An Espy NYE!

Sorting out NYE is always a big deal, but after getting back from Nauru I found that Carlos had sorted tickets for us for the gig at The Espy for the evening. Perfect!

I was housesitting in Brunswick, so once we were ready we popped by North Melbourne to toast my sister and Heath, the coming new year, and the prospect of a family wedding in the coming year, after their engagement before I went away. Eeeeeee! So exciting!

Then we kept on our way on the tram down to St Kilda, and found seats in the Espy front beer garden with some of Carlos' mates, and watched the final sunset of the year. As the light was fading, we decided it was time to explore the music inside, and made our way to the Gershwin Room. Here, we were stopped in our tracks by Lurch & Chief - the indie garage rock band with alternating male and female lead, had me hooked!

Mary then found us at the front of the room, just as the bearded boys from The Basics were getting ready to begin their set.

The No 1 Cause Of Death Among Youth Today was their opener, and a favourite of mine. Just Hold On was in there, as was Three Cool Cats. Hey There and the jazzy Second Best, too.

My memory is a little hazy of the 40 minute set, as I am sure are the boys after they passed around a celebratory bottle of whiskey.

The new Lucky Country was played, and impressed again, before Have Love, Will Travel, and a cover of Jailbreak to round off a NYE send off from our much loved 3 piece Melbourne band.

Before we knew it the headliner for this bandroom was about to come on stage, and start the set to work towards the countdown to the new year. The evening seemed to go at a cracking pace!

Something For Kate took the stage, and launched into the tracks that I have been listening to a lot over the past year, as well as seeing them live a few time too. Some old favourites too.

Survival Expert and Star-Crossed Citizens were huge stand outs in the set. Then the epic Like A Version cover of Sweet Nothing, which was incredible, before the midnight countdown and followed by a cover of REMs The One I Love.

An awesome night to see off what has been a seriously amazing year for me. The Espy, a Melbourne Summer's night, 2 of my favourite bands, and a couple of my really great mates - and a slice of the rest of Melbourne's music fans! Perfect!

Great View Of Melbourne City

I was out tonight, at the Cullen Hotel for a Nuffnang blogger event, so I don't have a proper post....but this was the view I had! I think it could be one of the most perfect views of the Melbourne skyline I have seen!

Wow! Just when I think I couldn't love my city any more.....!

Mojito Masterclass

Being invited along as a blogger to learn how to make mojitos to a Masterclass was something too good to pass up. Finding that it was being held at Fitzroy's new piece of Cuba, Los Barbudos was

We learned from the enthusiastic bar staff the history of rum, including tastings from some of their favourite bottles. They have 91 bottles of different rum in their bar to date, and their passion for the white and brown liquor from different select parts of the world was clear.

They then got down to talking about the mojito, and explained that as research prior to opening their bar, they did a trip to Cuba to experience the real thing. Their telling of stories took me right back to the world of free pour rum, dancing, and Mikey's bar in Havana.

Explaining that the Cubans keep their stable drink pretty simple, rather than the elaborate concoctions some bars in Melbourne have made them, they took us through the steps.

The finest Sugar available is first, and then fresh lime juice. Some ice and mint at this point, before using a muddler - a tiny baseball bat here, keeping in theme with the bar - to break out the mint flavour.

A significant swig of Havana Club Rum, before topping up with Soda Water. Mint on the top again, for garnish. Just like they they do in Cuba.

I paired up with Marlee from String Of Events to make ours, working through the steps. Following the recipe, or there-abouts, we produced a pretty authentic mojito, from my memory.

Mingling with bloggers from Melbourne, and playing with the baseball props of the bar, we also sampled another version of the rum cocktail, with honey, which was the Canchanchara and delicious!

This rum bar is fast becoming a favourite of mine, and the obvious passion for rum by the boys behind the bar make it even more so!

Alex Gow and The Basics

Grand Final week would be a little lost without a random gig thrown into the mix, and this year was no exception!

I spied a random announcement from Oh Mercy's Alex Gow that he was home for the week, and would do an impromptu and intimate gig at Red Hummingbird. Coming back into the city from the GF Training, I met Nicole and Mary there, to check it out.

Just like sitting in his lounge room, a small gathering sat pretty close in this small space, and listened as Alex played a set of stripped back songs, with a couple of new ones - to justify his four months away thus far.

