Thursday, April 26, 2007

melbourne music blog

These cats at Across The Rooftops seem to get around a lot and blog on Melbourne music and gigs.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

virginia tech

I'm slackjawed to discover there is a category of crime called "most people killed in an education/campus massacre in USA".

Why doesn't anyone burst into an aged care home and slaughter 30 residents?

I'm all for draconian gun laws.

I salute John Howard for his effort after Port Arthur.

I'm a bit out of practice, but just for the record I can outshoot most right to bear arms gun huggers. And I have the trophies to prove it.

Friday, April 13, 2007

apollo bay music festival


It's the 15th Annual Apollo Bay Music Festival from 20th - 22 of April this year. We'll be going. Missed it last year and some other times but we have attended most of them.

It started off as a sort of an after party the following  weekend if I rememeber correctly, to Portland Folk Festival and as a point of difference and music taste billed itself as a Blues and Jazz festival. And blues and jazz and a bit of other it was.  Then there was the welcome addition of the "experimental" with such show stealers as ForePlay, then they had taste in country music  and it had good country and alt and punk and rock' a' billy and  real country. And old surf music. And  still unheard of great jazz combos and blues. Not much folk.

It was great because in the Bay the festival has a few tents along the forshore and that is really one side of the main street. And then most of the gigs are in pubs, cafes, licenced clubs such as the bowls and the old Mechanics Hall /Flics theatre which manages to have a licence.

So that if a group or act is HOT the word goes around over the days and one plans to catch them doing a late gig at say one of the pubs where they can and do "go off" "go fully sick". No room for old guys in sandals over socks, knitted jumpers been over washed in machine and full Ned K beards with chubby (2nd) wifes in pastel trackies and folded chairs and thermos.

Now there been a bit of a squabble in town. Festival has got too popular. Now some want to professionalise it. Get in more name artists and sell dearer ticks. So this year is a bit uninspiring for us who like to see new and up and coming and perhaps some weird like Bob Log 111 who I first encountered live at the Bay.

This year it boasts: Paul Kelly, Linda & Vicka, Hoodoogurus, and so on. Worthy perhaps but. yawn. And you can see them all at any expensive day out at a winery.

Wheres the interest. I haven't found any country yet in the program, maybe some jazz.

Anyway. We need the break. Didn't get away at easter. So we are going on the friday and staying on after it finishes until Tuesday when we'll go up to Colac and meet up with old childhood friends and go out for boozy meal. We've snaffled a house out at Marengo.

Anyone else going to the Bay. Got any recomendations?

Oh I see
Cindi Boste 
The Sparnetts
Maurice Frawley & The Yard Hands 
and the Detonators
are going to be there so it won't be all bad. The Audreys (pictured above) should be good.