Yellow and Black

I am a lifetime support of the Aussie rules football team the Richmond Tigers. To paraphrase Nick Hornby in his book 'Fever Pitch', I fell in love with the Richmond Football Club as I was later to fall in love with men: suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring with it. and that the natural state of the football fan is bitter disappointment.  I think that this is particularly true for the Tigers fan. I have and lived and breathed this my whole life. I can't actually remember the premiership win in 1980 and I only just remember the loss in 1982 most probably due to the beautiful Helen Domenico and her Carlton scarf. Then one day in September, it happened, 37 years of waiting was over. I still get emotional just thinking about it. My beloved Tiges won the whole shebang. I didn't know that such unadulterated joy was possible. All the disappointment, all the pain of false hope was gone. My longest held dream had come true and it was even sweeter than I could have ever possibly imagined.

After watching the match another four times and reading every article on how fabulous the Richmond Football Club were, I needed to share my joy with others. Not necessarily with friends but I just needed to be around people and let the joy just overtake me. So on Sunday evening I grabbed my Tigers scarf and headed down to The Republic to catch whoever was playing.

It turned out to be band called 120Y.  I know that I am a sucker for a band with a fiddle but this was great fun. Was 120Y great?  No, but they were fabulous.   Somewhat like the Datsun they are named after. The room was filled with joy and many danced in an expression of that joy. Or maybe I was just high on the premiership win. Even better 120Y seemed to have got ahold of my playlist and turned it into their setlist - Paul Kelly, Weddings Parties Anything, The Cure, The Cars, The Pixies, the Steve Miller Band. I sat and listened and cried with joy (again), sang and generally had a fabulous time. It was a perfect meeting of the minds.

Go Tiges!

Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen ..... and Stockholm ......and Helsinki

Let me tell you about The Scottish Pub in Copenhagen.  His Grumpiness and I visited Copenhagen in the winter of 2007.  We arrived by train one December evening hungry and ready to explore the city a little.  It took us a while to find our accommodation, The Cab Inn, a very classy establishment I can tell you. By time we had checked in were famished and went in search of food - none of those fancy restaurant thingys at The Cab Inn.  We wondered past the famous Tivoli Gardens - we might come back for a closer look after visiting a restaurant.  We walked into the main square where some kind of Marilyn Manson rock celebration and march was going on.  Highly amusing but still no food.  Across the square we spied The Scottish Pub - they were bound to serve pub grub if not traditional Danish food.  We entered and ordered a pint of Carlsberg, according to their marketing possibly the best beer in the world but alas no food.  We agreed that we would finish our beer and then go on a further search.  The beer was very tasty and a bloke with a guitar started playing some of our favourite songs.  One beer turned into two, then three, then four and so on.  I was one of those fabulous nights when the beers go down easy, the entertainment is just right and the conversation is meaningful, witty and insightful, there are laughs aplenty.  We left The Scottish Pub and staggered back to our accommodation, foodless, sometime after midnight.  We woke early to catch the morning train to Stockholm with a couple of monster hangovers.  We managed to get the train with the assistance of cold showers, purging, painkillers and lots of water.

So we returned The Scottish Pub.  The atmosphere was as cheery and comfortable as I remembered.  We grabbed a couple of Carlsbergs and settled back to listen to a fellow called Dambro sing and play guitar. He started with some blues and quickly moved on to some covers - John Mayer, Tracy Chapman, Mark Cohen, Van Morrison, John Legend.  Callum from Nottingham played during one of the breaks.  He had some pretty good originals but a terrible moustache.  His song about Mr J, his high school PE teacher, and the torture endured in the interests of health education was particularly amusing.  A great night and perhaps with the previous trip in mind we limited our Carlsberg intake despite the relaxed atmosphere.  Serious hangovers safely avoided - phew.

Stockholm is s beautiful city and the old town on the island of Gamla Stan is particularly notable.  We visited a few bars but the best was Stampen.  They have live music most every night and on the night we were fortunate enough to visit a very cool blues band was playing.  Leather vests and ZZ Top beards were a feature. The lead singer had a voice and reminiscent of Ian Moss and his guitar playing was nearly a good.  The bar was a little crowded but it was great fun.  The banter in Swedish was a little weird though.