We got to hear Rebel Beats, Drums and My Man, as well as Keith Street, before he ended with a cover of The Waterboy's Fisherman's Blues and then Deep Heat.

After a huge day in the city the next day, taking in the GF Parade and a lunch and many drinks at the pub, I trekked up to the Northcote Social Club just in time to catch Hoy playing, with Tim Heath on bass, and join Nicole and Mary. Claire joined us towards the front for The Basics.

I spotted Wally on the stairs before the show, and took the opportunity to grab a photo with him then, as I had to make a dash after the gig to get some sleep for the big day the next day! My quest of a photo with all 3 Basics will need to wait for another time - although every other person at these The Basics gigs seemed to have gotten one!

After seeing our favourite Melbourne trio in a couple of warm-up gigs we had had a taster about what to expect, but this gig was meant to be the main event. And I think it's been one of my most loved shows of theirs for a very long time!

Starting with a punchy Hard For You, and then giving us our much loved The No 1 Cause Of Death Amongst Youth Today, we could tell it was going to be a great show! Many favourites were rolled out, with She's Gonna B Late, and Just Hold On. Rattle My Chain, and Have Love, Will Travel was in there. Kris gave us a couple of news songs, which were pretty awesome and exciting to hear tested out to the full house at NSC. Hey Rain was stunning, and the more obscure Feels Like Love was in there too.

A handful of covers filled the encore, including Proud Mary, before the night ended with Call It Rhythm and Blues.

A ridiculously large week, full of footy glory and favourite bands! New songs, and much loved tracks played live. Nothing beats Melbourne during Grand Final week!

The 2013 AFL Grand Final Premiership Win

A day to remember forever on Saturday, as Hawthorn became the 2013 AFL Premiers. What a day!

Our day started just as it did the year before, and also in the winning 2008 year, with a breakfast gathering at The Mess Hall in the city. Jenny and I joined Mum, Melissa, Jessica and Heath, and Jordon, before Flash and Cass, Gluv, and Axe filled the table. Those of us with standing room ate fairly quickly, before making the dash across Fitzroy Gardens to the gates of the MCG.

Joining the forming queue, we had learnt from the last couple of times, and had a strategy. The moment they let us in, at 11am, we made a run for our allocated section, and were rewarded with the front row of our standing bay.

The sprint happened on the ground, and then Birds Of Tokyo played as the pre-match band (not that we could really hear them in our bay under the stand), and then Mike Brady let a stadium-sing-a-long for his iconic footy songs of Up There Cazaly and One Day In September.

After both teams come out onto the ground for their final warm up, the Great Southern Stand displayed the names of both teams, Hawthorn and Fremantle, which was pretty impressive!

All too quickly, the teams both ran out properly through their banners, and the roar and colour of each team become apparent. A sea of yellow and purple!

The nerves and excitement heightened as the teams lined up for the National Anthem, and that all mighty roar of the crowd at the end of it - and then it was game on!

I feel like the first half went by in a blur - a complete arm wrestle, very low scoring, and the Hawks managed to stay on top, and maintain serious pressure. We were up by 4 goals at the big break. Hunters + Collectors played at halftime, and whilst we again couldn't really hear them well, there was a huge crowd sing for Holy Grail. Such an unofficial footy anthem!

The third quarter was what all the nerves were for, as the Dockers piled on goals, and behinds, to come within 3 points of the Hawks at one stage. Fierce stuff! Heroic four goals from Gunston for the match and a brilliant defensive game from the eventual Norm Smith medalist Lake, and the Hawks sealed the win and the premiership at the final siren by 15 points.

Midway through the last quarter the attendance figure was flashed onto the screens, at 100,007 people. Wow! There was a collective noise of awe at that. The bay sitting in front of our section were Freo fans who had travelled across from Perth and had told us that this was their first time at the 'G were stunned.

The song was sung, over and over. The four of us together hugged, and soaked it in, before working our way to the boundary fence. We watched as the medal presentation happened, cheering each and every player. And then the cup was raised, in victory!

A great spot for the players' victory lap, we high-5ed and hugged and cheered with them as they came past and shared it with the fans that were there. They were very happy, and excited boys!


After the lap, and the players singing the song together in the rooms broadcast across the stadium, all the Hawks we knew gathered at a spot to enjoy the Premiership Party, with Birds Of Tokyo and then Hunters + Collectors playing. But really, we were waiting the presentation of the Premiership team again.

