Sans Parents- The Dead End EP Tour

To celebrate the release of their debut EP The Dead End, Brisbane/Sydney band Sans Parents (well half of the band) came down to play their first ever Melbourne show at The Retreat Hotel front bar in Brunswick tonight. Due to me watching the AFL footy finals (Go Doggies!) I only managed to catch the last song of opening act Louis Spoils' set.

Mary and David joined me before Sans Parents began to play. The half of the band that made the trip down were lead vocalists Alex Bennison on electric guitar and Kane Mazlin (ex-Hungry Kids of Hungary) on keyboards. They joked that the other two band members were actually their parents and they had no idea where they were. The guys played songs off their EP as well as a few other tracks. I enjoyed the power pop of "Can't Stop Moving," "Maybe The World's Trying To Tell Me Something.." and "Dead End." In a week where Mary and I have been battling for pre-sale tickets to the upcoming Sydney Opera House encore shows, it was nice to hear a cover of Crowded House's "It's Only Natural." The show was fun and informal, and Alex switched out guitars to play one he just bought for the last song of the night, "Loose People." It was great to get the opportunity to see Sans Parents live for the first time, and I look forward to them coming back with the full band next time.

Here's the video for "Dead End"

Kris Schroeder- Retreat Hotel Residency Week 2

In Kris Schroeder's seeming quest to play at every venue in Brunswick he has organised a November residency at the Retreat Hotel on Wednesday nights.  This was the second week, and opening up proceedings was Louis Spoils (aka Jake Rush).  Mary and I arrived toward the end of his set and got to hear the last few songs he played, which sounded good.

It was a relaxed and casual Kris in shorts and sandals this week as he was plugged in on a borrowed electric guitar for his set.  Starting with "All Or Nothing" he played a mix of old and new tracks by The Basics.  I am still really loving the new stuff: "What Ever Happened To The Working Class," "To Think Of You" and "Tunaomba Saidia," which features on the newly released EP The Lucky Country.  An audience request for "Feels Like Love" was quite amusing as Kris alternated between playing the guitar and bass parts of the song to try and get through it.  He also played the solo tracks "I Don't Feel Safe" (Mary's favorite) and "Walk Beside White."  In addition, there were a few covers sprinkled throughout the set, including Yusuf Islam's (Cat Stevens) "Father and Son" and songs by guys named Neil: Neil Young's "After The Gold Rush" and "Out On The Weekend," and Neil Finn/Crowded House's "Not The Girl You Think You Are" and "Four Seasons In One Day," which closed the evening.  Kris is working on some Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald material for next week (we got a snippet of "What A Fool Believes") so that should be reason enough to come along.

Here's a video shot at Kris' Union Hotel gig a couple weeks ago of him singing "Tunaomba Saidia"

The Basics- Leftover Ingredients Tour

The past three nights have been a bit of a Basics marathon as I attended all three of their sold out Melbourne shows.  I figured since they haven't played together live over the past three years that I was making up for lost time.  Besides, no Basics show is ever the same so you can expect the unexpected to happen each night (a bit similar to Crowded House in that respect).

The opening act was the wonderful Louis Spoils (aka Jake Rush) who played solo on electric guitar.  While his set was short I really enjoyed it as he has a rich tone to his voice and was quite funny with his explanations about the inspiration behind each song.  Next up was the 6 piece band Hoy, which featured Mr Tim Heath on bass.  They had a bit of a 1970s folk rock vibe to them.

As for The Basics, here is what happened at each show:

September 27

Mary and I met up at the Northcote Social Club for dinner before the show and got a high five from Kris when he walked past (I think high fives are his new thing).  Tash joined us by the time the boys hit the stage, and it was a very strong start to the set with "So Hard For You" and "The No. 1 Cause of Death Amongst Youth Today."  The show was being filmed, which Wally admitted was making him a bit self-conscious.  The set list featured earlier material such as "She's Gonna B. Late," "Lovin' Man," "Hey C'mon!" and "Yeah, Yeah" complete with some exceptional choreographed dance moves by Kris and Tim.  Other highlights were "Besame Mucho," "Second Best," the lovely harmonies on "Hey Rain," and two new songs: "To Think Of You" and "The Lucky Country," which is a blistering commentary on Australian politics at the moment.

After doing shots backstage before coming back on for the encore we were treated to a couple Creedence Clearwater Revival covers of "Long As I Can See the Light" and "Proud Mary" before they finished with "Call It Rhythm and Blues."  Poor Wally had all sorts of trouble with his drum kit throughout the night as it kept moving around on him and he even lost the kick pedal in the bass drum mid-song.  By the end he had had enough and lightly threw off the cymbal that kept spinning on him and knocked over its stand in the most rock move I've ever seen him do.

September 28

Before the show Ruth, Danny and I had dinner at Los Hermanos Mexican Taqueria in Brunswick, which was quite yummy.  It's such a relief to have another good Mexican place to eat at (and so close to home).  We grabbed dessert at Delphi Continental Cakes on High Street before heading into the Northcote Social Club.

The Basics started their set with the one-two punch of "Hey There!" and "Just Hold On."  There was great energy from the boys right from the start as it was Grand Final night and Tim's team Hawthorn had won in the afternoon.  The set list was switched around a lot from the previous evening.  They played "Money (Gimme, Gimme)," "Feels Like Love," "Home Again," and "What Do You See In Me?"  We were also treated to more new songs: "The Lucky Country," "To Think Of You," "Roundabout" and "Come Back" (not entirely sure on some of those titles).  There were also lots of covers throughout the evening, including Ryan Adams' "Shakedown on 9th Street," and Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin'" with AC/DC's "Jailbreak" mixed in.

September 29

The last Basics show was at the Corner Hotel, a venue they haven't played at in years.  The set list was pretty similar to the previous night, but there were some additional gems in there that hadn't been played on the other nights, including "My Baby" and "All or Nothing" with Kris solo on acoustic guitar (and a silent venue listening along).  This show was pretty epic and got more rockin' as the night wore on with a cover of The Kinks "All Day and All of the Night," and an encore that featured "Rattle My Chain," Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love," the "Gimme Some Lovin'/Jailbreak'" medley and finished with "Call It Rhythm and Blues."

It was great to see the boys playing live over several nights.  They were very gracious with fans after each of the shows as they hung out at the merch desk to chat with people, sign albums and take pictures.  I hope the new songs that are emerging will eventually get recorded, especially "The Lucky Country" which I think should be released as a single because Australia needs a good protest song right now.

Here is a live version of "To Think of You" from 3RRR minus Wally, but featuring some lovely guitar work by Tim: