It's the beginning of November, which means it is also the start of another National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo). This will be my sixth year participating in trying to write something for each day in November. Some years I have just winged it, while other years I have done a theme for my posts (see Fave Albums and the Wear My Wardrobe challenge).
Since last month was the ten year anniversary of my move to Australia, I thought it might be good for this NaBloPoMo to write about my observations as an expat. I plan to cover a range of topics about my adopted homeland, and hopefully I won't offend anyone in the process! The last thing I need is the Australian Border Force stripping me of my dual citizenship and deporting me back to America.
Dan Kelly has been out on the road in support of his fantastic new album Leisure Panic! and tonight was the last show of the tour at The Gasometer Hotel. Ben Ely was the opening act, doing a solo set on acoustic guitar. He played songs off his new solo album Goodbye Machine as well as a couple Regurgitator tracks. Next up was Jess Ribeiro and her band, who played an alt-country tinged set.
The stage was decorated with LED rope lights before Dan took the stage with his Dream Band, who were all dressed in sporty gear with the girls wearing tennis outfits and the boys in cycling lycra (I assume for Halloween). The set list featured many tracks from Leisure Panic! with its stories of adventure and humorous lyrics. Highlights were "Baby Bonus," "Creme De La Creme De La Creme," "Never Stop The Rot," "Gold Coast Man," and the epic transcendental track "On The Run," which was absolutely brilliant. We also were treated to a few older songs with "The Catholic Leader," "Bindi Irwin Apocalypse Jam" and "Drunk On Election Night," which Dan played solo as an encore to finish off the night. It was such an entertaining evening and great to get to see Dan play in such an intimate setting.
Here's the hilarious video for "Never Stop The Rot"
Sometimes you just need a little sweet treat, and one of the best places to go to in the Melbourne CBD is T by LuxBite. Like the LuxBite cafe in South Yarra, they have macarons and cakes, but the added bonus is their cute little tarts. I sampled two of them this afternoon: Kuma the bear and the Halloween themed Jack Skellington.
Kuma contains cookie, Mork hot chocolate, strawberry, banana, white chocolate milkshake mousse, caramel, and chocolate tart.
Jack Skellington is a chocolate tart filled with white sesame caramel, sour cherry jelly and black sesame panna cotta, topped with hazelnut and coffee mousse and white chocolate glaze.
Needless to say both them were very tasty! I look forward to heading back to the shop to try even more of the assorted tarts on offer.
The 2015 A-League season has just begun and tonight was the derby game between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City FC at Etihad Stadium. Justin was kind enough to invite me along once again this year, and he has amazing seats in the center close to the field. The atmosphere was fantastic as usual with all the chanting and singing in the north and south ends, especially as it was the first home game for Victory this season. I was looking forward to a bunch of flares being lit like last year, but there were only two throughout the whole match and those came from the Melbourne City FC corner of the ground.
The game itself was quite entertaining. It was a pretty even match, and Victory went into halftime with a 1-0 lead off an own goal, and then scored their second a bit over 10 minutes into the second half. Everything was looking good, but then Melbourne City came back and scored two goals within 3 minutes to tie things up 2-2. It seemed like the game would end in a draw but Besart Berisha scored a goal in the 90th minute and Victory won the match 3-2. It was a very exciting finish, but would have been devastating for Melbourne City supporters.
The Basics recently released their fourth studio album The Age Of Entitlement, and with Wally back briefly from New York they have hit the road for an extensive tour of Australia. For the past two nights they played at the Foxtel Festival Hub as part of the Melbourne Festival. These shows were in the round like their Tinder Knight gig in February. The opening act both nights was Indigenous singer-songwriter Benny Walker, who played a lovely solo set of his songs on acoustic guitar.
The boys came out onto the stage in the middle of the room wearing their brand new suits for this tour. Both nights opened with the one-two punch of "Whatever Happened To The Working Class" and "A Coward's Prayer." The songs off of The Age Of Entitlement were the focus of the setlist, with pretty much every song getting an airing on one or both nights. The most political tracks "Tunaomba Saidia," "Time Poor" and "The Lucky Country" still hold true even with the change of leadership nationally. There was the heartache of the songs "To Think Of You," "Every Part Of Me" and "Feels Like Love." "Ashleigh Wakes" and "Roundabout" added some fun to the setlist, especially when Wally broke his brushes during the latter mid-song on the first night. We also got some classic Basics tracks with "I Don't Need Another," "With This Ship," "Rattle My Chain," and the beautiful harmonies of "Hey Rain!" They even played the raucous b-side "My Old Mate" finish off night one.