Once all this was done, many of us wandered up to Richmond for drinks and the replay at the London Tavern. Later on in the evening, you may have seen us dancing up a storm in a little bar on Church Street. Good times.

Made even more special this time with the three of us sisters together for it, after Jessie being on the other side of the world for 2008. It was also one I could fully celebrate too, given the sober experience of 2008! All is right in the world again!

We're a very happy team at Hawthorn!

The Qualifying and Preliminary Finals 2013

Hawthorn finished on top of the AFL Ladder again this year, and September looked exciting. Nerves and jitters of excitement mixed, as all other plan making ability for the month was on hold, total focus was on the Finals Football schedule!

Our first match was a repeat of last year’s Grand Final, and of the final match of the AFL season for 2013. Playing on the Friday night, at the MCG, the Hawks set about to play Sydney . Tickets purchased, and pre-match plans set, we gathered at Riverland for some settling ciders, before making the walk along the Yarra to the biggest stage in Australia.

Such a blockbuster lived up to the hype and anticipation for the first half, with the Hawks up by just one point at the first change, and then scores were level at the Halftime break. But the second half saw Hawthorn in full flight, and blow the team from Sydney away – ending up with a crushing win of 54 points. Wow!

Drinks and some replay watching at the Duke followed, with much footy talk, and a lot of contented smiles!

This massive win afforded us the following weekend off. A treat – a rest for our bank accounts and nerves, and for the team to be fresh and ready for the next hurdle. Watching both games was a must, in anticipation of the competition and our next opponent.

Arch rivals Geelong won their way to meet the Hawks in the Preliminary Final. The siblings and I set out on our preparation for the week by watching the past two mammoth Grand Finals wins against our most feared and respected football opponent, the 1989 and the 2008 wins against them. This made for such an intense and footy-filled week, with much discussions, banter and reminiscing. Watching that fierce 1989 clash had our blood pumping, and boiling, and then there was a screening of a documentary of the same match, from players' perspectives, which only solidified that game as the greatest ever in our view!

Again, sticking to our successful routine to date, we gathered at Riverland for a few drinks, and then made the walk to the MCG. Taking our seats along from the goals, the nerves were high, anticipation at fever pitch!

This game lived up to our fears and anticipation and excitement - an epic battle. Heart-stopping stuff. Such a rollercoaster of emotions.

And when the siren sounded (not that we could hear it over the roar of the crowd!), the Hawks were 5 points in front. WE WERE INTO THE 2013 GRAND FINAL!!! The stronghold that the Cats have had on our team since that 2008 GF was broken. At last.

Drinks and some serious debriefing was done at the Duke once we left the stands of the MCG, before we allowed ourselves to start thinking ahead. Plus, having played on the Friday, we needed to await for our opponent on the biggest footy weekend of the year to be decided.

These games were all the more amazing by being there and experiencing it with two of my sisters, Heath and Mum. Such a family affair, our football passion!

Secret Gig: The Basics Are Back!

Upon hearing the news that The Basics were to do a secret show on Saturday night at the Post Office Hotel in Coburg, Nicole and I instantly plotted out our day with the end being the chance to see the lads play again together after 3 years off doing other things.

Wally has been dominating the world music scene and winning Grammy's, Kris has been working in Kenya, and Tim has been playing in another band in that time, and there were thoughts about whether they would ever come together again as The Basics - but there had been a bit of online buzz, and then shows announced. Saturday night seems to have been their first proper rehearsal!

Taking a place in the front room of the pub, weaving in among the tables of people there for dinner and drinks, the room soon filled as 9pm arrived.

Opening with Money (Gimme, Gimme), the boys were on stage in new matching tailored suits, and fresh energy. Wally seemed so relaxed and really enjoying himself at the back of the stage behind the drums, as the other two warmed up to the spotlight again.

Lots of tracks from their last album release, like What Do You See In Me? and a stripped down version of With This Ship. I was pretty pleased to hear The No 1 Cause Of Death Amongst Youth Today live again, before the new release of So Hard For You seemed to pull in the attention of the crowd of new The Basics fans since the Gotye boom.

