a bit of culture, a bit of music
This weekend just gone was a long weekend here in Queensland, which is always a good thing. So I got up to my usual mischief, but over 3 nights instead of the usual 2.
Friday
I went to see The Drowning Bride at La Boite Theatre with the Nymph, the Teacher and the Teacher's friend. It was an interesting story - set partially in the USA in the modern day and partially in Eastern Europe during WWII, it's about guilt and betrayal and Nazi collaboration and such things. It was very confronting, but very enjoyable. The acting was superb, the set was minimal, but multi-purpose, the story was intricate and interesting. We all had a good night.
Saturday
I headed off to see Chris Pickering's CD launch at the Troubadour. The first support was Jo Lack on violin who also played in Chris' band. She's certainly talented and her songs were interesting without being particularly catchy. I enjoyed her set, but it didn't make me sit up and take notice.
Next up was Wesley Davidson, who was my real reason for going to this gig. I've seen him play a number of times before, but this was the first time I'd seen him play without a band. All on his ownsome, with just a guitar and some foot-tamborine as accompaniment, he still impressed. I prefer the sets with his full band, since he sounds more folky on his own and more pop/folk with the band, but that's just me. He played a nice set which I'm pretty sure included all 4 songs from his little home-burnt EP, and I thought I'd got my $8 worth.
And finally, there was Chris Pickering. I've seen him play with The Boat People before, but not solo. I would describe his style as country/pop on some songs and folk/pop on others - naturally, I prefered the folk/pop ones. He had a good band behind him with Jo Lack on violin, the drummer from speedstar, and another guy on guitar (other than Chris, who also played guitar). He has a really sweet voice, which sometimes went a little off-tune, but he tended to gloss over that well. I was impressed enough to buy his CD and have been listening to it ever since.
Sunday
I headed off to see Tamas Wells at the Troubadour - the people at the Troub are going to start thinking that I'm stalking them soon!
The first support were The Meadows. They played a nice set and I'm more impressed by these guys every time I see them. The last song they played had so many guests up on stage, they sounded more like The Gin Club than speedstar (who I usually compare them to). I was glad that I got there early to hear them. I already have their EP.
For some reason, Tamas Wells were on next, rather than Tonjip, who were the 2nd support. I didn't really mind, other than that I was very disappointed in the crowd during their set - mainly the friends of The Meadows who were sitting down the front and having very loud and raucous conversations during Tamas Wells' quiet pop set. It was the rudest crowd I've ever come across at The Troubadour and I can't help thinking that the Troub's smoking policy* has something to do with it. Anyway, despite the fact that I couldn't always hear them properly, they did do a lovely set. I was in heaven. I really do love these guys - they play beautiful music and they play it well. The only other downer was that it seemed to be a very short set.
Last band of the night was Tonjip. They weren't bad, but they didn't exactly blow me away. Their music has lots of energy, but I didn't find it to be particularly musical, particularly as their songs were a bit same-y. They were a very unusual support for Tamas Wells, but I think were the band that supported Tamas Wells throughout their Queensland tour. The Meadows certainly seemed to fit the mood better.
In many ways, I wish that Tonjip had been on before Tamas Wells - partially because a lot of the friends of The Meadows left during Tonjip's set, and they might have left earlier and not disturbed Tamas Wells' set if Tamas Wells had been on last, but also because I think Tamas Wells would have been a nicer note to end the night on. I would have left on a high, rather than feeling bored halfway through Tonjip's set and leaving.
* They have the smoking area in the stage half of the venue and the non-smoking area in the bar half of the venue, which just seems backwards to me. People move forward into the stage area just to smoke, when they have no interest in the band. I think that if someone who wants to listen to the band really wants to smoke, they will happily move to another area. But making people who have no interest in the band move into the stage area to smoke is just silly, because they will (and do) have no respect for whoever is on the stage or the people who are listening to them.
Monday
I didn't go out on Monday, but I did have lunch with a friend and then headed over to TBF and TBFH's place and kicked the footy around with them while their bub toddled around and tried to run (he fell over every time ;o)).
