Had a great 4 day weekend. Kinda sad today. Back to work & mum left town, on return to Tamworth. Hadn’t seen her in almost a year & the few weeks she spent visiting friends & family went quick. On a lighter note, had a great arvo with mate Craigie at the Tote yesterday. Mini festival, about 8 bands in an eclectic mix. Watching hip hop act, Griffin Brain & realised I’d been smiling the whole show. Great fun. Here’s some video.

Griffin Brain at Lord Fest – The Tote, Monday 6th April 2015.

Fires out.

Nigel posted this pic on his blog this morning. Friend of Max’s, he wrote something really cool about the band, put pics & video to go with it. The pic below – our US tour van 2011. We played 25 dates across North America on our 3rd tour there. Unfortunately, the guys who owned the van pulled out after the first weekend. Though it was never said, they might have found touring wasn’t the fun they’d expected. 4 days of hard driving, late nights, early mornings, sleep deprivation & the lack of sex & drugs was probably a disappointment.

When they suddenly quit the tour, we were left without transport for a huge run of shows starting the following day. One of those moments where you either quit or crash through. We were up for several thousand bucks in the blink of an eye. Somehow, we made every date, finished the tour & went directly to China. By the time we hit China, we were hardened, tight & ready for some wildly big shows. (See China vid here)

Fires out.

Couldn’t help this after yesterday’s post. The Vagrants setting up Monday night to sound-check for a show at Gorilla Bar in Munster, Germany. We played that bar with them, April 2013 – was one of our favourite German tour shows to a packed house. I remember an English fella coming up afterward saying “Whatever you do, do not get a drummer. You’ve got it all going on. You don’t need to mess it up for a guy with two sticks.”

After Munster we went directly to Beijing to start a month long tour through China. See the Germany/China tour diary at our YouTube Channel. As mentioned, missing the road a bit these days. Overwhelming feelings of withdrawal.

Fires out.

They’re off & running on yet another tour of Germany & surrounds. Took this pic from Steve’s Facebook – Vagrants live at Alt-Werdohl bar, Werdohl Germany Sunday night.

Audience pic from the stage, The Vagrants live in Werdohl, Germany Sunday night.

Just saw pics live from Gorilla Bar in Munster last night. We played that bar with the guys in 2013. Living vicariously through our Vagrant friends at the moment as we dig deep to build the venue here.

Fires out.

Worked a couple of long shifts at the Speigeltent bar over the weekend. Had yesterday off. Dropped in to Stalk & Kim’s to catch up over a few beers. Guitar & percussion came out, jam ensued. Another great night & perfect way to round out the weekend.

Stalk & Kim’s place last night (thanks to Stalk for the pic).

Fires out.

While we’re on Poland – here’s a clip shot from the audience at a festival we played in a town called Węgorzewo in the northern lakes area (near Gdansk). Max gets almost all the way through an old Polish folk song. Words escape her at the last verse, everybody cheering or laughing. Houston guys, Chris & Kevin on bass & drums. Such a great time (and too much vodka) in a beautiful part of Europe.

Fires out.

One from the vault. Live in Lublin, Poland – opening for legendary metal band Turbo, January 2010. It was freezing, temps 15 below & colder, we spent most of the tour negotiating ice & snow. An amazing journey through Poland & Slovakia. You can see the tour diary at our YouTube channel.

The On Fires, Live in Poland – Jan 2010.

Fires out.

Working the bar at Melba Speigeltent has it’s perks. When the show starts, drink buying mayhem eases & you get to see a lot of the performance. And this show Sunday night got the first standing ovation I’ve seen there. A wild combination of burlesque, cabaret & stip-tease, The Freak & The Showgirl: Greatest T.i.t.s. is not for the faint hearted. It’s a debauched, disturbing comedic romp. Unrelenting, offensive and utterly irreverent with a sharp commentary on society’s various inequalities. See the show while it’s touring locally (over 18s). You will be thoroughly entertained, and you will be shocked.

The Freak & The Showgirl, touring Australia – in Melbourne now.

Fires out.

Had a long Skype session with Ukraine tour manager Sasha this morning. Always brings back memories of touring there from ’07 to ’09.

Here’s Alexander Pipa in action from way back then (bass-player in white singlet). We toured with his band Borshch first, then later @traktor. It was amazing. Hope the guys are safe & doing OK there. Apparently Pipa’s leg is on the mend & he went out with friends to see a band recently. He was badly injured in the conflict which is still raging there.

Fires out.

Quick shot from Monday night’s party at 208, in honour of Kent Aberle’s first time in Melbourne.

Awesome night. Thanks to Clive for the pic.

Fires out.