More old favourite were played, like Memory Lane, She's Gonna B Late, and Just Hold On. The banter picked up pace and bite as the gig kicked on. Then Yeah Yeah, Can You Trust Me? and Hey C'mon!

Call It Rhythm and Blues and Looking Over My Shoulder was also there, after taking requests from the crowd. Covers ended the night, with Tim leading the harmonies of Rain, before Have Love, Will Travel. The night ended with an AC/DC cover of Jailbreak.

The Basics are back! They are playing another show tonight - so looking forward to it!

Drinking For Good: Shebeen

Tucked along Manchester Lane in Melbourne's CBD is Shebeen - where you can meet and have a drink, and help change the world while doing so.

Whilst I was waiting for Carly to join me, I ordered a beer from Namibia - of which the profits go towards mothers2mothers, which delivers programs to support African mothers with HIV to prevent the transmission of the virus to their baby - through mentoring and information and support.

Never before has ordering a second beer felt so good!

Once Carly joined me, and ordered a cocktail, we studied the snacking menu and ordered some dishes to share. Banh Mi is the feature of the menu, and we ordered the Moroccan Meatballs with Pine Nuts - delicious!

To add, we had the Pork Belly Banh Mi Sliders, which were also the perfect handful of taste delight.

The listing of Thai Chili Lime Sorbet was impossible to resist, and seriously some of the best ice cream I have ever had - the chili left a tingle on your lips....yum!

The bar has a cute interior with quaint decor, although the seating outside in the sheltered laneway is surely the pick of the spot.

The bar is well stocked, but the beer range from places like Laos, Sri Lanka, Mexico, India and Vietnam, as well as my African selection, in addition to a South African cider, is the talking point. The profit from each beverage contributes to a not-for-profit organisation from it's originating country, linked to programs such as vocational training, literacy programs, and agricultural technological support to farmers.

Pages in the menu also describe how Shebeen has selected the programs to feed their profits to, and their aim of finding sustainable organisations making a real, measurable difference, and who are working on scaling up their operations. Impressive research, behind this impressive social enterprise.

Certainly a new bar that has impressed me, I will no doubt be back time and again.

A Little Bit Of Cuba Has Come To Fitzroy!

Cuba is still one of my favourite travel places over the years, and so hearing that a new bar with a Cuban theme was opening in Melbourne was met with gleeful excitement! Los Barbudos opened last week along Smith Street, and is sure to become a favourite haunt of mine on that side of town.

Los Barbudos means the 'bearded ones', as an ode to the baseball team with many beards put together by Castro just after he and his guerrilla army took power. Photos of Cuban men with impressive beards, in baseball uniform, adorn one of the walls of the long rectangular bar.

The theme brings Mojitos, Cuba Libres and frozen Daiquiris to the bar, as well as a fully stocked spirits shelf. These tastes of the Caribbean island with revolutionary history and spark took me right back to some fun rum filled memories.

The food was a standout, and will soon be available from a permanent food truck out in the back room, which adjoins next door's Mr Wow's Emporium.

Empanadas, filled with braised lamb and drizzled with goat's cheese creama, were delicious morsels. The Caribbean Spiced Chicken Wings were a sensation, and the Cuban rice was the perfect regional compliment. With smoked black beans and fried plantain, the Tostones con Frijoles had a spicy punch - all far from the rather bland food we actually experienced in Cuba!



As the room filled with a crowd, there was a three piece band that added to the Cuban swing feel - and transported me back to Havana for a little bit!

*I attended the Media Opening of Los Barbudos as a plus one, but the gushing recollections and trip down Cuban memory lane are all mine!

Dan Sultan's Back To Basics

With news of Dan Sultan doing a couple of solo, acoustic shows at the Toff In Town to test out his new tunes before recording them, it was useless resisting purchasing tickets! I actually went to both shows, one with Nicole and one with Michelle.

Both nights opened with Walk Through My Dream, before he showcased some of the new tracks he has been working on. Across two 45 minute sets each night, he was chatty, explaining the background to many of the songs, and telling stories from Irish translations to his award of best legs at the Community Cup the previous weekend.

A solo rendition of the current song with Way Of The Eagle, Rattlesnake, was impressive solo. The first set ended with Kimberley Calling, the beautiful and literary tale of travelling to find the final resting point of his grandmother.

