Category: Music

*rant ahead *
I have been seeing the ads everywhere about the upcoming Tori Amos tour and for the past week not much else has been in Winamp except Tori with the new album on very high rotation. Tickets go on sale to the public on Monday but I thought gee it is not hard to guess the pre-sale code word (posse) let me get the ticket tonight instead.

The price though is $119.90 for all seats at all venues in Australia – The Brisbane show is at the convention centre and it doesn’t matter if you are stitting two rows from the front or along the top row they want $119.90. How on earth can they justify that price? Grrr really angry Helen here. Normally for shows in places like this they do tiered ticketing. The closer you want to sit the more you pay. Case in point Burt Bacharach in a few weeks time, I don’t need to sit up close to enjoy the show so I have a *cheap* ticket.

The dodgey thing is that I could go see her in the Frankfurt Opera Hall which is a pretty swish place and get decent seats for about AU$80 or run of the mill standing GA tickets in London for about AU$60. This is so crap. I am not happy jan.

As much as I love Tori Amos, I just won’t be buying a ticket because there is no way that I can justify paying that sort of money for a ticket. I mean if it was $119.90 for an intimate show at the Troubadour it would be a different story all together. grrr

*end rant*

Now for something pretty to lighten the mood.

I walked down Constance St to the sounds of psalmist and the lyre drifting out of Bar Soma which put a smile on my face. When I walked in I assessed the lighting like I do everywhere I go, thinking about what settings I will be able to get away with on my camera. I have started to get pretty good at knowing what settings will work for the different venues. Sunday night though I was very wrong in my assessment. I was thinking that I would be able to go f2.2@1/100@iso 800 so I dialled that in and took a shot and reviewed it. I was wrong. I ended up moving to f1.8/2 @1/60-80@iso1600, talk about going to extremes. I am seriously considering upgrading to the 50mm f1.4 now, the 50mm f1.8 has served me extremely well since I bought it in Nov ’04 but as I am starting to use it a lot more in low light and would appreciate the extra stop and better focusing. I will see what happens. I need to get a job yet.

psalmist and the lyre

These guys were rocking and folking and I loved it! Unfortunately their myspace music doesn’t sound anywhere near as rocking as it was live. Which is something I always get bummed by. I particularly loved Ian on the guitar/keys as he seemed to be having a really great time rocking out.

Claire Whiting

I knew she would be a treat and she was. I managed to misfocus on most of the photos I took of Claire and when they are at f.18/2 there is not much room to save them 🙁 For me I think Claire was the highlight of the night.

Luke Foran and friends

I loved how Luke would pull random friends out of the crowd to do songs with him, really added another dimension to the show.

Mardi Lumsden

I found Mardi through Claire Whiting’s myspace page after her gig with Jacob the other week and what a treat she was, I particularly love I want to Breathe it just makes me think of summer afternoons with daisies.

Four great bands all together to launch Wallflower Records and Mardi’s new EP Going is Finding and a truly fantastic night.

I went to Rics again last night, this time to see Claire Whiting and Jacob Diefenbach who you may remember that Mum and I saw at the Powerhouse last year as part of the Brisbane Cabaret Festival. Well, I was impressed with him then and I was more than impressed again last night. There was a nice number of people at Rics which meant that it stayed nice and cosy. Partially due to the rain I would say – we have rain for about 14hrs straight since last night and our tank is now overflowing and the catchment areas for the dams have been getting rain as well 😀

First up was Claire Whiting and she was a total treat. A girl and her guitar, a handful of songs and a delightful voice. I will be going to see her more often for sure. After a couple of songs she was joined by Ben Stewart to add another guitar and some more vocals. As my little brother would tell you I am hopeless when it comes to remembering the names of songs unless I know the band really well. They played some great songs and one in particular that stands out in my mind was one that they had only just put together, it was a marvellous song.

Jacob Diefenbach.
A very dramatic piano player and a very commanding vocal style. Very much musical theatre inspired I think I would say in the dramatics and soaring vocals. The writer of some incredibly insightful and thought provoking songs not only about the gay culture but also about life in general and how we present our selves to the world. Favourite song had to be Drive to Kill which you can hear on his JJJ unearthed page

I chatted to a few people and got to meet two people that I know/know-of off the net which was pretty cool.

Then it was over. I stayed for a while and chatted to a few people, including Ricky a fellow camera toter and Caitlin. I was chatting to Ricky and thought I should introduce myself to the girl who is with him, so I turn and say “Hi I’m Helen” and then she goes “I know, I knew it was you when you pulled out your camera, I’ve seen you on myspace” which of course cracked me right up.

A very great night indeed 😀