Finland, the spiritual home of weird metal music.  Helsinki is an unusual place not Scandinavian but not Russian either.  It is worth going just for the strangeness of it all.  

We went to a bar called the Boot Hill Rock Bar and it sure had atmosphere.  There was a fellow randomly yelling out rhyming couplets and claiming that he was from the south in an American accent.  Uni students in leis and orange pants playing pool and others who were constructing Lego and singing "You Are My Shunshine" in Finish accents.  There was an over supply of long beards and pony tails, earrings, head scarves, vintage leather jackets and groovy hats.

It just happened to be jam night at Boot Hill. First up was blues band followed by a band full of young folk.  Both band got the room really rocking.  The saxophone solos were particularly good.  There were no Death Metal bands to be seen but a great night just the same.

Wow, what a trip.  From the enormous juggernaut that is Ed Sheeran, to the magnificence of The Who, to the busker in Leicester Square we have seen all types of live acts all around the world.  It has been an experience that I will never forget.  But we are exhausted and are keen to get home.  I am looking forward to getting back to a city where I understand where to find live arts experiences.  Hobo Fopo is just a week or so away, my 30 year high school reunion and a southern summer is on the way.  Who knows what adventures await on my journey to become Patron of the Arts.

Rikkette and Boudicca

We were pretty Arts out after the North Atlantic cruise so we opted for history and outstanding natural beauty. The gastopubs were amazing. A tour of North England Hadrian's Wall and the Lake District was in order.  I could spend weeks in the North of England adventuring around and discovering gems in out of the way places.

One rainy evening we went to the Wateredge Inn on the shores of Lake Windemere in Ambleside.  The venue had a magnificently beautiful outlook but the atmosphere, food and drink were more counter meal more than Gastropub. It didn't matter as we had come for the live music that we saw advertised outside, Fiona Hanlon.  Things didn't improve too much.  She played a number of standard classics "Your Song", "True Colours", "Killing Me Softly" which were ok but not fabulous.  She was very interactive with the audience maybe a little too much as there seemed to be more talking that playing.  The provision of percussion instruments to the crowd which included small children was the final straw and His Grumpiness and I decided to leave them to it.

The next day we headed back to London.  I wanted to see Paul Kelly but he was sold out so I was determined to find that brilliant but hitherto unknown musician hidden away in a small bar in one of London's many pubs.  We went to a pub called The Gladstone Arms that seemed to fit the bill.  At The Glad we discovered a fabulous jazz singer who was accompanied by a guitarist and trumpet player.  With a London style Gin and Tonic in hand and my best boy, His Grumpiness, drinking whisky and water by my side in a bar south of the Thames I discovered something new and exciting.  This is what I had been searching for.  The pub was full of Brit's of West Indian descent and the place was rocking.  Rikette's version of Marley's "Redemption Song" had the whole bar singing.  If you find yourself in London I would highly recommend a visit to The Glad on the corner of Sanctuary Street with its Anglo-Indian food and great entertainment.

Check out Rikette's lovely voice here in a clip of one of her rehearsals.

The following evening we went back to Shakespeare's to Globe Theatre but this time to see an original play rather than a Shakespearen classic.  The play in question was Boudicca and it was fantastic.  We went to a night showing and the atmosphere as the sun set and the darkness took over in Boudicca's Roman England was thrilling.  The highlight was the cast's performance of The Clash's "London Calling".  I felt as though I wanted to jump down and take on those nasty Roman's.  A play to stir the passions - Shakespeare would have been thrilled.

It was time though to go in search of entertainment a little less Anglo.  Next stop the Scandinavia and Finland.  Finland is known for its metal music but I'm not sure what else I might expect to find.

Arts Patronage in the North Atlantic

How does one go about describing the ocean cruising experience?  It is a bit like a retirement village on the ocean with booze.  Our cruise of the North Atlantic Ocean out of Edinburgh was filled with friendly and enthusiastic 70, 80 and 90 year old Scots.  Can these guys party and put away the scotch!   Cruises are also prime places to catch a live act even if the entertainment is generally geared toward an older audience.

Sam - His piano was really good but his singing not so much.  Each night before dinner there was a sing-a-long which featured a cheesy set of songs handed picked for the oldies.  It was the worst entertainment on the cruise but became somehow nostalgic by the end and has become a fond memories and a talking point.

Dave - This South African was a fantastic guitar playing and a good singer with good use of loop recording.  His songs were a song a little more modern than the previous act but still pretty staid.  For example when we were leaving Reykjavik he predictably played "We are Sailing", he had disturbing penchant for Ed Sheeran songs and on the 20th anniversary of Diana's death he played "Goodbye England's Rose".  Despite this he became one of my favourites.  A really down to earth guy with an obvious love for music.  On the final evening he cut loose a little and played a few originals that had a decidedly African flavour.  The highlight was his dedication to Nelson Mandela. His album would be well worth a listen.  The ordinary covers selection in his earlier sets and the show for the older audience discuised his true talent.  It took me a while to realise but his music was something a little different and somewhat exotic to these Australian ears.  Dave's storytelling through his music is what this arts patron was looking for.

Jack - Guitar playing started with Pink Floyd inspired number with a touch of Mark Knopfler. First person I have seen under 30 in a while. instrumental numbers. as the volcanic mountains of Iceland faded into the distance in a land of eternal light.  As a started my third cocktail I began to lose myself in the guitar stylings of the young man in front of me. I felt though his reluctance to really go for those sweet notes that would be too out there for this crowd.  Just a nod to those notes to let me know that they were there but he was going to save them for another more intimate time. I guess the sangrias were really good.

Alice - Lovely singer of jazz and blues. It occurred to me whilst I was sitting in the bar with a sangria looking out at the grey North Atlantic listening to Alice that there are worse ways to spend an afternoon.  I'm not sure that His Grumpiness agreed.  He went off in search of a decent coffee.

Greenland Folk music - The vocals and drums seems strange and so out of context.  The singing include bizarre vocalisations that sounded more like what you might hear at the end of an intimate encounter in the boudoir than singing.  Once my ear got used to the singing, though, you could imagine cold nights sitting around a fire sharing these songs.  I'm sure that they tell of the great hero sagas and of the magical times gone before.  It was kind of romantic to catch a glimpse into this world.

Ronald - He was a skilled pianist who gave us tunes like "Sandman" and "Crazy".  This music was entirely appropriate for the quiet Observatory Bar but there is something otherworldly about enjoying gin and tonic, watching icebergs float by, keeping an eye out for whales and listening to Arthur's Theme being banged out on the piano.  Ah cruising life.

Jack - This red headed singer with plaid pants and a penchant for show tunes was easily the best singer I heard on the boat. He had a deep voice with a good range and a great technician. He like songs with a story, indeed, he was prone a chat. His set featured Neil diamond etc comedy Elvis singalong are you lonesome tonight Elton your song, Lady Gaga Edge of Glory one enchanted evening from South Pacific was best of set. not sure about his Van Morrison though.

Staple Hill Duo guitar young fella and blonde. Jolene, original better than cover, good harmonies. Paul Simon Diamonds on the soles of her shoes. Country vibe. once I got used to her staccato phrasing and unusual vowel pronunciation. best singer on boat

Andy Eastwood - The King of String.  Andy played along with the Black Watch Orchestra who were very tight. This show was full of double entendre comedy and vaudevillian songs such as George Formby's "Cleaning windows".   The King played a varity of stringed instruments but as always the banjo uke was my favourite.  Just in case the show wasn't cheesey enough the finale featured a number of British military and wartime songs.  Imagine if you will a boatload of drunken 70 year olds singing at the top of there voices.  However, I really enjoyed this show for it's nostalgic value.  It was like watching BBC television shows like "The Two Ronnies" when I was a kid.  Unfunny and funny all at the same time. When I asked His Grumpiness how he felt about The King he said that he was torn between wanting to clap him and punch him the face.  It was a bit like that.

Classical Afternoon Concert - Patricia Cullen (piano) and Mandy Griffin (mezzo soprano). The show featured some pretty good Rachmaninoff and some accomplished arias from "Carmen".  Both of these ladies were decent technicians but lacked that special something that makes you forget that you are listening to musical notes rather than a story told by the composer.

While there is a plethora of live entertainment, and that is without even taking into consideration karaoke and guest talent shows, I don't think that cruising is the holiday for me.  However, I recently saw advertised a cruise of the Bahamas out of Florida that featured my very favourite Celtic punk band Flogging Molly.  This seems like a party boat that would be more to my tastes.

Land of Shakespeare and Burns

After our musical journey through the USA we headed to the land of Shakespeare. His Grumpiness felt that we should take in a show at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London. King Lear was on offer so we hired some cushions and ventured along. We went to a matinee and were glad of our shaded seats as those sitting and standing in the sun must have found it pretty uncomfortable. King Lear is not one of my favourite Shakespearean plays, I would sooner see Taming of the Shrew or Romeo and Juliet, however, King Lear has the best insults.

"A knave; a rascal; an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave; a lily-livered, action-taking knave, a whoreson, glass-gazing, super-serviceable finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd, in way of good service, and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pandar, and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch: one whom I will beat into clamorous whining, if thou deniest the least syllable of thy addition."

King Lear and Edgar were well played but there was some suspect acting from some of the other players.  Even though I didn't love this play the experience of sitting in a replica of The Globe and seeing any Shakespeare was fantastic and I would heartily recommend to all.

Later in the evening His Grumpiness and I were fortunate enough to be sitting in a bar outside our hotel in Leicester Square drinking Gin and Tonics when a busker started up.  He played many of the old British classics John Lennon, Led Zepplin and as the night drew in and the lights of the square came on it occurred to me that I've had worse days.

What typical arts experience could we embark on next?  A less English affair maybe.  Someplace away from the hustle and bustle of London.  We decided to head off to Scotland to have a day or two of relaxation and discover what cultural experiences await us there.  We headed to the southern highland town of Crieff.  It just so happened that the annual Crieff Highland Gathering was on.  A cultural affair fit for a Patron of the Arts if ever I have seen one.

As we arrived we could hear a band playing.  Not in your normal Brit rock band but "Pipepop".  The band, "The Rollin' Drones", (I'm not kidding) featured banjo and piano alongside bagpipes and Scottish drumming. I don't think I have heard George Michael's "Faith" Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" or Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama"done it quite the same way before.  But possibly  Mark Ronson's "Uptwon Funk" was the highlight.  You would think that this would be very bad but it was quite groovy and inclined one to dance.

The next band up was "Tide Lines".  A band in the "Bagrock" genre (again, not kidding).  Their music is influence by West Highland traditional music with driving guitars and drums thrown in for good measure.  His Grumpiness declared that the music was too Scots for him.  I think that they would be pleased with that well considered critique!

There were lots of pipe and drum band competing for the Crieff Highland title of best band and I don't think I ever heard so many versions of "Scotland the Brave" and "Amazing Grace" with the occasional "Scottish Soldier" thrown in.  The band highlight was the Japanese Ground Self Defence Band complete with Samurai warrior, singer in traditional dress and drums.

Along side the athletics and cycling events, tug o' war, caber tossing and hammer throwing it made for quite a day of cultural experience.  Just fabulous.  Maybe traditional music of the folk is the way to go.  Where to next?  Maybe the far North Atlantic to find people untouched by our modern society.  Greenland here we come.

New York State of Mind

In New York, His Grumpiness chose to stay at The Roxy in Tribeca. In the basement of this Art Deco style hotel was a jazz club called The Django. It had vaulted ceilings, small candlelit tables and had a speakeasy feel to it. We drank pink Gin based cocktail whilst listening to trad jazz guitar and trumpet. It was very very cool, shell footlights, spinning mirror chandelier and heavy red velvet curtains added to it's retro feel.

First up was Pascuale. He was mellow and a good way to start the evening off. The came Claffy, Dave and Rodney were cool beyond cool. Driving and groovy with piano, double bass and drums - fantastic. Grammy nominated David Kikoski was unbelievable on the piano and the best I have ever heard live. I couldn't believe our luck in finding this venue.

Then came the jam Session with about 20 or so musicians looking for an opportunity to play and they were fantastic especially the trumpeter Willie Jones the Third. This was a bar for musicians and it made me feel like a very cool Patron of the Arts drinking side by side with some of the best musicians I have ever heard.