Dan's new songs were actually very different to the ones we heard back in November. Then, they were all songs of love, and now they are mostly of pain and heartbreak. About him being a bad boyfriend, he explained on the second night. It seems this forthcoming album has completely changed it's tune!

Ending both nights with the powerful, and long time favourite of most in the room, Old Fitzroy - the second night even found a single female voice in the crowd adding the distinct harmony.

He told us on the second night that he is soon off to Nashville to record this new album, just like another band we know.... Looks like Nashville is the place to be for Melbourne artists looking to make new records right now!

Wagons

On Saturday night I took Chrystal and her mate Karl along to see a gig here in Melbourne, at The Corner. After many drinks upstairs we joined the growing crowd in the bandroom downstairs, catching the support of Toot Toot Toots.

The headliners were Wagons, for a pre-recorded album preview. And they were awesome. Such fun.

Lots of new tracks, mingled in with songs from their many albums. Some of the standouts included their version and tribute to Kenny Rogers, in the Gambler. Complete with picking numbers for a roulette wheel verse from the crowd.

The Elvis cover, Never Been To Spain was introduced as one that they may not be able to play soo, they are headed there for a show soon. More laughs with Keep Your Eyes Off My Sister, Henry Wagons chat with the filled room, and Love Me Like I Love You. The biggest song was Willie Nelson – which set off the whole bandroom singing along about Willie - Willie! Willie! WILLIE! Hilarious.

A funny, witty country folk rock twang, channelling Johnny Cash/Nick Cave, Henry Wagons is an amazing front man. Maybe one of the best beards in music right now! This band has such a cult-like following, and this album is bound to gain more and more listeners...once it's recorded and released later this year.

SFK's Star Crossed Cities

Having seen Something For Kate just in October I was not sure about seeing them again so soon, but I do love this new album, and had my arm twisted! It really wasn’t that hard, in the end.  Carl and I headed out to Richmond on Saturday night for a couple of pre-gig drinks across the road at The Post Office, before taking our spot in the bandroom at The Corner.

SFK opened with Captain (Million Miles An Hour), much to the delight of my gig buddy Carlos who is a massive fan, and was experiencing a gig at The Corner for the first time – what a way to open his account there! Ha!

Weighted with tracks from the mound of past albums, it was five songs into the almost 2 hour set before we heard the beautiful Sooner Or Later You’re Gonna Have To Do Something About Me, from the new album.

Survival Expert, The Fireball At The End Of Everything, and Star-Crossed Citizens was in there too, along with California, and The Astronaut.

One of the most spine-tingling aspects of seeing Something For Kate live, or even just following them on Facebook, is the sprinkling of covers Paul Dempsey smashes with that vocal range and emotive delivery. Truly, which is heart-stopping with Dempsey’s delivery, is an obscure cover from them, but so amazing. A favourite of mine, not too many seemed to know it. But then they filled the room with voices with the massive Hunters and Collectors’ When The River Runs Dry.

But then the encore started with Sweet Nothing, the latest Triple J Like A Version from the band, and surely a candidate for high honours in this year’s Hottest 100 already.

Finishing with Deja Vu and Pinstripe, it was another amazing show, a seriously good live band.

Cloud Control

A sold out album preview gig - that's how much people are looking forward to the sophomore offering from Cloud Control. They did not disappoint!

Nicole and I met at Fonda for dinner on this dreary Melbourne night, before heading down the street to The Corner to listen to the support acts.

I enjoyed the solo tunes of Ali Barter, a Melbourne singer-songwriter I would be keen to hear more from. The Bloods were not my kind of music, pegged as garage-punk-pop by Triple J UnEarthed!

The room swelled to capacity, the velvet curtain opened, and the band from the Blue Mountains got started. Mingling the new tracks in with the songs from their debut album and EP before that. Some pretty different sounding tracks to start with, before letting out the first sounds of This Is What I Said, which got the crowd involved.

Ghost Story raised a full-house sing-a-long. Promises was the new song that I caught the name of, that felt very Could Control, and loved on first listen.

A slice of Butthole Surfers was a surprise verse in Gold Canary, which totally worked. Awesome.

The harmonies of Meditation Song #2 were dreamy, and of course the massive hit There's Nothing In The Water We Can't Fight was in there.

Buffalo Country ended the night, with that burst of joy that indie-pop is all about, sending us out into the night all warm and fuzzy!

