Tonight’s the night. Our final show for the year at Cherry Bar, AC DC Lane Melbourne.

We’re on stage just before 9pm.

Seeya tonight,
Fires out.

This Friday night we hit the stage at Cherry Bar, AC DC Lane Melbourne – our final show for the year. It’s an early show, due on stage just before 9pm. We’ll be off stage by 10 & hangin’ out at Cherry Bar for the rest of the night.

The shot below – this time last year at Cherry Bar with special guests (left to right) Stalk Stabb and Andrew Carney on backing vocals, Mick Brown on drums, Mike Galliccio on bass, Mark Gardner on Sax (and Campbell McCance on bag pipes later in the show)…

As mentioned in previous posts, taking the stage right after us – The Resignators, a ska-punk rollicking good time. Dancing shoes on for this one.

Checkya later,
Fires out.

Watching the end of Rage on this fine Saturday morning. Loving the start of the weekend. About to head down to the corner shop for coffee & something to eat. House mate, Scotty, had a big one last night. He just cooked up a mass of sausages as hangover therapy – he’s lookin’ better already.

Blue Juice’s ‘Act Yr Age’ on TV at the moment…

Rehearsals going great for the Cherry Bar show this Friday – the last one was Wednesday. Having a great time with Gabe from Sons Of Messengers on drums. It’s sounding freekin’ awesome. Gonna be a great show.

Checkya later,
Fires out.

Right after we finish the show at Cherry Bar (Fri 18th Nov), The Resignators take the stage. We first met the guys in Toronto earlier this year. We were doing a show at the Horseshoe Tavern & the Resignators’ guitarist helped me through some technical difficulties. At the last minute, one of my pedals had packed up. It was all fixed about 30 seconds before we went on. The Resignators took the stage just after us and we loved it. Danced our arses off.

Anyway, we hung out that afternoon talking all things touring. I do remember (somehow) staggering through the streets of Toronto with most of the band.

The Resignators – pic taken from their website.

They’ve also been hard at work on the latest Cherry Bar Poster…

Checkya later.
Fires out.

Case of Monday-itis this morning. Was a great weekend. Caught a band on Friday night, hanging with friends Saturday, recovery Sunday.

Speaking of Sunday, while spraying out Mojo’s dog house yesterday morning, Max discovered this little beauty –

The spider in the shot above was caught fleeing the scene (that’s Max’s finger in glove on the left). For our overseas readers, it’s called a Red Back – one of Australia’s most venomous, dangerous spiders. Not good for the dog to be sleeping with – and this one was particularly big as far as Red Backs go. Apparently, it’s poison attacks the nervous system, causing death or serious illness. My dad was bitten by a Red Back & didn’t get to the doctor fast enough. It took about 7 years to fully recover. Nasty little buggers…

Final show for the year at Cherry Bar AC DC Lane Melbourne – Friday 18th November.

Checkya later,
Fires out.

The first draft of next year’s China tour dates hit our inbox this week. We’re checking through the details at the moment & no doubt we’ll go back and forth a bit before we lock all the shows in. We’re a little way from any official announcement yet – but it looks as though we’ll be starting in Shanghai, April 2012.

The On Fires at Zebra Festival, China 2011.

It always gets the blood pumping when we see the first proposed tour dates. We’ve been home for over a month now & we’ve still got til March 2012 before it all starts again – which is great (It’s good to be home & not constantly moving). There’s something surreal about touring, especially the week before we leave. You look around at everything in the familiar world where you live, knowing full well that in less than 7 days you’ll be standing on a stage somewhere on the other side of the world. And the mayhem kicks off all over again…

Speaking of which, only 2 weeks til our final show for the year (and our only Aussie show for 2011) – Friday 18th November at Cherry Bar, AC DC Lane, Melbourne.

Have a good weekend!

Checkya later,
Fires out.

