The Camelot Lounge is quite a great venue. Surprised us in its size and the care and attention in the decor. Right in Marrickville, tucked away in an industrial cul-de-sac around that sharp corner coming away from the station and towards the Inner west.
We did two sets, continuing to play in a lot of new tracks.Sounding tougher and sharper. I was wearing some black satin shit I've had in the wardobe for a while. All black and white. White t shirt and hat. I've embraced the white t shirt. In the 80s it was so naff. Guys like Eric Clapton and the kind of fellow he would influence style wise would wear a suit with the sleeves rolled up and a white t shirt. With high waisted jeans. I kind of like that look now. But like I'm sure I've said, I like outmoded forms in clothes as well as music. I like to wear and fly shit that people have tried on before. Recognizable forms and feels. I don't have the stamina to invent my own shit, I like to throw incongruous stuff into relief. Things that still have a charge.
I guess thats why I play the headless bass in Harry Howards NDE. people are scared of those futuristic bats with strings!
The gig the night before the Camelot lounge was a solo set above a small Italian restaurant in Drummoyne. Playing with an acoustic is a bit of a novelty for me but I got into it. I can access a lot more of my older stuff with that wooden box. People asked for obscure numbers which I was happy to play. "Anchors aweigh" and "listen to her lovers sing".
Got back to Melbourne and did BLB, the radio show I do with Elizabeth McCarthy everyTuesday from 12-2pm on RRRfm.Elizabeth loves to drive me nuts playing shit like Guns and Roses and the appalling Stevie Nicks. I'm sad to say it works every time. I can't stand that jive ass rubbish! We had Robyn Hitchcock in as a guest . He was in town as part of the "way to blue" Nick Drake tribute shows. Elizabeth wasn't interested in any of it but did the studio panelling and kept it running smoothly. Robyn is one of my favourite songwriters and singers. One of the greatest contemporaries we have. A one off. He had done an interview in the Melbourne Age where he had cconfessed he didn't like Nick Drake at all until REMs Peter Buck and the producer Joe Boyd had tuned him into it in the 80s. Nick had only ever done a dozen gigs and recorded 3 albums. Robyn says that you develop a "beak" in your voice by playing gigs through bad pa systems and Nick never got a beak. He said in the paper that his voice just sat there "like a luxurious poached egg". I congratulated Robyn on this flight of wit and said that if I was the editor of the paper they would have been breakout quotes. "Nick Drake had no beak!" and "his voice sat there like a luxurious poached egg!"
Had some lunch with Robyn and he bumped into an old Cambridge friend . Jerry Hale , who runs a guitar store in Johnston street.
The actual show was deluxe. In the beautiful Recital hall.
Joe Boyd - Producer/Curator
Kate St John - Musical Director
Lisa Hannigan - vocals
Krystle Warren - vocals
Robyn Hitchcock - vocals
Vashti Bunyan - vocals
Green Gartside - vocals
Scott Matthews - vocals
Danny Thompson - bass
Neill MacColl - guitars
Zoe Rahman - piano
Martyn Barker - drums
Luluc - vocals
Shane Nicholson – vocals
Zoe and Steve from Luluc were my favourite singers. Neill MacColl on guitar -and singing on one song- was superb. He was Kirstys brother and Ewans son.Ewan wroite "dirty old town" and "the first time ever I saw your face". I had just bought a vinyl folk album of his in Sydney at a junk shop. "the Manchester Angel and other songs- with accompaniment by Peggy Seeger".
Scott Mathews was a brilliant young singer and guitar player. Robyn intruded at the start and finish with his magnificent beak. Closing the show with his own "I saw Nick Drake". He is a bit of an adept at writing old fashioned broadside type topical songs such as "NY DOLL" from a recent album which he wrote after seeing the film of the same name about Arthur KIller Kane. He also wrote one about Steve Jobs. "I saw Nick Drake" is an elusive, poetic flight. He has mad skills in vocals, words and guitar playing.
Then I took a train to the station and then a bus to the airport and a plane to Hobart where I had a room above the stage I was to play in.
The gig itself was underattended. Hobart is unpredictable. I did two sets. Enjoyed it. Playing anything people asked for.
I also did, for myself, "alabama bound" as originally arranged by the Amazing Charlatans and also the two LOVE songs aI know. "alone again or" and "you set the scene".
Flew back to Melbourne and trained and bussed it back to Upwey where I then walked for twenty minutes uphill to our compound. Had a bath and ate some cookie. Clare was working in the studio with Jane Dust on a 2012 scheduled album.
The next day I sat and worked on my pedals and amps and power supplies and electric guitars to try to get a handle on volume and gains and polarities . Settled on the Roland amp for the 12 string and the Fender M80 with a Sansamp in front of it for the 6 string.
Then I went to see the Dames doing a gig as part of a female musician dominated night at the Greyhound in St Kilda. The north / South divide in Melbourne music could not have been so starkly drawn. Not a sign of any indie rock and all this anachronistic semi goth, tattooed Dave Navarro type attitudinal rock stuff. Actually, if some of the players and people in attendance walked around in Brunswick or Fitzroy, they would be seen as being ironic or wilful/playful SUPERSTARS! Collectively, it was not so impressive. I have always felt myself to be a "south of the river" type , even though its years since I lived there. I still like to be around that part of Melbourne. Something about the lack of hipsters makes it seem more "adult". Maybe it'll change if more gigs happen there and its not so much of a "dress ups" type scene. It'll be a bit more natural.
So, come and see us there St Kilda peeps! We'll be doing two sets from 6pm. Sunday Dec 4th.The Greyhound Hotel. Directly across from St Kilda town Hall.
Actually, it was cool night there as we ran into Alsy and Jill from the Triffids P/L who were in town to do some rehearsing ahead of a show at Queenscliff soon. The'll also be doing tehir own show at the Tote on Wednesday 30th November.
1 comment:
I need to have a word with clarkey about hitch.
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