Walking out of the bandroom, I could not help but remember that this band sounded amazing in the open-air ampitheatre at Splendour In The Grass a couple of years ago - I think this is a band born for the energy of a festival. Indoors just stifles that a little bit. They need space to fill with these sounds!

Stand by for the Dream Cave release in August, and then this four piece is due to grace The Forum stage in September. It's going to be another big album from this band, which is pretty exciting!

Good Beer Week

When I first read about Good Beer Week happening in Melbourne last week, I could not believe that it was into it’s third year. Where have I been for the other two!? An excuse to drink different beers, and visit a whole range of pubs around Melbourne city seems like a perfect week to me!

I spent a bit of time trawling over the website at the range and timetable of events across the week, here and in Regional Victoria. I managed to narrow it down to a little list of events that fit in with my week, and ensured that I did not break my personal rule about drinking on my own!

On the Monday night Carly and I met at The Gertrude Hotel to check out the Pint Of Origin beers from Tasmania. The pub was packed, inviting and warm – Carly had a Tassie cider whilst I tasted the "Willie Warmer" from Seven Sheds. A dark, Guinness-looking beer, it finished with chocolate and liquorice flavours. Yum!

This was actually a detour, because we were out in the area for the Secret Cinema at The Wilde Bar. For $35 we had a hearty dinner, a beer, and a secret "pub movie" – all set in the cosy upstairs room, which was beautifully fitted out with gorgeous old chairs. Dinner was Pot Roasted Silverside of Beef with Autumn Vegetables, with an Endeavour Amber Ale each - and the movie was the legendary The Big Lebowski! Great night!

The other Good Beer Week event I managed to get to was the Pint Of Origin from the ACT, which was hosted by The Court House, which happened to be around the corner from my housesitting gig that week. Jessie and Heath joined me to sample some of the beers on tap from both breweries featured. This pub is pretty impressive inside, and we really enjoyed the The Mother Funker Gueuze, and then the Rumpole's Pale Ale, both from Wig & Pen. Both beers had an interesting fruit finish, with pineapple being a memorable one, Canberra does indeed do beer as well as wine!

Certainly a couple of beer labels I will watch out for in the future. I love micro-brew discoveries like these, and Good Beer Week was a perfect showcase for many of them from all over Australia. I will be keen to check out more events across the week, next year!

Oh Mercy's Last Shows

The announcement that one of your favourite local bands is playing a couple of "last shows" means you grab tickets immediately, right? And then the promise of different special guests each night makes you decide to go to both, yes? Well, it did for Nicole and I! Last week we saw back-to-back Oh Mercy shows, before half of them head off to explore music in the other hemisphere for awhile.

First on the bill was Slow Dancer, Simon from Oh Mercy's solo outfit. A great sound, with an enchanting voice and awesome guitar work. Lead me to buy his EP on the second night, and am loving the tracks.

Next up was Alexander Gow, doing a solo set of a list of songs the band don't really do live anymore. A chill and intimate set, Alex was chatty and charming. He treated us with my favourite Oh Mercy song, the rarely played Salvation Jane, after opening with Hold Out Your Hand, before the first of the guests for the evenings joined him on stage.

Helen Croome, otherwise known as Gossling, sang their new French La Minute de Silence with him, which is a pretty impressive feat!

Mercy Valley was in there, before Alex did a song by The Panics, and then Jae Laffer took the stage to give us his version of Labour Of Love on the second night.

After a wardrobe change for Alex, he returned to the stage with Rohan on drums to open the Oh Mercy set with Europa, before Eliza and Simon joined them for the great Lay Everything On Me.

Loads of Deep Heat tracks featured, with Still Making Me Pay, and My Man being haunting stand outs. Then Kieran Ryan took the stage, mid-set, to give us his version of Doldrums, before the band returned for Stay Please Stay and Drums. Both nights finished with Alex talking about these shows being a celebration rather than a sad farewell, although the final song told of travel, longing escape and journeying, in The Waterboys' Fisherman's Blues.

Who knows when we will see these songs, and this band together, live again. It was indeed a celebration of their work since their humble beginnings...and who knows where the next chapter will lead them. Have fun, lads! It's bound to be amazing!

Rock For Recognition

Last Thursday The Corner Hotel was filled with Rock, for the Recognition of Indigenous Australians in the Australian Constitution. Because as it stands now, they are not. In fact, there are more references to lighthouses, beacons and buoys than to Australia's first people.

