Great day yesterday. Sun was out, beautiful Melbourne spring day spent listening to Dandy Warhols, Interpol & early Floyd. Got down to the infamous Bakers Arms on Saturday night with housemate Scotty to watch the Swans defeat Carlton in the 2nd semi-final. Only one person thrown out of the pub for the whole night – not bad. Friday night we went down to the mighty Park Hotel for the 1st semi – Geelong & Port. A thriller, Geelong coming away with a fairly narrow win.

This coming weekend, it’s big. Hawthorn plays Geelong in a total blockbuster at the G on Friday night, followed by Freo & the Swans, Saturday night in Perth. Strange not having footy on a Sunday as we near the end of yet another fantastic AFL season. Milking it for all it’s worth (before cricket begins).

Fires out.

Writing new songs this week. Buried in it. More news soon. Good weekend of footy coming up. Geelong & Port Adelaide tonight, Sydney & Carlton tomorrow. Highlights from last week’s finals clash between Collingwood & Port…

Ahhhhhhh the footy.
Listening to Biggsy on Triple R Radio (Melbourne) at the moment. What an awesome show (Friday mornings 9-12).

Fires out.

Nice way to cap off a great weekend. Went down to the Brunswick hotel last night to see Chapter Ray & Veludo. Pretty good crowd for a Sunday night. Excellent sound at the Brunswick these days – crystal-clear, thumping PA. Chapter Ray hitting their stride with plenty of shows under their belt. Love watching the guys smash it out.

Chapter Ray, Brunswick Hotel Sunday 8th September 2013.

Opening band, Veludo were a surprise. A rock show delivered with powerful vocals, their material a little Floyd-ish, with The Strokes & U2 in the mix. Check em out if you can.

Veludo, Brunswick Hotel Sunday 8th September 2013.

Feeling pretty good this fine Monday morning, learning to pace oneself a little better – especially on a Sunday…

Fires out.

The On Fires are proud sponsors of Macleay Valley Eagles AFL football club. I was at their home ground on the NSW north coast last month to film their last game before the finals series. Last weekend the under 13’s were premiership victors & the under 15’s were narrowly beaten in their grand final.

This week, 5 young Eagles players (in the pic below) were selected to go Albury in 2 weeks to play in the State Zone Trails over 4 days – where AFL scouts will be in attendance looking for new talent. My folks (Dad’s the Coach & his partner Ronda the club secretary) have been taking the boys to Coffs Harbour every Monday night for training in the Swans Academy. Ronda sent me this pic in an email this morning, saying “To see these smiling faces makes it all worth while.”

Go Eagles!

Fires out.

Stepanov’s Starlings latest video – great song guys…

Stepanov’s Starlings (Скворцы Степанова… by BlankTV

We played the same festival in Poland with Stepanov’s a few years ago. Really nice guys. Still keeping in touch. We’ll catch em again one day…

Fires out.

Made an impromptu appearance on stage at The Vagrants’ show on Saturday night at Whole Lotta Love bar in Brunswick. It was a great night. The guys had 6 different acts jumping up on stage with em, and between their sets – we jumped up for a couple of songs, including a new one set to be on the next album.

Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East, Saturday night – Photo thanks to Mal Bowker.

We’ve got big news coming. Stay tuned for the coming week or so.

Fires out.

Another big weekend gone. Loving being back home in Melbourne – a fantastic town for bands, art & culture. We’ll be staying put for a while (not touring), soaking up the city & letting the creativity find it’s way back to us for the next album. Started out the weekend on Friday night at the mighty Park Hotel, then the Corner in Richmond. Saturday afternoon at ACME for a Melbourne Writers Festival show featuring Ophira Eisenberg, key-note speaking on her latest book ‘Screw Everyone’. Saturday night – a pub crawl starting at The Park, IDGAFF next for a couple of local bands, quick stops at the Barleycorn & The Bendigo, landing finally at The Tote. Awesome. Topped off with Indian food at 3am in Victoria Street. Sunday – recovery.

Ophira Eisenberg at ACME – Melbourne Writers Festival 2013.

Fires out.

Flew back last night from a great weekend up on the north coast of New South Wales. Went down to watch & film some grass-roots AFL footy at South Kempsey Oval on Sunday. My folks are involved in the Macleay Valley Eagles football club, coaching the kids & running the club’s administration. There’s some amazing talent being developed there. Suffice to say, the weather was beautiful, 25 degrees & blue skies (very unlike the weather 1200 kilometres south in Melbourne). All three Eagles teams (under 11’s, 13’s and 15’s) won their games easily, showing great courage & skill throughout. Sunday was the last game for each team before the finals next weekend. The under 15’s have been undefeated this year – a major achievement for the club.

Macleay Valley Eagles, Under 11’s at South Kempsey Oval, Sunday 1th August 2013.

After the game, we went to the beach-front pub at South West Rocks, met up with friends & watched a local indigenous band playing blues & Bob Marley tunes. Perfect Sunday arvo. Capped off the day back at my folks place, watching the Western Bulldogs win against Adelaide.

Fires out.

Craigie sent me this link – a disturbing article about the impending closure of several local pubs. Interesting times. I noted that one of the factors contributing to their demise was the “cook-at-home ‘MasterChef effect’. Yet another reason to boycott the cultural scourge that is ‘reality TV’.

http://www.theage.com.au/business/straitened-times-put-pubs-on-block-20130813-2rugw.html
– article courtesy of The Age Business Day.

Fires out.

Had a reasonably big weekend. Started on Friday at The Park hotel. Bar staff dancing behind the bar, beer flowing, great vibe, footy on TV – one of my favourite pubs in the world. Friday was so big in fact, that I missed the 2 gigs I’d planned to see on Saturday – 4pm at the Tote & a mate’s band at Night Cat later in the evening (stayed home recovering). Got back on the horse yesterday to see our friend Mat Virgato play at Whole Lotta Love bar in Brunswick. It was Mat’s 2nd show as a solo acoustic artist. He played a mix of stuff, bringing 90’s grunge into focus with a bunch of older classics. Great way to spend a cruisy Sunday arvo.

Mat Virgato at Whole Lotta Love.

A little slow off the mark today – but not too bad. Monday’s always a rough one…

Fires out.