Last Wednesday I went along to the Tivoli to shoot the Xavier Rudd concert for The Dwarf and had a ball 😀 It was my first gig with a true blue press pit and much to my astonishment, I was the only photographer there. Quite interesting. The support act Jeremey Fisher was a total treat and Xavier was well he was Xavier. The venue seemed to be lacking a little bit in terms of energy but it was still great music. That said when he started playing Let me be, I think the whole place just lit up smiles on faces or when he did a remarkable Australian version of Bob Marley’s classic Redemption Song in which you could feel Xavier beating in your heart. It was a good night.
The last day of a very music filled 2.5 days at Caloundra. Part of me was glad for the festival to be over but another part of me was sad, as I had heard so much great music over the course of the weekend. Will be really interesting to see how it will be run next year and what the line up will be.
Another big highlight of the w/e was Kaya. Another group I had seen at Woodford and were blown away by. Kaya are four ladies who sing with such passion and soul in their voices you would think that they have been told that after this show they will not be singing anymore
I think it is pretty well known round these spaces that in terms of “Brisbane” bands, Women in Docs pretty much top the list for me and for the Sunday show they played Tin Roof which is always going to make me smile.
Tijuana Cartel
These guys were pretty classy to, mixing up classical guitar with some “rap” elements.
Lisa Hunt, the last act on the main stage and by george can this lady sing.
What a weekend it was, great music all weekend, fun times with my camera and of course meeting a great bunch of people 😀
Last Saturday night I headed along to The Zoo for The Dwarf for the Mia Dyson & Epicure concert. You can see all the photos from the night at The Dwarf gallery. Mia Dyson reminded me how much you never know how much you will like a band till you see them live. You can hear them on the J’s day in and day out but until you see a live show you really just don’t know. Mia Dyson had just the the right amount of rock/country/etc for me, really enjoyed her set. Epicure were great as well, I had thought that they were going to be a lot more rockier before the set but they didn’t disappoint. Matt Walker was the support as well as been Mia’s guitarist and he provided a very nice welcoming set.
Life is an interesting thing. Or perhaps more the internet is an interesting thing or even more precise Facebook. Last Sunday night Mum and I went to see Peter Combe. The very next day I got a message on Facebook saying that Catherine Riddle had added me as a friend.
Catherine and I grew up together. A fair swack of my childhood was spent playing in Catherine’s back yard, swimming in the pool, playing dress-ups in her Mum’s old ballet costumes and generally just having fun. We went to the same primary school but after her dad spent a year on exchange in England and they went up to Charters Towers to live/teach we pretty much lost contact. We have seen each other a few times over the years but I don’t think I have seen Catherine for probably four years now. I nearly fell off my chair when I got the notification on facebook because a few weeks before when I had joined facebook again as it now seemed like all my friends had it now, one of the first people I searched for was Catherine but she wasn’t to be found.
This is us when we are young tykes, Catherine and I had just turned 4 ( our birthdays are 10 days apart) and Matthew was/still is my little brother.
What made it all the more special was that the night before as Mum and I were walking down the steps out of the Zoo after seeing Peter Combe, Mum was commenting on how Margaret (Catherine’s mum) had introduced us to Peter Combe as I was mentioning that a lot of my friends had not been exposed to Peter when they were young and that she was going to send Margaret a letter and her Peter Combe ticket.
Peter Combe was a fantastic night. The Zoo was sold out and it was full of newspaper hats and pure glee amongst the punters who had forgotten just how much we had loved Peter Combe as children and that we would still sing those songs word for word. I can’t wait for him to come back north again as I would be there in a split second. I have gone to a fair amount of concerts and whilst there was no fancy lights or sound effects, I have to say I think it was the only concert I have been to where every single person there had a huge grin on their face all night long.
Saturday night at the tavern was something similar to how I remember the Ozomatli/The Roots/Fat Freddy’s night at the Bluesfest this year. It was one big party where if you weren’t dancing you were at the bar getting a drink. It didn’t matter if the music wasn’t quite your flavour you still danced because the vibe was infectious. Extended Family and Zoophyte were the last two acts of the night and these inter-staters knew how to keep the party going till some time in the early am when the lights were turned on and last drinks were served. They are both on my list of bands to check out again when they come up north again.
Saturday was really two sessions. There was the general festival in the day time which ended with Jimmy Barnes and the party got started again at the Kings Beach Tavern and ended when the lights came on and last drinks were served in the early morning. The day time was about a wide, wide variety of music, relaxing in the sunshine, chatting and generally just enjoying some pretty decent music.
