Good mate, Steve Lane & his band The Autocrats are on a money-raising drive (for their air fares) to play Canadian Music Week this May. Me and Steve go way back. Went to school together, played in bands together etc. These days he’s got a great outfit, including occasional members of Augie March & Paul Kelly’s band. We’d love to see him get to Toronto. If you feel our way inclined – check the video below & Pledge a few bucks. You’ll get your hands on some great signed memorabilia as the band keeps you especially posted from the road.

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The Vagrants having the time of their lives again – right now somewhere on the Austrian Alps. And that’s before they hit the tour circuit in a month or so. Steve and Ren work the snow fields, resort bar & house band each year during European Winter, before touring Germany & surrounds in warmer months. We toured Germany with them in 2013 – it was awesome. This shot below from Steve’s FB, taken yesterday –

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The long wait is finally over for AFL tragics. Footy’s back, and how for Bulldog supporters. In front of a sold-out capacity crowd at Whitten Oval on Saturday, the Dogs lead most of the day against a young, gallant Richmond. Things looked dangerous for the Dogs in the final quarter, the game hanging in the balance by a few points before Bontempelli dobbed one in traffic from 35 out. Then the dam broke, Bulldogs winning by 22 points in what was a cliff-hanger for most of the arvo. (Click the pic for video highlights)

Great to be out there watching the Doggies once more at our ‘spiritual home’, the Whitten Oval. Been a long, long while between drinks.

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On Fires’ tour drummer, Kent Arberle will arrive in Melbourne for the first time in just a few weeks. He’ll be doing shows with Kristian Bush, opening for Lady Antebellum’s Australian tour. They play Rod Laver Arena here, QANTAS Arena Sydney & CMC Rocks QLD. Awesome. We were talking about a TOF show with Kent in the new venue on his day off in Melbourne – but it’ll be tough to throw together at this late stage, and he’ll no doubt be exhausted. Looking forward to hangin with the man all the same. Last time we played together was the show below in Taipei, 2013.

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Great song. Sharon Van Etten – Your Love Is Killing Me. Playing in Melbourne early next month at the Hi Fi Bar.

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Huge weekend gone. Still recovering. Saturday working on the new venue. Saturday night, working at a local bar (Speigeltent) then over to Stalk’s & a few late night beers. Working at the Spiegeltent has been an amazing, eye-opening experience. Been there about a month now. Never worked behind a bar before, so I figured now’s the time to get familiar. Thrown in the deep end from my first night – the bar, cash register & EFTPOS machine – all things I’d never worked before. Starting to get clear about a good, practical bar design for our place. Sunday morning, went down to Rosebud for a 3 hour kayaking expedition out on Port Phillip bay. Sunburned, returned home to house-mate’s party which kicked on at volume til 5am. Yesterday was rough. Very slow start, but feeling almost human again this fine Tuesday morning.

Thanks to Stalk for this pic. We were both working the bar this night last week.

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Heard this stuff last year & it’s taken a while to grab me. I guess we were out of the loop a bit, working on the new venue. The story of Future Islands goes something like this (to put it very briefly). Hailing from North Carolina, they’ve been around 10 years or so, pounding the US tour circuit. Then a break – appearing on Letterman last year with a performance that went seriously viral. Not hard to see why. I love the song – but the delivery is something else altogether. Enjoy –

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This guy somehow slipped underneath my radar. First heard him last year – after the release of his 2nd album (didn’t even know there was a 1st album in 2012). The more you hear, the better it gets. Described by some as ‘Bob Dylan vocals & Johnny Cash rhythm’, Jake Bugg captures a bygone era so damn well. He brings it so uniquely to the present that it’s hard to put a finger on exactly what era we’re talking about. Feels like experiencing something new & unique while being lost in time somewhere. Just fantastic. The footage below is from a 2013 festival in Scotland, when he was 18 years old.

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Yep, it’s been a little while between posts here. Took most of January off building the venue, needed to pull back & break for a bit.

Got a Skype video call from Kiev this morning. Spent about an hour talking with tour manager Sasha. Great to hear from her – though things aren’t going too well there. Large sections of the country ravaged by war. Pipa’s leg is still mending – he was badly injured a year ago at the beginning of the conflict. The guys aren’t playing any shows now. They feel this is not the time for enjoyment or celebration – but a time to respect the hardship and loss experienced by Ukrainian people as Russian troops invade & devastate their cities & towns.

Ukraine tour 2008. Legendary musician Sasha Pipa (top).

Pic above taken in happier times at a concert after-party, during the 2008 Ukraine tour. We traveled all over the country in Sasha Pipa’s tour bus for 3 weeks, 12 shows in 12 cities, opening for his band ‘@traktor’.

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Mojo gettin’his mojo on – last Sunday show before Christmas at the new venue. Not bad rhythm for a pooch –

Been taking a couple of weeks off before winding back up for the year to come. Less regular posts here than usual over the next few weeks. Working on the venue, licensing etc. Lotta great plans floating around for 2015 – to be nailed down shortly.

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