BATHURST - NEWCASTLE. Thurs 29/7 - Sun 1/8/04

29/7/04 - Start Party - Supporting PACIFIER - Charles Sturt University, Bathurst
Got into Bathurst late for the afternoon in-store performance at "Stop and Rock" Records in the centre of town. Just a solo acoustic performance for around 45mins with the guitar. Not the hugest crowd I have ever seen, but good thing the likes of Jeff, Denise and Matt were there to support the cause. Thanks a lot to the crew at Stop and Rock for having me to play - and for sorting me with a few contacts to annoy back in Sydney... Check out the store if you're ever out that way.

Thursday night was the a cracking start to the trip. Three bands in total - Us, "5 Flavoured" (From Sydney), and Pacifier. Basically a two-stage set-up. We kicked things off in the Rafters Bar, then 5-Flavoured on the main stage, then back to us again for another  30min set before Pacifier brought it home in the main room. Great crowd on hand to see the action - I have word that the official numbers were around 750! A big thanks to the crew out at CSU for having us to play - will happily make the trip again if you need us. Couple of new tunes made an appearance, as well as a cheeky cover of the "Free Falling" - well sung by the crowd as well I must say. Watch out for 5-flavoured in Sydneyt - def. check them out if you get a chance.

Lesson number One when you are playing 4 nights in a row - TRY NOT to get too caught up in the excitement of the first night - a 5am finish does not make life too easy for the rest of the trip... As you migh be guessing, we learnt that one the hard way. Then again, as the saying goes - that's Rock'n'roll (or something like that....)

30/07/04 - Oxford Tavern, Bathurst
I should mention here that a trip to Bathurst wouldn't have been the same without a "hot lap" around Mount Panorama. Tarago was a little sluggish up the hill, but I reckon the lap record slipped away with a dodgy gear change up the home straight... Never mind. Good way to kill some time.

The Oxford Tavern is one of those old-style Aussie pubs that haven't really changed from the Colonial Days A daytime inspection of the upstairs room where we were to play that night had a few eyebrows raised - shall we say an "intimate" setting of sorts. Anyway - looked a lot better at 11pm after a couple of beers! A few problems with the sound in the place - speakers we had been given didn't end up working actually so there was a frantic last-minute search of Bathurst for some back-up equipment (hence the late starting time 11pm). Once we were away though a great gig - got through just about the entire repertoire to fill the allotted 3 hours, as we said our thank you's at 2.15am none of us were quite prepared for what followed....

One of the locals (who had talked to Andrew (Bass) on several occasions throughout the night - not so remarkable except that he was doing it whilst we were playing songs!..) was getting on Matt's case to jump back on the drums. So, under Shane's instruction Matt proceeded to fire out an impromptu Drum Solo - moving around the kit as Shane pointed to a different part he wanted to hear (yes you might have realised that Shane was enjoying his Friday night). Not to be outdone though, Jeff Stanley (our Guitarist from Oregon USA) assumed a seated position on his amp and began ripping out some sort of Hendrix-like number on the guitar. Soon there was also a guest appearance from a local Bass Player (could play too I might add), and before you knew it the music had started again - sort of  a funky dance-groove type feel that went on non-stop for around 40mins. Didn't crash out till around 4.30. Great night - thanks to the Oxford Tavern for having us!

31/07/04 - Marquis O'Lorne, Lambton, Newcastle - "House of Steel" Band Room
One of those gigs that you're not too sure about until you get there. We opted for the scenic route from Bathurst to Newcastle, which meant we were a bit pressed for time getting there. Still had enough time to sample the fine delights of the Marquis O'Lorne Thai Restaurant - a few things on the menu not quite the colour you might expect them to be normally, but did the trick nonetheless. Band was beginning to show signs of wear and tear (Indeed, it was difficult to get away from our room at the Hostel) but were resolved to give it the best we could.

The "House of Steel" band room was an interesting place. Picture one of those American-bar type feels with a Big "House of Steel" sign (large Aluminium Letters I might add...) stuck up behind the stage. Then picture ZZ top behind the sound desk (no offence fellas but you have to see where I am coming from with those beards). Anwyay, ZZ top or not they knew what they were doing and despite a smallish crowd on-hand, another 1 hour of tunes was delivered. "Getting it out there" as they say.....
Thanks Deano for having us, and thanks to those of you who came down (thanks also Alana for taking us out on the town and ensuring yet another all-too-familiar post-4am finish).

01/08/04 - Hotel Delany, Newcastle  -"Songwriters Live"
A sense of "coming home" about this gig. I have played with Keith many times before, and this was the bands third trip to the Delany (althought the first with Jeff Stanley). A great note to finish on - a warm crowd on hand and the Delany is a nice venue. Probably not the freshest we have been for a gig, but probably our tightest set of the trip (one could argue that this was because there wasn't the energy left for flambuoyance - although Jeff would have to disagree - Sunday night was the fourth night in a row he managed to crank out a guitar solo behind his head! Don't know how he does it, but it is a sight to behold - this was probably the best one of the trip!). Thanks again to Keith - those of you who like good live acoustic-based music should check out one of these nights as there is some great talent floating around beneath the stratosphere of Australian Idol et al - www.songwriterslive.com.au

And finally I found someone else to drive the Tarago for the trip back to Sydney.   zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz