Sat 8 Dec — Angie Hart, Skipping Girl Vinegar
i know barely anything about Angie Hart’s music, so i could enjoy this without expectation.
The band is really something .. she has Cam Butler and Dan Luscombe both on guitars, keyboard etc. I don’t know who the drummer and bass player were, but as an ensemble they created a warm and vibrant soundscape for Angie to shine on vocals.
She doesn’t dance or perform really, just sticks to singing the songs in a simple and engaging style.
A lovely evening.
After a delicious day in the park for Louise’s birthday (languorous mojito picnic at a super long doors-on-milk-crates table)
.. the gang decides to head off to see the very amazing Vulgargrad at melbourne’s own Spiegeltent.
When we get there, we find out it’s the very last night for our famous tent .. and the crowd is pumped up like a football on grand final day. (hmm)
Vulgargrad? Oh they’re funny, they’re energetic and they’re playing dirty Russian criminal Gypsy punk .. or something like that. All i know is they’re good to dance to, and one of their songs sounds a lot like Rawhide, in Russian.
Apparently the lead singer has a Polish accent, but i can’t pick it.
Joy and delight all round.
When i went dancing in that hotel in Cairns, i really didn’t think too much about the consequences. But i did think about how people might perceive me – a fortyish male caucasian on my own. So i tried to be discreet, non-threatening .. not stare at anyone.
i moved about on the dancefloor for four or five songs.
(Including Dexy’s Midnight Runners, and Billie Jean. Okay, i was desperate for nightlife. i was on my own in a strange city. i was feeling a bit lonely and uncomfortable. But trying to look cool and relaxed about it.)
Then i stood to the side of the dancefloor watching the action for maybe three songs. Again, trying to be unobtrusive.
Whoops! It didn’t work. Somehow i came across to some people as potentially threatening, and the bouncer asked me to leave, saying that several patrons had complained about the book i was carrying. When story hit the front page those patrons wanted their say too.
Now i find out it wasn’t just the book. Different Perspectives Some of the patrons from that night are now upset at being labelled paranoid. They say that they saw a man “behaving strangely”, and that they felt intimidated. These people saw
They saw a man standing motionless on the dancefloor for twenty minutes .. (that really baffles me. i’m sure i was dancing vigorously, and i meant to be friendly, but in my own space – intending fully to respect other people, not intrude on anyone else’s fun.
(Anyone who’s seen me on a dancefloor would be puzzled by that one. The reason i hit the dancefloor was because it was active. Usually i’m the one who gets up first, and starts other people going.)
Other people were also asked to leave At the moment that the bouncer (#181) came up and moved me to the pavement, i was wondering whether to leave or to have another dance ..
.. because i’d just seen an Indigenous woman escorted out the door. She’d been dancing too. A very funky dancer, she was striking in appearance. Recalling the moment, I realise now that i did stare pointedly around me at that moment. i was stunned. This woman had also been dancing on her own, very well. She was well dressed and good looking. She looked to me like a good and interesting person.
i somehow leapt to the conclusion that she was asked to leave because she was “too black”. If that were true, then this was not the kind of hotel i wanted to dance in.
At that moment i stared around me in shock, trying to fathom why this had happened. i was outraged at the possibility that my conclusion could be right. i did stare at people then, wondering why everyone had let this black woman be kicked out for no reason.
Perhaps other people saw this “staring” behaviour as strange and confronting. Perhaps this cemented the suspicions that had been growing in their mind.
Clear signals, to someone on the lookout. Someone who feels threatened by the world of difference. Someone who perhaps doesn’t notice an Indigenous woman being kicked out of the pub.
Atmosphere of fear i’ve got to say that i think labelling people paranoid could be a mistake. i always thought Keating’s biggest mistake was to abuse his opponents, rather than lead them to a better place. People do get afraid, and their minds can leap to unfair conclusions. Abusing or making fun of people who feel threatened, or are in the grip of fear, is perhaps not the best approach.
This culture we live in has been brought to the point of hysterical frenzy, and individuals are not immune from these emotional currents. Most people don’t have much protection against the pressure-cooker emotions of the mass media, or from politicians who seek to embed their power by preying on those fears. i too have looked at strangers in bars and found myself wondering.
We urgently need leaders who can empathise and allay people’s fears, while at the same time evolving our understanding and our behaviour, sensibly and responsibly.
Personally i feel vulnerable and disturbed. Now i know how easy it is for people to get the wrong idea.
Just what the book is all about.
(image: thanks for “is that an iPod in your pocket by thespacesuitcatalyst at flickr)
Technorati Profile
Sat 27 Oct — Mountains In The Sky, Qua, Flying Scribble
Lou and gray were utterly astounding, although they won’t admit it.
This was a pearler of a night, with Flying Scribble, Qua and the Mountains In The Sky. Gray’s (FS) Drums stood out as really superlative, with inventive and original rhythms. They couldn’t see the crowd, because of the lights, but the crowd totally appreciated them. There were many cries for more.
Qua and MitS hit the straps with the crowd, but hey FS just booted their wicked beats into the stratosphere.
i’m glad i saw this gig. What a joy.
Drums and versus amazing sound systems.
Madame Zu Zu plays classic old cabaret numbers with a European flavour. This Lady, She is Extraordinary and Exciting!
From the tantalising tempo of frustration in “Perhaps”, to the sumptuous delights of “Besame”, Zu Zu had the Studio crowd jumping.
The night was hot, the dance floor was on fire, all because of this stunning and virtuoso performance.
mmm, more please!
Mmm Zu Zu at Open Studio
i’ve had another buckwheat experience ..
Saturday night was so great, Madame Zu Zu was in fine form, and the Open Studio crowd so much more into her than at Bar Open the week before. Dancing everywhere. Lovely vibes, happy people.
..but then i tried one of the new crepes.
i was so looking forward to it. and i tested for buckwheat reaction before diving in; but i really should have asked. i must be healthy at the moment because it took three mouthfuls to set me off. so i went home, and fortunately had a couple of Finurgen tablets left over from the time i had to go to hospital after my birthday pizza night last year ..
The tablets stop all the symptoms and allow me to sleep. Good. but, oh boy, a couple of Finurgen tablets would knock out a horse!
The next morning i couldn’t move, i could barely talk. Tim and Sam came around, wanting to take me out to breakfast, and all i could say was “Bbbckwhhht lllst nght, ca’nnt mmmv” .. and i’m still feeling groggy monday morning;
PS Later that month: the new sign reads Crepes (Buckwheat). Thanks.
xox, michael
(image: hi dad by tashland at flickr)
The other week, i saw Martin Martini and the Bone Palace Orchestra playing the outdoor stage for the new northcote town hall/ outdoor space.
Aah magic, brilliant musicians on stage, and about twenty people in the audience. i don’t know who was in charge of publicity, but it was so far from the time this mob played Open Studio at the ’06 High Vibes festival (around the corner). That day there were people dancing up the walls.
it was funny, because i could hear them from my backyard, but i was having one of those “i’m not going out” days. finally i dragged my sorry behind onto the street, and recognised their sounds before i saw them. i got there to find Lynne in the audience, “i was going to text you,” she said.
Caught the last five songs, but how could i be so lazy!! Maybe that was it, the whole of Northcote knew, but they were having one of those “Tell me it’s not winter” days.
Sat 24 Mar — Spoonbill, miso
i’ve never seen the Spoonbill before so i wasn’t ready for the mix of visuals (2 vj’s), funny theatricals, and broad australian samples from TV, movies and radio. But i loved it ..
Opening with two unfolding puppet spoonbill dancers, the deep throbbing tones of ‘Low and Easy’ grabbed our attention straight from the start.
The dancing was energetic and hilarious, and the Social Club has very good bass on their speakers, the low kind that send chunky vibrations through your legs.
Their last song was hard and thumping, like chemical brothers meets wolfmother, as the solo guitarist went well over the top to meet the crazy laptop beats.
Spoonbill has a song called “half a lamington”. How much fun is this guy!!
and miso is just too gorgeous for words. The singer has a funky and balanced phrasing that is very trip hop; and the cello + double bass combo work well over the top of laptop-rhythm guy.
i’d go back for more of either of these two bands
Well i just found out that the astonishingly quirky and brilliant Lynne and Miki have finally put their work on the web. If you missed this show at the Friends of the Earth Ball (2005), or at ACMI Eyes Lies and Illusions, here’s your chance to view c/- google video. Cos everything Fred Astaire did, Ginger Rogers had to do backwards, and in high heels !!
We were lucky, when we went in to ACMI in Fed Square, on the 3rd December. When Tim arrived, Lynne was already over it, and had decided to stop. But he said, “oh go on, do it again,” so fortunately i got there just in time for the very last showing. So much fun. There are rumours of a Country and Western style sequel.
(play the vid:)
Grr, video not working. Oh hang on, maybe fixed now
There’s plenty of interesting music around for the festival of christ. Suburban Sprawl have collected special recordings from their stable of musicians. Eg Jingle Hell from Ryan Allen. Looks like this has been going on for years. (Grab the Zipped albums, under the album covers.)
Plus the “8-bit christmas” which i’m guessing is some kind of electro-jingle.
As well as a thing called Santastic, from dj BC. (Can only get this via Torrent, so you’ll need some downloading skills.)
(All this came via Brooklyn Vegan music, someone in NYC who posts links to downloadable music, eg remixes of Thom Yorke, or 50 Shots, response to a local shooting.)
Are they worth listening to? Well i’m enjoying the Thom Yorke remix right now, as i get back to the research ..
love plus hugs michael