Listening to: Chris Pickering - Hard to Find single
Friday
I went to see The Drowning Bride at La Boite Theatre with the Nymph, the Teacher and the Teacher's friend. It was an interesting story - set partially in the USA in the modern day and partially in Eastern Europe during WWII, it's about guilt and betrayal and Nazi collaboration and such things. It was very confronting, but very enjoyable. The acting was superb, the set was minimal, but multi-purpose, the story was intricate and interesting. We all had a good night.
Saturday
I headed off to see Chris Pickering's CD launch at the Troubadour. The first support was Jo Lack on violin who also played in Chris' band. She's certainly talented and her songs were interesting without being particularly catchy. I enjoyed her set, but it didn't make me sit up and take notice.
Next up was Wesley Davidson, who was my real reason for going to this gig. I've seen him play a number of times before, but this was the first time I'd seen him play without a band. All on his ownsome, with just a guitar and some foot-tamborine as accompaniment, he still impressed. I prefer the sets with his full band, since he sounds more folky on his own and more pop/folk with the band, but that's just me. He played a nice set which I'm pretty sure included all 4 songs from his little home-burnt EP, and I thought I'd got my $8 worth.
And finally, there was Chris Pickering. I've seen him play with The Boat People before, but not solo. I would describe his style as country/pop on some songs and folk/pop on others - naturally, I prefered the folk/pop ones. He had a good band behind him with Jo Lack on violin, the drummer from speedstar, and another guy on guitar (other than Chris, who also played guitar). He has a really sweet voice, which sometimes went a little off-tune, but he tended to gloss over that well. I was impressed enough to buy his CD and have been listening to it ever since.
Sunday
I headed off to see Tamas Wells at the Troubadour - the people at the Troub are going to start thinking that I'm stalking them soon!
The first support were The Meadows. They played a nice set and I'm more impressed by these guys every time I see them. The last song they played had so many guests up on stage, they sounded more like The Gin Club than speedstar (who I usually compare them to). I was glad that I got there early to hear them. I already have their EP.
For some reason, Tamas Wells were on next, rather than Tonjip, who were the 2nd support. I didn't really mind, other than that I was very disappointed in the crowd during their set - mainly the friends of The Meadows who were sitting down the front and having very loud and raucous conversations during Tamas Wells' quiet pop set. It was the rudest crowd I've ever come across at The Troubadour and I can't help thinking that the Troub's smoking policy* has something to do with it. Anyway, despite the fact that I couldn't always hear them properly, they did do a lovely set. I was in heaven. I really do love these guys - they play beautiful music and they play it well. The only other downer was that it seemed to be a very short set.
Last band of the night was Tonjip. They weren't bad, but they didn't exactly blow me away. Their music has lots of energy, but I didn't find it to be particularly musical, particularly as their songs were a bit same-y. They were a very unusual support for Tamas Wells, but I think were the band that supported Tamas Wells throughout their Queensland tour. The Meadows certainly seemed to fit the mood better.
In many ways, I wish that Tonjip had been on before Tamas Wells - partially because a lot of the friends of The Meadows left during Tonjip's set, and they might have left earlier and not disturbed Tamas Wells' set if Tamas Wells had been on last, but also because I think Tamas Wells would have been a nicer note to end the night on. I would have left on a high, rather than feeling bored halfway through Tonjip's set and leaving.
* They have the smoking area in the stage half of the venue and the non-smoking area in the bar half of the venue, which just seems backwards to me. People move forward into the stage area just to smoke, when they have no interest in the band. I think that if someone who wants to listen to the band really wants to smoke, they will happily move to another area. But making people who have no interest in the band move into the stage area to smoke is just silly, because they will (and do) have no respect for whoever is on the stage or the people who are listening to them.
Monday
I didn't go out on Monday, but I did have lunch with a friend and then headed over to TBF and TBFH's place and kicked the footy around with them while their bub toddled around and tried to run (he fell over every time ;o)).
Listening to: Chris Pickering - Hard to Find single
posted by OLS |
Tuesday, June 14, 2005 | 5:10 pm
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