Tonight I had a ball at the Troubadour with Ms Clare and meeting new and exciting people. Lots of photos and tales to come but till then here is just one of Mr Svavar Knutur. The best night out at a concert in a long time.
Bertha Control CD Launch
Last night I headed down to the Zoo (solo because my prospective partner in crime decided that reading Harry Potter was more important than live music, shakes head) primarily to see Banawurun and Saritah and secondly to check out Bertha Control live for their CD launch.
Banawurun were a treat and I knew they would be. Enjoyed them at Woodford and enjoyed them immensely again last night. There was no didg or clap sticks this time though. Troy n’ Trevelyn draw on their Indigenous and Zimbabwean roots respectively and weave the music together in a way which just makes perfect sense, a blend of soul, funk and of course some good old fashioned reggae.
Saritah is someone I have known about for a couple of years now after finding her website and downloading some mp3’s so it was an absolute treat to see her live at long last. Saritah was joined up on stage for a couple of songs by local girl Georgia Potter, who I have seen round the traps before, she added some rather incredible soul vocals to the set. The set was closed rather perfectly by Pray.
Bertha Control, were intriguing, full of reggae and funk with a good dose of rock. For a couple of songs they were joined by a cellist and violinist which was great fun they also had a horns section which consisted of sax, trumpet and flute 😀 always love a horns section. One song in particular stood out for me, which was Daze of the Week which you can listen to on their myspace page.
Lemon Meringue Pie
First off, every time I see Meringue written/typed I think of Merengue or more precisely Pintame or Sauvemente by Elvis Crespo and my feet start tapping. Ok now that I have that out of the way.
I have never actually had Lemon Meringue Pie before, sorry correction I have no recollections of eating it in the past but Mum says she made it a bit when I was a wee kid so I quite possibly have eaten it before. Nevertheless when I was pulling Bush Lemons off the tree on the side of the road, I knew that the the first thing I was going to make was Lemon Meringue Pie.
Like any good Australian, this recipe comes from The Australian Women’s Weekly Cooking Class Cookbook, our version is at least 29 years old as Mum’s maiden name is written in the front. This book though is a classic and many of our favourite recipes are from it.
I didn’t use the pastry recipe supplied but my last pastry disc from the Chocolate Mascarpone Tart and that pastry worked quite well.
Lemon Meringue Pie
The Australian Women’s Weekly Cooking Class CookbookFilling
4TBSP plain flour
4TBSP corn flour
3/4C lemon juice
lemon zest from the juiced lemons
1C sugar
90g butter, in small cubes
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 1/4C waterMeringue
4 egg whites
2TBSP water
pinch salt
3/4C castor sugarLine a 9″(23cm) pie plate with your preferred pastry. Decorate the edges with your finger, prick base with fork, line with a disc of baking paper and cover with rice, beans or baking weights. Cook in a 180°C oven for 10-15 minutes or until it is lightly browned. Leave to cool.
Dissolve the cornflour in a portion of the water so that it is smooth. In a saucepan combine the sifted flours, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar and water. Stir till smooth over a moderate heat until the mixture boils and thickens, it must boil. Reduce the heat and stir for a further 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter and egg yolks, keep stirring till the butter is melted. Leave to cool.
Spread the cooled filling into the pastry shell. Beat the egg whites, salt and water on high speed till soft peaks form. Keep beating at high speed and gradually pour in the sugar until the sugar has dissolved (you can tell this by dipping your finger in the mixture and rubbing it against your thumb, it should be smooth). Spoon on top of the pie, spreading it evenly on top. Peak or rib the meringue decoratively with a knife or a spatula.
Bake in a 160-180°C oven for 5-10 minutes or until the meringue has just lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool. It is easiest to slice this with a normal dinner knife dipped in hot water.
Blue King Brown
Last post from the ABC birthday party and really about time. I discovered Blue King Brown at Woodford this year and since then their album Stand Up has had a lot play.
Whilst the ABC show was a different vibe to Woodford where it was a X000 wet people dancing in mud at midnight to 100odd people dancing in the winter sun at the Riverstage with X000 people sitting on the hill behind them, BKB delivered with the crowd listening to every word that sung from Natalie’s mouth. There were times when the crowd was jumping, clapping and singing a long with the songs and then there were times when the crowd stood there listening in awe as they listened to the words and thought about the meaning behind them. Head over to their myspace page and listen to some tracks if you haven’t before. Now the photos which is what you all come for 🙂
The Bad Moon Company and Frankie Wants Out
Last Saturday night I went out with my brother and his mates to see Frankie Wants Out from Melbourne and a local band The Bad Moon Company that they are friends with. By their own accounts Frankie Wants Out play Gangster Swing and they were good and I enjoyed the music but it felt like they started to unravel towards the end of their set. I walked out with their EP The Melbourne Way which I have enjoyed listening to in the past week. The highlight of the night was of course The Bad Moon Company, are a Psychobilly/Rockabilly which went off. They were incredibly tight musically and definitely have perfected their stage act. I loved them. Pure and Simple.
Regina Spektor and Only Son, The Tivoli, July 9.
Regina on Monday night was absolutely blooming marvellous as I outlined in the previous post, here though are the photos, which is what we all love to see.
There were so many things I loved about the concert. All the words and phrases were so very clear, which meant that we all knew exactly what she was singing about. There were times when she would be in the middle of a song and giggles would break out in the crowd as they “heard” what she was singing and she in turn would turn to face the audience and put this sort of shy, funny look on her face which was a crack-up.
Regina’s 2nd last song was Hotel Song with
Only Son who beat boxed the main beats with Regina adding the vocals and more beats over the top. Very cool indeed. You can watch a video of this performance at previous gigs here – Regina and Only Son, Hotel Song