Gabe, drummer for the mighty Sons Of Messengers, will be joining us behind the kit for the Cherry Bar show 18th November. Check out Gabe’s work at www.sonsofmessengers.com.

Gabe with Sons Of Messengers at Fed Square, Melbourne (April 2011).

Sounding fantastic last night in the studio. We’re on course for a big one at Cherry – just over 2 weeks to go.

Checkya tomorrow,
Fires out.

Another Melbourne Cup happened yesterday, first Tuesday of November. And, as is tradition, we spent the afternoon at Stalk & Kim’s place – just down the road. Stalk used to run the infamous Yak Bar, which is how we first met (we used to play there regularly). Always love catching up with the guys & suffice to say, things got messy as the day progressed. Not feeling too bad today – powered the waters when I got home.

As for the horse race, it was a thriller. Not that I know much about the racing game but after 2 miles around the track the result came down to a photo finish. Check this out –

Melbourne Cup 2011 – Pic from The Age website.

They actually awarded the race to the horse on top in the shot above. When you see it close up, the hair on the nose of the horse below is actually slightly ahead… Either way, Dunaden took the honours.

As mentioned on Monday, Australia stops for the Melbourne Cup (betting billions of dollars no doubt) – and down here in Victoria, where it’s held, it’s a public holiday.

Just over two weeks to go for the final show of the year – 18th Nov at Cherry Bar, AC DC Lane Melbourne.

Checkya later,
Fires out.

Melbourne Zombie Walk

Yesterday, TOF reporter Mat Ward, partook in the annual Melbourne Zombie walk. He’d been at us on Facebook to get down there. It certainly would have made some great film clip material.

Alas, we were scared off by the weather & stayed home to set up the studio. So, instead of adorning ourselves in fake blood & undead attire, we were rehearsing (3 weeks til the Cherry Bar show in Melbourne).

Comfortably Numb, Queensryche & Dream Theatre

TC sent me this video link on Facebook yesterday. He’s a man who likes his rock old school and, knowing I’m a massive Floyd fan, couldn’t resist giving me a heads up on this. Gotta say, the lead break at the end doesn’t disappoint.

Melbourne Cup Day tomorrow.

The Australian nation stops for a horse race – and if you live in Victoria, it’s a public holiday.

Hi Mum – I don’t know why the video from China in yesterday’s post doesn’t play for you. Is anybody else having the same problem?

Checkya later,
Fires out.

Illness Sickness Live From Mao Livehouse, Beijing.

Our China tour Manager Tom & his band, Illness Sickness, played Mao Livehouse in Beijing recently.

He sent me this video on Friday. Really cool stuff. And not the style I’d been expecting. I’d had many a beer with Tom on tour earlier this year & I got the impression he was well into hard-core punk with a leaning toward ‘angry’ music. As you’ll find in the video, the band’s style is progressive, dynamic & pretty experimental – with a powerful and melodic sound.

Steve Lane and The Autocrats – Friday 28 Oct at Northcote Social Club

I was a bit under the weather by the time I got to the show on Friday night. In fact, I nearly got kicked out of the venue before Steve’s band even hit the stage. Somehow, I managed to accidentally walk behind the bar at some point before the show. By the time I’d become aware of what I’d done, I was standing in the ‘sacred zone’, surrounded by puzzled looking bar staff. I quickly got the hell outa there, apologising profusely (just enough to be allowed to stay)…

I had a great night after that. There were moments where I felt really proud of Steve for sticking at it & fronting such a fantastic line-up. His band, The Autocrats consist of Augie March’s rhythm section & the Paul Kelly’s guitarist – so you can imagine how tight they were. On stage too, was Steve’s long-time close friend Pete Slater on guitar – another high school friend. We hung out before & after the show, catching up with a few more school buddies I hadn’t seen for years. Steve Land and The Autocrats are winding up a pretty solid Aussie tour, just a couple more dates to go. Awesome work guys.

Checkya later,
Fires out.