One of the most unpredictable aspects of any Basics shows is what covers will get played, especially with these in the round shows where people are encouraged to bring the lyrics and chords of songs for the boys to play. My attempt to get them to do Journey's "Lights" on the first night failed miserably as they didn't know the song (I guess it's just the SF Bay Area that really seems to know it as we sing it at the baseball?). Someone did shout out for "Maybe I'm Amazed" by Paul McCartney and Wally took on the challenge and slayed it.
People has more success on night two as the boys did a hilarious version of John Farnham's "Two Strong Hearts" (with a snippet of Jimi Hendrix's "All Along The Watchtower" in the middle) and "Message To My Girl" by Split Enz. Earlier in the evening they played a fantastic version of another Enz track "One Step Ahead" with Kris taking a turn on drums while Wally was at the piano. On the first night they did Crowded House's "Not The Girl You Think You Are."
Both nights featured covers of The Everly Brothers' "Love Hurts" and David Bowie's "As The World Falls Down" from the 1980s movie Labyrinth. On the second night we were treated to two very special moments. One was the anti-war song "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" by Eric Bogle, which describes the experience of war from the point of view of a man fighting in Gallipoli during World War I. Then Wally did the most beautiful and heartfelt version of Fleetwood Mac's "Songbird" solo on the piano. As former keyboardist Dave Bramble was in the crowd they invited him up to play along on Neil Young's "Old Man" (with Kris changing the lyrics to reflect his age of 34).
It was a wonderful opportunity to get to see The Basics play together again over two nights in such an intimate setting. With them hinting about an indefinite hiatus after this tour, who knows how long it will be until the next big outing around Australia? If you get the chance to see them live over the next couple of weeks don't miss out (and there will be one last hurrah in Melbourne on Cup Eve at the Gasometer Hotel).
Here's the video for the current single "A Coward's Prayer"
The David Bowie is exhibition has been all around the world and is currently on at ACMI in Melbourne until 1 November. The exhibition is a comprehensive look at David Bowie's career across five decades and the things that have influenced him. There are numerous costumes, handwritten lyrics, stage set designs, album artwork, photos, videos, and movie clips taken from the Bowie archives. The exhibition is also unique in its use of headphones and guidePORT so that the sound played matches where you are standing in the exhibition.
Bowie is such a visual artist, and it was great to learn about the various influences on him and how it translated into a certain persona for each album. Seeing his costumes up close and being able to watch him wearing them in those iconic clips was a fantastic opportunity. One of the things I found most fascinating was his use of the Verbasizer software program to write song lyrics, which automated the process of cutting out words and phrases on paper and randomly putting them together. At the end of the exhibition you remove the headphones and get to watch concert footage beamed onto a large wall. These are the final weeks, so if you are in Melbourne be sure to get to ACMI to check it out.
Your boys The Stiffys launched their new EP Art Rock One tonight at The Tote. As Mary and I were walking down the street toward the venue we could hear the first band of the night Tankerville playing. They were LOUD and we caught the last couple songs of their set. Next up was two piece hard rock band Dr. Colossus, who play songs themed around The Simpsons. It was excellent and I particularly liked "Stupid Sexy Flanders."
The Stiffys emerged onto the stage in their space suits and with guitarist Dev in tow. They launched the set with their latest single "King Of The Internet." The boys were in good spirits and high fived each other after each song. They didn't have any Passion Pop but instead were drinking from bottles of white wine. We got to hear all the songs off of Art Rock One, with "Kick Another Flip," "Kissy Kissy" and "Space Blog" being my favorites.
The boys also played some older tracks, including "Champagne," "Ranger Stacey," "Call And Response Song" and "Erection! Everybody!" Mary and I were singing along, and there is no other gig where you would get away with shouting out erection or stiffys repeatedly. For "Boogie Boarding" there were two people who rode the boogie board across the crowd, and then Jason finished the song playing while standing on the board as the crowd held him up. It was a very art rock moment. We were encouraged to call out for an encore, and they obliged by playing "I'm Really Good At Sex Because I'm Always Doing It" to finish off the set. It was another GREAT JOB by The Stiffys.
Luna made some of the dreamiest indie rock music of the 1990s and early 2000s, so I was very excited to learn that after 10 years apart they decided to reunite for a tour. Belinda joined me for tonight's sold out show at the Northcote Social Club, which looks great after its recent refurbishment. The opening act was Melbourne band The Sand Pebbles, who sounded good and had people in the crowd singing along to their songs.
Although I was a big fan of Luna when they were still together, this was my first time getting to see them play live. The set list contained songs from throughout their career, with the majority of tracks coming from their mid-1990s releases Bewitched, Penthouse and Pup Tent. It was great to hear "California (All The Way)," "Chinatown," "Sideshow By The Seashore," "23 Minutes In Brussels," "Tracy I Love You" and "Speedbumps." The band were just amazing and there were some really transcendent moments, with the absolute highlight of the night being "Friendly Advice" and Dean Wareham's fantastic guitar solo. They really dipped into the back catalogue for the last song of the night "Indian Summer," which was off the Slide EP. This was such a great evening and the whole show left my 1990s heart full of joy.
If you ever hear the phrase "It's on" in Australia it can mean only one thing - a leadership spill. When I was studying here in 1996 John Howard became Prime Minister, and was still in power when I migrated back nearly 10 years ago. However, since 2007 there have been 5 leadership changes, including last night when Malcolm Turnbull challenged Tony Abbott for the leadership of the Liberal Party and won 54-44.
Leadership spills are becoming a national pastime, and considering Abbott's unpopularity it wasn't that big of a surprise. Social media kicked in to mark Abbott's demise even before the party room vote with the inspired #PutYourOnionsOut (in honor of him inexplicably eating a raw onion at a farm visit in Tasmania).
Turnbull is more libertarian and socially progressive than Abbott, being for marriage equality, believing in climate change, and having previously led the Australian Republican Movement. There is a lot he could do to restore Australia's reputation internationally, but it remains to be seen how he will deal with the more conservative elements of his party.
Tonight Mary, Tash and I attended the kick off of Oh Mercy's When We Talk About Love album tour at Howler in Brunswick (I love a gig that I can walk to). The opening act was six piece band Crepes, who sounded great with their indie, jangly guitar sound. Next up was four piece Totally Mild, who had a very loose set due to DJing in the afternoon and enjoying themselves a bit too much.
Oh Mercy took to the stage and started the sold out gig with "I Don't Really Want To Know." It was good to hear some of my favorite tracks off the new album such as "Sandy," "All Roads Lead To You," "Let Me Be Him" and "Without You." There were some interesting screen projections from old movies and other sources during each song, with my favorite being the old school Collingwood footage - a brave choice considering their big loss to Richmond today. Mid-set Alex sent off the band to perform a beautiful solo version of "Lady Eucalyptus," which had the room listening silently.
We also got some songs from each of the previous releases, including "Stay Please Stay," "Keith St," "Drums" and "Lay Everything On Me." I must say that it is on these tracks in particular that I really miss Simon, Eliza and Rohan as the current arrangements really lack the nuance that they would bring knowing those songs inside and out. As is becoming tradition, there was a new cover song towards the end of the set with the band playing an impassioned version of Leonard Cohen's "One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong." The evening ended with "Deep Heat," and all in all it was a pretty straight forward show with some strong vocals by Alex.
Here's an acoustic version of "Lady Eucalyptus" from the BRAG Sound Sessions:
My last two films for the Melbourne International Film Festival were politically themed documentaries. On Monday night I saw Democrats about the creation of Zimbabwe's 2013 constitution. After the 2008 election resulted in a coalition government, representatives from Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and Tsvangirai's MDC-T party were charged with working together to create a new constitution. Shot over three years, the film follows Paul Mangwana from ZANU-PF and Douglas Mwonzora from MDC-T, the elected co-chairs of the Parliamentary Select Committee COPAC.
As they travel the country consulting with citizens about what they want in the constitution, the farcical conditions and intimidation of people by ZANU-PF was ever present as they bussed people into consultations and coached them on what to say. During the drafting process Mwonzora was arrested and put in jail for a few weeks for no reason, which delayed things at a critical juncture. The process dragged on for years and has some tense moments, but in the end members from both parties managed to work together to write the constitution, which was passed in a referendum. Unfortunately for the people of Zimbabwe, a lot of those democratic rights are still not in place as Mugabe continues to hold power.
Tonight's film was journalist Michael Ware's documentary Only The Dead about his time as a war correspondent in Iraq. Working for Time and CNN, he covered the United States' invasion of Iraq, toppling of Sadaam Hussein's regime, and subsequent descent into war with the rise of al-Qaeda and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Pieced together from footage he shot on a handheld camera over a 7 year period, it shows the absolute brutality of war from the front lines as Ware embeds with both insurgents and the US military for some significant battles in cities such as Fallujah and Ramadi. It is an honest and personal portrait of the realities of war and the effects it has on everyone involved.
We were very fortunate to have a Q&A session with Michael Ware after the film, and I really appreciated his insights, candor and at times humorous observations. When asked how he was still alive, he answered he had no idea. If you get a chance to see this film please do. It's not easy to watch but I think it is important to understand that war is not the sanitised version we see reported on tv.
I had another double header of films tonight at the Melbourne International Film Festival. First up was the coming-of-age drama The Diary Of A Teenage Girl, based on Phoebe Gloeckner's graphic novel of the same name. Set in San Francisco in 1976, it focuses on 15-year-old Minnie Goetze (Bel Powley), a high school student and aspiring artist. At the start of the film she loses her virginity to her mother Charlotte's (Kristen Wiig) boyfriend Monroe (Alexander Skarsgard). Minnie continues to have an affair with Monroe and also gets involved with other people through her sexual awakening. The film is an honest portrayal of teenage sexuality and refreshingly done in a non-judgemental way. Bel Powley is fantastic as Minnie and I also liked the animated touches throughout the film.
The other film I saw was the music documentary 808, about the Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer machine. Only 12,000 of them were produced by Roland in Japan over a 3 year period from 1980. However, the machine has had a long lasting impact on music, spawning the back beats and rhythms of many different songs from hip-hop, rap, R&B, pop and various forms of electronic and dance music. This documentary shows how various artists have utilised the 808 machine over the years and found different ways to program and expand the types of sounds you can get from it. It's amazing how much influence this one machine has had on music throughout the world.
Tonight's Melbourne International Film Festival films had a bit of a hip-hop theme. The first one was the documentary Fresh Dressed, which covers street style in NYC in the 1970s, its emergence throughout the US in the 1980s and 1990s (which coincided with the rise of hip-hop and rap music), the boom and bust of urban fashion labels, and more global expansion into style trends today. The film features interviews with musicians, fashion designers and label owners, and people who were around during those periods. It's a great chronicle and historical record of the importance of looking fresh, and the use of clothing and accessories to demonstrate status and aspiration for some in inner city communities.
The second movie I saw was the coming-of-age comedy Dope. Set in Inglewood, CA it focuses on three high school friends who are geeks and outcasts in their high school and community. They are obsessed with 1990s hip-hop and dress accordingly (after seeing Fresh Dressed their fashion was pretty on point). Malcolm (Shameik Moore) and his friends end up going to a birthday party for local drug dealer Dom (A$AP Rocky) and after a shoot out at the club, Malcolm inadvertently ends up with a gun and large amount of ecstasy in his backpack. The movie follows their adventures as they try to figure out a way to get rid of the drugs without getting killed by the people who are after them. It's a well written and acted film with some quite funny moments throughout as the geeks manage to emerge on top at the end of the day.
I've attended a couple more documentaries this week at the Melbourne International Film Festival. The first was on Monday night for Iris, about legendary New York fashion icon and interior designer Iris Apfel. Iris is instantly recognizable by her large round black glasses and unique style (particularly her use and layering of chunky accessories). The film explores the 93 year old's life and career along with her husband Carl. Her energy, work ethic and enthusiasm for fashion and design are still strong after all these years, and she is still very much in demand. It is amazing how many beautiful pieces of clothing, jewelry and furniture she has collected from around the world. The film is a lovely portrait of a truly original person and trailblazer.
Tonight's documentary was the antithesis of the life Iris has had being able to travel the world and collect things. The Wolfpack follows the Angulo family, whose nine members live in a cramped Lower East Side apartment. With an overbearing and paranoid father controlling their lives, the six brothers, one sister and mother are rarely allowed to leave and go outside. The boys were allowed to watch films though, and to keep themselves entertained would recreate their favorite movies and use everyday household objects to make their props and costumes.
Director Crystal Moselle filmed the brothers over a 5 year period as they began to venture out into the world and gain control over their lives. Having seen a 20/20 interview with them a while ago I was familiar with their story going into the film. However, it was sad to see the damage that had been done from being confined growing up and not able to socialize in the outside world. Despite all this the brothers appear to be quite sweet and supportive of each other, and it was great to watch them blossom and experience things for the first time (like going to a movie theater and Coney Island).
The Melbourne International Film Festival has begun and this year I have taken the plunge and bought myself and eMini Pass, which will get me into 10 films. This weekend I have caught three films- one comedy and two documentaries.
The Overnight is about a married couple who move from Seattle to Los Angeles with their son. Nervous about making new friends, Alex (Adam Scott) and Emily (Taylor Schilling) encounter Kurt (Jason Schwartzman) at the park when their two sons start playing together. He invites them all over to his house for dinner, and the movie covers what happens when the kids are put to bed and the two couples keep on partying. There are some funny moments throughout the film (particularly around some prosthetic appendages) and Jason Schwartzman nails the Los Angeles hipster who dabbles in a bit of everything and has too much cash to burn.
Sherpa is a documentary that shows life on Mount Everest from the Sherpa's point of view, with a focus on the 2014 climbing season where an avalanche killed 16 Sherpas. The film follows veteran Sherpa Phurba, who works for one of the main expedition companies and has submitted Everest 21 times (and would break the world record if he made it up again). It is an interesting exploration of the treatment of Sherpas by the rich Western climbers and how tensions have been rising between the two groups over the past few years as the Sherpas demand better treatment and compensation for the dangerous work they do. The cinematography is absolutely stunning, and we were fortunate enough to have the director Jennifer Peedom attend our screening (although I couldn't stick around for the Q&A).
Gayby Baby is another documentary that portrays four Australian kids around 12 years old - Gus, Ebony, Matt and Graham - and their families. Shot over a couple years you get to see the kids grow older, deal with adolescence and articulate so clearly what it's like to grow up in a household with same-sex parents. The film is also a great portrait of parenting in modern times as these families really allowed some intimate and honest moments to be captured on film by the director Maya Newell. Maya, as well as one of the families, were at the screening and did a Q&A session after the film was shown. At a time when the marriage equality debate is still going on in Australia, this is an important film for people to see.
I have been a fan of Blur since their very first single, so you can imagine my excitement when The Magic Whip got released earlier this year and they announced they would be playing live in Melbourne. Belinda and I arrived at Rod Laver Arena tonight and found a position on the floor (yay for general admission). The opening act was UK singer-songwriter Jamie T, who I thought was ok and got a good reaction from the crowd for a few of his songs.
The last time I saw Blur live was in San Francisco in 1997, so it's been a long time between gigs. When they came out onstage after the ice cream van jingles it was as if no time had passed. They started the evening with "Go Out" off the new album and then played "There's No Other Way" from their first. Damon had so much energy as he worked the stage and got the crowd going (thankfully I was just out of range for his water bottle sprays). Alex was the epitome of cool on the bass, Dave was fantastic on the drums, and Graham was his usual genius on the guitar.
The set list for the 2 hour concert spanned all their releases and was a great mix of old and new. The Magic Whip is a fantastic album and I was glad "Lonesome Street," "Ong Ong" and the magnificent "Thought I Was A Spaceman" got played. Everyone in the crowd sang along throughout the night, especially for those epic ballads like "Tender" and "This Is A Low." Graham said hi to the crowd before launching into my all time favorite
Blur track "Coffee & TV," and managed to mostly keep it together at Damon knelt in front of him and made faces while he sang.
It was the big singles though that really got the crowd jumping around - "Beetlebum," "Parklife" (where Damon invited some people up on the stage) and "Song 2" all went off. The encore started with "Stereotypes" and then everyone was seriously dancing for "Girls & Boys." I never thought "For Tomorrow" would make it in (loved that everyone shouted out the "modern life well it's rubbish" line) and then it all ended with a lovely version of "The Universal." I still can't believe I finally got to see Blur again live after all these years (hopefully it's not another 18 years until the next one).
Tonight's game at Ethiad Stadium against Port Adelaide was always going to be an interesting one from an Essendon perspective. With our shot at finals over for this year the coaches have been playing the "Baby Bombers" for the past couple weeks, which has brought some much needed excitement and energy to the team. Dyson Heppell, currently acting as captain with Jobe Watson out injured for the rest of the season, was celebrating his 100th game. In addition, we had the return of two popular former Essendon players now with Port Adelaide- Angus Monfries and Paddy Ryder, who was facing his old side for the first time.
Essendon got off to a fantastic start by scoring 6 goals in the first quarter, but unfortunately in the second we couldn't kick through the middle and had eight behinds to just 2 goals. Although we were down 8 points at halftime, we managed to come back to life in the third quarter and tie up the game heading into the final term. However, Paddy Ryder managed to kick a few goals in the fourth quarter (despite boos from the crowd every time he touched the ball throughout the game) and although we got on a couple runs and clawed the score back to be in touch, Port managed to kick away and win by 13 points. It was a disappointing loss due to some questionable umpire calls and skill errors in defense, but it's good to see the young Bombers starting to play well and give us some hope for the future.
Final Score
Essendon: 17.14 (116)
Port Adelaide: 20.9 (129)
Kat has once again introduced me to a new lunch place- this time a short walk through the Fitzroy Gardens to Clarendon Street in East Melbourne. Square & Compass is a lovely cafe located in an old red brick terrace house that opened in May. I think the best thing about the place is the option for breakfast all day, so depending on your mood, you can choose whether you are feeling more brunch or lunch.
I have been to eat at Square & Compass twice now and tried out dishes from both sides of the menu. The waffles with strawberry and rhubarb compote, vanilla creme and brandy snaps were good, and the waffle almost had a bit of a pancake quality to it. My menu highlight so far though was the wagyu cheeseburger with raciette, zucchini pickle, mustard, tomato sauce and chips. Very yummy. I'm looking forward to going back and trying out more of the menu in the future.
Unplugged Live is back for a six week run on Sunday afternoons at the NGV Australia. Curated and hosted by Jae Laffer of The Panics, each session brings together a contemporary artist and musician for a discussion and performance in the gallery space. This afternoon's event began with Melbourne visual artist Anne-Marie May. She talked about the processes she goes through in creating her works, which are sculptural and utilise different materials. Anne-Marie has two pieces that currently feature in The Kaleidoscopic Turn exhibition: Untitled (Construction of coloured rays),which is made from felt, and RGB (Mobile), which is made from thermally formed acrylic.
