Check this out. Heard an interview with her on Triple R this week (Thursday’s Breaking and Entering program – 4 to 7pm). Sharon Van Etton – Your Love Is Killing Me.

Fires out.

Great Day Sunday at the annual Reclink Community Cup. Took the bus out to Elsternwick Park for the festivities, bands and the footy game between arch-rivals Rock Dogs & Megahertz. The Rock Dogs are a team made up of Melbourne musicians, the Megahertz consisting of industry folk from radio, management, booking agencies etc. And good to see the Rock Dogs bring it home by 8 points in a thriller, before a capacity crowd of approx 15,000. Great bands playing before the game, at half time & post game – headliners the mighty Painters & Dockers. Got out on the field for kick-to-kick during the breaks (managed to hit some poor woman in the face with a long punt). Beers were $5 a can (we’re talkin’ Boags) – priced like the old days of suburban footy. It was a magnificent day – looking forward to next year.

Max & Marty at Community Cup, Elsternwick Park 20th June 2014.

Must also be said, importantly – the event raised a bunch of money for the Recklink Charity.

Fires out.

Looking forward to getting along to the Reclink Community Cup on Sunday.

“…an iconic event for Melbourne’s rock and roll and football loving community. Drawing over 10,000 people a year, the Cup celebrates Melbourne’s dynamic cultural and broadcasting sectors with the Rockdogs and the Triple R 102.7FM & PBS 106.7FM Megahertz battling it out for football glory while raising funds for Reclink Australia.” (Community Cup website)

Also from their website: “Reclink Australia is a non profit organisation whose mission is to provide and promote sport and art programs for people experiencing disadvantage.

Established in Victoria in 1990, Reclink Australia operates nationally providing over 12,000 activities and 1200,000 participation opportunities for disadvantaged Australians annually.

We target some of the communities most vulnerable and isolated people, including people experiencing significant mental health challenges, disability, homelessness, substance abuse, culturally and linguistic diverse communities, correctional services and economic hardship.”

Fires out.

Saturday night at TOF In Town – Royston Vasie held their ‘Water Colours’ Melbourne album launch tour show. Had a great time seeing the band – and this is pretty slack, but I only took shots of support act Willow Darling, who were awesome. It was such a strong line-up. Great to see an organic indie rock show, loud guitars, late 60’s vibe. Had a ball.

Willow Darling at TOF in Town, Melbourne Sat 14th June 2014.

Fires out.

Interesting Saturday night. 5:30pm at Federation Square, asylum seekers performed an interpretive dance/theatre piece. An emotional & moving depiction of life as a refugee – powerlessness, vulnerability, joy, heart-break. People who desperately want to get on with life & start anew but instead find themselves trapped in limbo under Australia’s harsh, uncaring asylum-seeker policies – many of which are illegal & violate their most basic human rights.

Asylum seekers performing in Federation Square Melbourne, Sat 14th June 2014.

Fires out.

This show really surprised me. I’ve never been a Chocolate Cake fan. Not that I didn’t like them – just never grabbed me. Saturday night good friends Leanne & Campbell (bagpiper man you’ve seen on stage with us) shouted us down to Caravan Club to see said band. It was a sit down performance too (not what I’m used to). Needn’t have worried. The show was a riveting affair. David Bridie’s voice thoroughly captivating, a distinct timbre & delivery. Unique – as was the entire band. I’d recommend you see My Friend The Chocolate Cake, especially if they’ve passed you by on radio. There’s a depth & power in their live show which tells a much bigger story. One of my favourite gigs for the year so far.

My Friend The Chocolate Cake (shot from their website).

Many thanks again, Leanne & Campbell.

Fires out.

Interesting night at Whole Lotta Love bar last night. As mentioned in previous post below, band booker Steve (The Vagrants) just started a weekly industry night at said bar. We were scheduled to get on stage & speak about OS touring. Didn’t actually happen that way. Caught up with people from various bands informally over a few beers. There were bands who’d done plenty of touring & others who were looking to start. So it was a real rapid-fire info swap. So many ways to do it, so many different stories – could write a book (& it wouldn’t be a short one). Anyway, caught up with Mark from The Mercy Kills. Hadn’t seen him for freekin ages. Great to momentarily catch up.

The Mercy Kills (Mark 2nd from right).

Fires out.

The Vagrants’ Steve Iorio recently became the new band-booker for Whole Lotta Love bar, East Brunswick. Tomorrow night Max & I will be on stage talking about the highs & lows of overseas touring – as part of Steve’s music industry info night, every Wednesday. Looks like there’ll also be a few industry folk getting up to talk about how musicians might navigate their way through the proverbial river of shit without a shark cage.

The Vagrants live at Hi Fi Bar Melbourne, Steve in the middle, Renata far right.

Fires out.

Darcy Fox is an amazing ‘undiscovered’ talent. Saturday night was the 2nd time we’ve seen her. The girl from Gippsland will be massive one day. She’s young, maybe still a teenager – but her lyrics come from a place well beyond her years. And that’s just the beginning. Her performance was again totally enthralling. Sat there glued to every move as she strummed away, singing like an angel & building her songs into gritty walls of sound with expert use of loop pedal. She conversed with the audience like a seasoned pro. Crazy stuff. Said hello after the show – found her friendly & approachable. No sign of the superstar this young lady will become.

Darcy Fox, Revolver Prahran – Sat 31st May 2014.

You’ve gotta see her before you can’t. We’ll do what we can to have Darcy Fox play at the new venue when it’s ready to go.

Fires out.