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.

A shot from last Friday’s Resignators show we were so impressed with. Had a great night – began with a dinner-dance feel & ended a triumphant ska-punk pogo-fest. As mentioned in a previous post (below), The Resignators were celebrating 9 years as a band. We first met em on tour in Canada a few years ago, playing the same venue at the Canadian Music Week festival in Toronto.

Resignators show, Eureka Hotel Richmond – Friday 23rd May 2014.

And again, this weekend it’s more construction on the new venue. Mick the builder arriving 7am tomorrow. Joy.

Fires out.

Went down to The Resignator’s 9-Years-of Skankin’ show last Friday night. It was a fantastic night and great to experience a band doing something different. Ska-punkers, The Resignators, were indeed celebrating 9 years together and you could buy ‘dinner & show’ or standing room tix. I’m told the food was excellent, about a hundred people chowing down on a 3-course meal before their beloved headliners hit the stage at the Eureka Hotel in Richmond. Max was MC for the night, introducing the bands & requesting people switch off their phones (which they actually did).

Max MC’s the Resignators 9th anniversary show – Eureka Hotel Richmond 23rd May 2014.

I had a ball at this show. The guys had a highlights video playing on TV screens around the room, showing tour & live footage from across the globe. Great merch ideas – including their own brand of chili sauce. Well done guys – here’s to another 9.

Fires out.

Mick Brown, drummer extraordinaire and master builder, cutting tiles at the rear door of the new venue (this arvo).

Mick the builder, 22nd May 2014 at the new venue.

A man of many talents, Mick played drums on our first album ‘Sky Caves In’ (and a bunch of local shows over the years).

Fires out.

Max cleaning bricks in the ‘beer garden’.

Fires out.

Working on the new venue over the weekend. Toward the rear of the building (right behind the venue) we’ve got a few rooms that, in the beginning, will probably be artist studios, galleries or something like that. They’d also make a killer addition to the venue – a separate bar area from the main room, but that’ll be down the track if need be. In any case, the original dirty & broken windows in said rooms need replacing – my job over the weekend. Here’s me not posing for this shot…

Coffee with window, Saturday 17 May 2014 at the new venue.

Fires out.

The band van has been doing it’s share of dirty work here at the new venue. Apart from saving us thousands in material delivery fees (we’ve got roof racks these days) we’ve made plenty of trips to the tip. The shot below, a little bit of Collingwood (from the beer garden), dumped at our closest tip in Reservoir last week.

Dumping at Reservoir tip last week.

And again, another weekend working along side the building crew starting tomorrow at 7am. It’s all hands on deck & 7 day weeks at the moment.

Fires out.