I like rain on a tin roof

I like rain on a tin roof,
only when you’re deep in my arms.
The sound of rain on a tin roof
reminds me of the beat of your heart.
And I like rain on a tin roof,
takes me back to something I started.
I like rain on a tin roof,
Baby it’s all right, all right,
It’s all right, I’m inside.
– Tin Roof
women in docs

Last night I went to one of the most magical shows I have ever seen. There are two main things that make a show magical for me; they are great storytelling lyrics and lots of band/audience interaction. A band can play great music but if they just rock out on their stage and don’t interact with the crowd telling stories or making jokes the show looses a lot of interest for me.

Last night was purely magical because amongst other things these two things happened with both bands that played.

As part of the Brisbane Festival a series of free 9:30pm concerts have been running in the Spiegeltent after the main concert has played. Last night the 7:30pm concert was the amazing songstress Kate Miller-Heidke which was also broadcast on ABC QLD radio which when I heard it was been broadcast I ran around the house finding a tape and a tape recorder so I could “podcast” the show later. I have listened to parts of it already and am reminded of just what an amazing voice she has. Pure Magic. Just before the live broadcast started Steve Austin mentioned that the 9:30pm concert tonight was The Genes and women in docs and that all those people in SE QLD who could get to the Spiegeltent in King George Square by 9:30pm should. I made a decision that and after waiting so many years I was going to go and finally see women in docs live. I am so glad I went.

The Genes played first for about 1hr and a pretty rocking three piece of two brothers and their drummer. Lots of super cool songs with some great lyrics and plenty of harmonica. One of the songs that stood out was one that was all about surfing and the sequence of events from throwing on the wetsuit and running down the sand to the waves.

Then shortly after 10:30pm a band came on that I have been wanting to see since 1999 when their self-titled debut EP was released and like many others I fell in love with the song “Tin Roof” and the other five superbly written songs on it. I can tell you that since 1999 “Tin Roof” is one song that has always stuck in my head and I often find myself humming the song or when we get heavy rain and I can hear it on the tiles I sing a couple of lines from “Tin Roof”. Due to a number of reasons it has taken me seven years to see them live. Seven years of built up waiting meant that the show meant so much for me. I sat on my seat, clapping, swaying or singing along with the rest of the crowd as magic was created before our eyes.

For a band that got off a plane from North America 10hrs before they played I was more than impressed. From their classics to their newer stuff and some pretty rocking covers during their movie game section they played an amazing set. The movie game section is where they talked about who would play them in a movie of their life, what sort of movie it would be and what the theme song would be. When each of the band had talked about what their choices were, they would play the theme song. The “theme song” that got the most the laughs was when the drummer Geoff Green said he would be played by Hugh Jackman but he had to make a point clear, it would be Hugh Jackman Wolverine style (muscles and beard) not Hugh Jackman Boy from Oz style (maracas) in response to this they played Dancing Queen which definitely not Hugh Jackman Wolverine style.

There was lots of harmonica provided Roz, heaps of laughs provided by both Chanel and Roz as well as some kick ass fiddle and keyboards by Silas Palmer and rocking drums by Geoff Green. There was heaps of talking between the songs about the songs or about past experiences. When they finally finished playing shortly before midnight, I picked up a copy of their most recent CD red wine and postcards and drove home with a smile on my face as I put the CD in and let it play.

You can listen to three of their tracks at OzTrax as well as sample from their first two EPs on the samples section of their website.