I found New York to be just too big to explore properly. Next trip I will pick a neighbourhood and explore all the restaurants and bars in that looking for hidden gems. His Grumpiness said the seeing a sewer rat was the best thing about New York. Well, in his defence, it was a pretty big rat.

The USA does my head in.  Off to Europe to find me some Brit pop and Euro electronica.  Maybe a move away from the musical arts and a focus on the dramatic arts.  Where better than the land of Shakespeare?  Next stop London.

Vegas Baby!

Las Vegas - where do you start.

If you are going to dedicate your time to seeing as many live acts as you can then surely you have to go to the very home of live acts, Las Vegas.  Vegas is just as you would expect it to be, brash and loud, overtly encouraging you to party both day and night.  In fact, these terms become meaningless as most services are available 24/7.  The only thing is the heat.  It reaches in excess of 40 degrees during the day which makes it difficult to move away from either air-conditioned bars or the pool.  Tough!

The first act His Grumpiness and I, along with my WA brother and my sister-in-law, nephew and niece, went to see in Vegas was James Blunt at the enormous T-Mobile Arena.  I don't usually like big arenas but there is something magical about that many people singing the same song all at once.  James Blunt is probably my first choice in terms of music but my brother promised to keep the beers coming.  It turns out that James Blunt is a great performer.  He is hilariously funny (check out his twitter feed) and professional as they come.  His best know song 'Your Beautiful' which I didn't think I wanted to hear was sweet and funny and I found a new appreciation for it.

However, James was just the warmup act.  The galactically popular Ed Sheeran was the main man.  I am not a huge fan but I figured that I should go to at least one big arena show in my quest to become a Patron of the Arts.  It doesn't get any bigger tha Ed in Vegas.  Besides the beers were still rolling in, thanks Bro.  Ed started with 'Castle on the Hill' which really had the crowd up and about.  During his act James Blunt wondered why did he spends so much on a band when he could used a loop machine.like Ed.  Ed really does use it to it's best advantage - no backup musicians for him.  The beers kept rolling and the performance went one and I found myself enjoying the show.  The highlight for me (other the the tweeny screaming) was Ed's version of Nina Simones's 'Feeling Good'.
Nina Simone cover feeling good

During this massive show it occurred to me that I was a long way from watching the "Fox and Firkin" at The Homestead in Hobart.  I think I probably preferred F 'n' F.  Is a trip to Vegas really worth it when I can stay at home and enjoy myself just as much.  That was until His Grumpiness and I went to see our next live act.  We were scheduled to see The Chainsmokers in a Vegas nightclub to celebrate my sister's birthday.  I was expecting this to be unlike anything I had ever experienced but the beers from the James & Ed show culminated in an almighty hangover which meant I had to forgo that pleasure - or possibly it was all the gin and tonics after the show.  As my sister says Vegas bit me.  What act could possibly top the massive Ed Sheeran at T-Mobile Arena - The Who at Caesars Palace.  Does it get any bigger than Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend?

The show started off a little slow i guess it takes a little while to warm up when you're in your seventies.  Then they played 'You Better, You Bet', 'Who are you' and songs from 'Quadraphenia' and the show really started moving.  Pete Townshend brought out his famous windmill guitar moves and the crowd went off.

Roger Daltrey's scream in 'Won't Get Fooled Again", mostly known from CSI Miami, was spine-tingling. Despite his age his vocal range is still fabulous. However, the highlight was the musicianship of Peter Townshend possibly best guitarist I have ever seen.  Ian Moss is a pretty impressive guitarist but this was something different.  The songs seem to come from somewhere within, somewhere other worldly.  The riffs and melodies go in unexpected directions that after they are played seems obvious but unimaginable before.  They finished with 'Pinball Wizard' and 'Baba O'Riley' which was soul consuming and life-changing.  I shall never see this like again.

Needless to say this was the highlight of my journey so far I don't think that The Who in Las Vegas can be topped but there is more to patronage than world famous bands in world famous venues.  It is the discovery of the little guy in a dark corner of the world that no-one else knows exists.  I continue my search.  Next stop New York, New York - so good they named it twice.