With a DJ spinning tunes between sets, and on whilst we arrived in the bandroom, the first act of the night was soon on stage. Leah Flanagan captivated the crowd with her mix of blues and soul, complete with a full band, including the double bass.  She was very impressive, and definitely someone to watch out for.

Then, after a quick DJ break, Dan Sultan was on stage. He started with a ukulele and just him on stage, and captured the full bandroom's attention instantly.  After his first song he said, as a way of an introduction "Did you recognise me? Because our Constitution doesn't."

He confessed that he doesn't know anything about Constitutional Law.  He wasn't going to preach about the topic - he just wanted to start the conversation by doing these shows, to raise some awareness.  And he hoped everyone in the room would discuss it with their friends and family, and hopefully this issue will start to matter to Australia, and be addressed.  As it should be.

Fear Of Flying was one of his early songs of the night, before playing quite a few new songs. One called (maybe)  Nobody Knows was a totally romantic song.....and at one point every girl responded to one of the lines...clearly the lad has some love in his life!  Cute!

Nyul Nyul Girl was magical again, with the mix of his Indigenous language as an important part of the story.  The encore gave us Old Fitzroy, which the crowd supported in voice.  This was one of the strongest gigs I have seen of Dan, and his new material and feeling of contentedness makes a new prospective album very exciting indeed.

Check out the Rock For Recognition site, and learn about the state of glaring gap in the Constitution, and sign the pledge.  Let's make a positive difference in our Indigenous brothers and sisters lives, at last.

The Basics Ingredients

With The Basics on hiatus while Wally does his Gotye thing across the globe, and Kris is finishing off some work in Kenya for the Red Cross, the announcement of a show at the Northcote Social Club in October caught our eye - billed as a solo for Kris Schroeder.

Soon Tim Heath was added to the list for the show, and some review of Wally's schedule proposed a slim possibility of a full reunion.

Nevertheless, the show was soon billed as a gig to promote the release of previously unreleased tracks, on a disc called Ingredients.

I met up with Mary and Nicole, and we had dinner out in the bar before the show, and could hear the first band of the night deliver their set.  We chatted briefly with Kris out here, as he was preparing for the show.

The next band was Mustard Courage, and we made it into the bandroom for this four piece bluegrass act.  And they were great! Totally had the crowd engaged, despite being of a genre nobody had expected from this night, and their chatty stage presence.

Their sound was impressive and catchy, and who doesn't love a band with a bango!  They gave us an awesome cover of Kiss From A Rose.

With the curtain closed between the acts, there were whispers around the room about the presence of Wally, but of course when all was revealed it was Kris and Tim who filled the stage.

They joked about how they talked about staying sober for the show, given that they did not have Wally to pick up the slack, and also confessed that they had had to re-learn some of the songs for tonight to cover his parts.

The set included some long time favourites, mostly off Keep Your Friends Close, like Home Again, Keep The Door Open, and Fear Of Failure.  They played some tracks from the to-be-released Ingredients, of which a couple we had heard live before, but some not. Tim donned the 'wedding cake' accordion, as he described it, for a couple of songs, because he said they needed to mix it up a bit without the drums, and then gave is his Rain cover.

With Kris checking his phone a couple of times during the set, he then pulled down the screen at the front of the stage, and projected a skype call with Wally, from New York City.  As with most skype calls though, there was the usual hellos back and forth, and then the sound dropped in and out....luckily Wally had recorded his section of Just Hold On.  With the delay, the degree of difficult was increased, but the boys here in Northcote managed to pull it off, and it felt like the band was all back together.

Taking requests for the final songs, Tim gave us a rousing Have Love, Will Travel.  It was so great to hear these songs live again, after such a break.  Kris talked about how the funds from this night will help the establishment of a music class within the project he is working on in Kenya, once he returns from this R & R break.

The Basics are also releasing a "best of" in response to Gotye's massive success this year, to introduce his worldwide fans to the expanse of tracks from his rock band.  So, hopefully we will get more of the three Basics together again, soon!

Grand Final '12

That one day in September goes by so very fast once it gets started! From breakfast to the bounce, to the halftime entertainment and the final siren, it feels like the fastest day ever! And just like that, the AFL footy season is over.