The second half hour involved Alexander Gow from Oh Mercy. He and Jae have known each other for 8 years when a young Oh Mercy opened for The Panics, and their drummer Myles produced Oh Mercy's debut album Privileged Woes. Their chat covered a variety of topics, including the songwriting process, being creative and making something beautiful (which happens for Alex when is happy and healthy), the representations of himself at a certain age on each album, and the influence of Australia and his upbringing on his music.
Interspersed between the discussion segments were the songs "Cool Water," "Lady
Eucalyptus," "Iron Cross" and "Let Me Be Him," which sounded heavenly in
the acoustics of the room. Alex talked about the writing of these songs and others for the latest album When We Talk About Love in Nashville, and the benefits of being an outsider not writing country music there. The most interesting bit of the chat for me was towards the end when Alex spoke about his creative ambition to explore the essence of him and get that into a song, which is why he prefers to work by himself at this point in his career.
There has been a proliferation of American restaurants in Melbourne over the past few years as American food has become quite trendy. My fellow dual citizen Danny has joined me in creating the food blog Eagle vs Roo, where we aim to separate the authentic from the pretenders as we dine at American themed restaurants around Melbourne. We've got a large list of places to try out, and the three main genres seem to be New York deli, Southern barbecue and burgers. You can follow our adventures on the blog and @eaglevsroo on Instagram and Twitter.
The Leaps and Bounds Music Festival is on at the moment, and as part of the events around the City of Yarra Mary and I went to see Oh Mercy play at the Melba Spiegeltent tonight. The opening act was one of our Melbourne faves, The Ocean Party. It was good to finally see them play live again, and their set mainly featured new songs off their upcoming album. We also got to hear the latest single "Guess Work," as well as "Deluded" and the fantastic "Head Down" off their previous album Soft Focus.
It was a full band show for Oh Mercy, and they started the evening with "Iron Cross." As this was the first official gig since the release of When We Talk About Love, the set list featured most of the songs off the new album. Many of my current faves are the uptempo tracks such as "Sandy," "All Roads Lead To You," and "Let Me Be Him." "Lady Eucalyptus," which Alex played solo on acoustic guitar, and "Can't You Hear My Body (Calling Out To You)" were also quite good tonight. We even got treated to an unreleased song with funny lyrics called "Hot Topic."
Alex was in good spirits and told an amusing story about being out jogging and getting hit with a dirty puddle of water as a car drove by. This ultimately led to him singing a short ode to his asthma inhaler. The band played some older tracks as well, with "My Man," "Stay Please Stay," "Deep Heat," Drums" and "Lay Everything On Me" making it into the set list. The final song of the evening was a cover of The Go-Betweens' "Love Goes On!" in honor of their upcoming slot at the GW McLellan Tent at Splendour In The Grass in a few weeks.
Here's the voyeuristic video for "If You Come Around Tonight"
The Gertrude Street Project Festival kicked off tonight, celebrating its eighth year with over 35 works by various artists on display over the next ten days. With the threat of the Antartcic Vortex hitting Melbourne this weekend and next week, I figured tonight was my best shot of getting to see the works and staying dry. These were some of my favorites pieces from this year's festival.
Deb Bain-King with Finding Your Way: Finding Home is a very relevant and topical narrative for Australia about immigration and refugees which superimposes images with messages such as "Finding your way," "Mother, I am safe now" and "Welcome home."
The light projections I look forward to the most every year are the ones on the Atherton Towers. This year's piece Form Work was done by Guled Abdulwasi. It explores architectural forms, lines and shapes and utilises some vivid colors.
The most humorous work in the festival this year is Freya Pitt's Fortune and Love Favour the Brave. The animated film clip has a hilarious narrative on human attraction and desire that is accompanied by images that are a mixture of photos and illustrations. It's very entertaining and had people laughing out loud.
Chase Burns piece White Wash is a commentary on climate change that sees the Builders Arms Hotel awash in waves like some coastal cities may be in the future as sea levels rise.
Once again this year Skunk Control has done a magnificent window display. Secluded Evolution is a very detailed piece that illuminates species and environments that would normally be found in darkness.
Finally, I also have to give a special mention to Federico Winer's Ultradistancia, which is an amazing film of different aerial photographs showcasing the geometric beauty of cities and other built environments. The Gertrude Street Projection Festival runs until 19 July.
Happy 4th of July! Instead of sitting poolside in the sunshine I am huddled near a heater indoors because it is rainy and freezing in Melbourne. One of the classic desserts for any Independence Day celebration is apple pie, which I managed to bake last night. There are many recipes to choose from, but I have always used the one in the American cooking bible The Joy of Cooking.
