyke’s version of Endless Summer (by the Jezabells) as the bride walked down the ‘aisle’ overlooking said mountains. Sat up til the wee hours playing for the small but very rowdy reception. Arrived back in Melbourne midnight last night.

Spicers Peak Lodge west of Brisbane in the Great Dividing Range.

Great weekend catching up with friends we don’t see enough of.

Fires out.

At the airport waiting to board. Off on yet another world tour. Kept this one secret. See ya when we get back home in 2015.