First, prepare the pie dough for a double crust pie. I used the basic pie dough recipe from Williams Sonoma, which was easy to make and tastes good. Line a 9-inch pie pan with half the dough, and roll out the other half for the top crust.
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 425 F/218 C.
Peel, core and slice 5-6 large apples 1/4 inch thick. I use Granny Smith apples, but you can choose whichever ones you prefer. Combine the apples in a bowl with:
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 to 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Let it stand for 15 minutes, stirring several times, so that the apples soften slightly.
Pour the filling into the bottom crust and gently level with the back of a spoon. Dot the top with 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces.
Brush the overhanging edge of the bottom crust with cold water and cover the pie with the top crust. Pinch together the dough and crimp or flute the edge. Cut 3 to 4 2-inch vents into the top crust and sprinkle with:
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Bake for 30 minutes and then slip a baking sheet under the pie and reduce the oven temperature to 350 F/176 C. Bake for another 30 to 45 minutes until the fruit feels just tender when a knife is poked through the vents. Cool completely before serving.
It's almost like the old days with Oh Mercy playing monthly gigs in Melbourne at the moment with the imminent release of album number four When We Talk About Love. Tonight's gig was hosted at Magic Johnston in Collingwood by Parlour, a new platform that connects artists with hosts for intimate house shows. Mary, Tash and I got our free mulled wine on arrival and took a seat on the floor for the show. Alex began the evening with a cover of David McComb's "The Good Life Never Ends" and played a set that mainly featured songs off the new album.
It's always such a privilege (not a woe) to get to hear new songs before an album is released, and an added bonus when the renditions are stripped back and acoustic. The standout tracks for me at the moment are "Sandy," "All Roads Lead To You" and "Let Me Be Him." We also got to hear "Catherine," "Iron Cross" and "I Don't Really Want To Know," with Alex joined by Cecilia on viola for many of these songs. Alex was on fire with the puns throughout the night incorporating Jamaica and various Victorian towns (the Euroa one was my favorite). Some tracks from the previous album also made it onto the set list with "My Man," "Deep Heat" and b-side "Lady Eucalyptus" (which is also on the new album with some strings) played. The evening ended with "Without You," and Alex was kind enough to have some albums for sale ahead of the official release next Friday. Don't miss out- order your copy of When We Talk About Lovehere.
Any incarnation of Neil Finn live is going to be amazing, but getting the chance to see him solo is extra special, especially at a venue as intimate as the Melbourne Recital Centre. Neil played two shows in Melbourne on Wednesday (his birthday) and tonight, and I was lucky to be able to attend with different groups of friends on both nights.
The first half of the set was Neil playing solo, alternating between acoustic guitar and piano. The set lists were really for the hard core fans as he played songs spanning his entire career that I haven't heard live in years. On Wednesday night alone we were treated to the unreleased "Spirit Of The Stairs," solo tracks "Addicted" and "Faster Than Light," the Split Enz song "The Devil You Know" (used to get a baby Liam Finn to sleep) and the Crowded House tracks "When You Come" and "As Sure As I Am." Tonight we had the Finn Brothers song "Only Talking Sense" and a sneak peak at a new one he's working on with Tim titled "Never Return," the Crowded House tracks "Catherine Wheels," "Black And White Boy" and "Love This Life," and solo tracks "Last Day Of June" (dedicated to accountants) and "Try Whistling This." On both nights Neil also invited up a member of the audience to play along with him- Wednesday saw Darrell add some piano to "Anytime" and tonight Kieran played guitar on "Wherever You Are."
For the second half of the set Neil was joined by a mini orchestra, which performed some amazing string arrangements by composer Victoria Kelly, who joined Neil onstage along with Sharon Finn. They began with a fantastic version of the Split Enz track "One Step Ahead" and then focused on the following tracks from Neil's latest album Dizzy Heights (which Victoria did the strings for): "Better Than TV," "In My Blood," "Impressions," "Divebomber," "Dizzy Heights" and "White Lies And Alibis." We also got to hear incredible versions of the solo track "Sinner," the Finn Brothers song "Edible Flowers" (possibly the stand out number of the night), and Crowded House's "Private Universe." The strings sounded beautiful in the acoustics of the venue and just added another dimension to the songs.
The encore contained a couple surprise audience requests with a snippet of "Anyone Can Tell" on Wednesday night, and Neil attempting Tim's Enz track "I Hope I Never" tonight (managing to hit many of those high notes). He finished the evening with the Crowded House songs "Distant Sun" and "Fall At Your Feet." I thoroughly enjoyed both nights and how much Neil varied the set lists. He was in good spirits and humor, sounded great, and was very humble and grateful for everyone's continued support of his music.
Here is Neil playing a live version of the Dizzy Heights track "Lights Of New York" in London:
It's one of my favorite weekends of the year- the annual Eurovision Song Contest. This year's Eurovision was held in Vienna, Austria, and to celebrate its 60th anniversary they invited a little continent on the other side of the world to be involved as a wildcard- Australia! I watched the semi-finals on Friday and Saturday night, and then got up bright and early this morning to watch the Grand Final live. Thankfully my favorites made it through the semis to the Grand Final. Noting the rule of not being able to vote for your own country, here were my top 3 songs:
Elena Born and Stig Rasta (Estonia) with their catchy duet "Goodbye to Yesterday," which ended up finishing 7th on the night.
The Makemakes (Austria) with their indie rock song "I Am Yours." For some reason they received no votes at all (despite having a fantastic song and a flaming piano!).
Mans Zelmerlow (Sweden) with the anthemic "Heroes" was the well deserving winner of Eurovision 2015. He not only had a great song but the performance included some cool animation.
Honorable mention has to go to Bojana Stamenov (Serbia) with her powerhouse performance of "Beauty Never Lies," which kicked into another gear about half way through.
As for Australia, we ended up doing quite well. Guy Sebastian represented us with his soulful and upbeat song "Tonight Again." We manged to finish 5th on the night, which is an amazing result for a one off appearance and having no geographical voting blocs to rely on.
Although I've been living in Australia for nearly ten years, the one state I hadn't traveled to yet was Queensland. So while some people might dread an interstate work trip, I was really excited to get the opportunity to visit Brisbane for the first time. We flew up on Thursday afternoon and landed just as the sun was setting. Staying in the CBD made it easy to get around on foot, and my work colleague and I took a stroll down to Eagle Street Pier along the river to find somewhere to eat for dinner. After wandering around and taking in the views of the city and Story Bridge we settled on having some Italian food at Il Centro. We shared a mixed salad and I had the duck ravioli with orange thyme jus, baby beetroot and baked ricotta. The food was good and filling, and it was also nice to have some warm sourdough bread with the meal.
After my meeting was over today I headed across the river to spend the afternoon at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA). The timing of this trip couldn't have been more perfect as these are the last few weeks of the David Lynch: Between Two Worlds exhibition. It features more than 200 works of his paintings, photography and drawings, as well as some short film clips and music. While the exhibition is more focused on his visual arts, there are also opportunities to see screenings of his film and tv works with showings happening daily. Upon entering the exhibition you not only have all of the very Lynchian art works to explore but also some ominous music playing in the background.
My favorite part was probably the collection of music from his movie and
tv soundtracks (it was great to revisit songs from
Julie Cruise's first two albums). There was also a loop of Twin Peaks Log
Lady clips to watch in the lobby section of the movie theaters.
Another really interesting exhibition that is on at GOMA at the moment is New Zealand artist Michael Parekowhai: The Promised Land. It covers more than two decades of his work and features many large scale sculptures and pieces that are quite playful and humorous. I loved his use of color and the placement of objects in spaces throughout the gallery. Each room told a different story and he even built a mini house for the large stainless steel sculpture The English Channel. It's a fantastic exhibition that is definitely worth checking out before it ends on 21 June.
The Korean restaurant Da Rin on Bourke Street has become my new favorite lunch spot of late. Kat is the master of finding new places to try and took me here for the first time a few months ago. The restaurant itself is narrow, with PopAsia videos airing on the tv. I have sampled a few dishes off the menu, including the $12.50 lunch set plates for the vegetarian and bulgogi bibimbaps, and the Korean fried chicken dosirak. However, what this place is really known for is its large platters of Korean fried chicken coated in a variety of sauces: original, sweet & spicy, or honey & garlic. At this point I've only tried the original fried chicken, which was yummy, moist and not too oily. Da Rin is a great place to go with a group of people so you can sample all the different flavors of Korean fried chicken.
Your boys The Stiffys launched their new EP Art Rock One tonight at The Tote. As Mary and I were walking down the street toward the venue we could hear the first band of the night Tankerville playing. They were LOUD and we caught the last couple songs of their set. Next up was two piece hard rock band Dr. Colossus, who play songs themed around The Simpsons. It was excellent and I particularly liked "Stupid Sexy Flanders."
The Overnight is about a married couple who move from Seattle to Los Angeles with their son. Nervous about making new friends, Alex (Adam Scott) and Emily (Taylor Schilling) encounter Kurt (Jason Schwartzman) at the park when their two sons start playing together. He invites them all over to his house for dinner, and the movie covers what happens when the kids are put to bed and the two couples keep on partying. There are some funny moments throughout the film (particularly around some prosthetic appendages) and Jason Schwartzman nails the Los Angeles hipster who dabbles in a bit of everything and has too much cash to burn.
