I Dream a Highway just had their 2nd birthday gathering.
(If you don’t know yet, it’s a funky retail outlet on the Northcote Hill opposite the Wesley Anne, with clothes and cds and lovely arty stuff.)
Ben and Rhi laid on the liquor and some scrumptious Mein Leibe pizzas for all their friends, family and neighbours.
Zeena dragged me reluctantly along to an evening at Bar 303 on Northcote High Street. “Harmony on High” they called it.. and if i’d known what it was called i wouldn’t have gone because i have a strong repulsion for all the shops that call themselves whatever “on High”.
How very prejudiced and resistant of me.
Because this was a beautiful gig.
Zeena’s friend Matt is in a band called Vocal Agents. They started the night with some lovely and innovative harmonies. Some of the arrangements were better than others. The crowd loved their version of Mad World.. it wasn’t my favourite. However, even though it wasn’t to my taste, i had to admire their talent and strengths.. and risk-taking. Really good voices, blending well. The bass guy had a solid deep line going throughout. Different people led various songs. They were a good intro to the night.
The Hazelman Brothers were delightful. 2 out of the 3 brothers made sweet harmonies together, and captivated the audience. Nice lyrics too, although i couldn’t tell you what they sang about now. Relationships and stuff.
Cadmium Waking have changed their name to Aluka.. they’ve been snapped up by Clare Bowditch’s management to tour with her, and i’m not surprised. Sweet strong voices, wonderful harmonies and really, really good arrangements. When the timid blonde girl next to the wall hit her bassy lines in the final song, i was thrilled.. why didn’t she sing in that lower register all along!! Enchanting sounds.
Could have stayed for the stars of the night, but we skipped away to catch the final number from Woohoo Revue at Open Studio. Ooh they were good. We walked in and the crowd was dancing like kids in a jumping castle. Fun.
i wish i could have been at both gigs really.. and i heard the Wesley gigs were good too: missed The Boys (clarinet jazz), but will try and catch them next Saturday evening. Apparently there were 4 part harmonies on the Wesley stage too.
Music music music.
Northcote is jumping !!
Cross the river if you have to.
Yum.
Extraordinary moments.
For the Melbourne hall of fame 2009, i would nominate the Flying Scribble percussion artist gray taylor for her one-armed drumming set at the Wesley Anne, sunday 28th June.
Not only did she valiantly play with her left arm out of action, she played one song blindfolded. Go gray! You are a star and a legend. We love you.
Oh and Louise was good too. You both rock.
PS
Ooh look here’s Lou and gray again playing at Anytime Place in July, filmed by the Qua on his mobile phone. Video is lame.. get closer man, but it sounds good. This was a really good set. Many people dancing.
And guess what! Update! They’re having a CD launch (single) next Thursday evening 10th September at Wesley Anne.
Woo hoo. Can’t wait.
PPS:
yes Flying Scribble was magnificent:
Here’s a review of the single already over at Mess and Noise where you can listen to the song.. in one piece if your bandwidth will do it. Oh and read the comments as well as the review.. you’ll find a funny NZ story and Ben Butcher’s shoot of the ladies gettin glamorous on a Northcote monkey bar.
Fly scribble fly.
Ahmarnya
How much delight can a melbourne music goer bear?
On a night when the rest of the world was huddled around the s/MCG watching everyone from Kylie to Wolfmother and Split Enz, Annie and i headed for Northcote’s Wesley Anne to see the ethereally magnificent Flying Scribble with Pikelet playing solo.
Louise and gray are in very fine form; their new magic shines wonderfully just like the old numbers. gray’s drumming always astonishes and Louisie somehow manages to play 15 instruments at once, pumping out eg bass, organ, accordion and macbook samples.
Yes i was transported again by their beautiful rhythmic genius.
Here they are caught on video back in ’07:
Great News: they’ve finished recording the new album! Bad news: Shame the wesley still shuts down sound at 11pm.
Who’s Flying Scribble?
Lou and gray are one amazing melbourne duo. Find out more:
Daryl the lovely minister at Northcote’s heathen / community church, has pulled together a bunch of performers for a big event in support of bushfire sufferers.
$10/15 money goes to uniting church Victorian bushfire appeal.
Daryl says: “Please come and have a great time with us in solidarity with those who have not only lost so much but now contemplate a long physical and emotional rebuilding process.”
(Some moments of reflection involved.)
PS: i caught Heidi’s choir, and they were really good. Heidi sang solo and she was fab. Then Zeena and i fled the choir scene, over to Wesley Anne where “The Tiger and Me” were playing. They Were Good. Alt-Country-ish.
plus: get your Flyer here: Northcote-Concert-Flyer(pdf)
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photo credit: alana jonez
What a beautiful day.
i am completely blessed .. as the wonderful Louise invited me to a delightful brekkie in the wilds of westgarth, only moments from the action.
Yes this is the first year i’ve been an off-world visitor to planet northcote during the high vibes festival. i was feeling a bit sad, but being rescued with French Toast and Fruit Salad is such a good way to build up your spirits and get ready for a day of pleasure.
as i arrive, gray is tapping away on Renato’s drum kit, in time with Bessie Smith. Life is deliriously gorgeous.
The sun is shining, there are thousands of angels pouring gigalitres of love into the whole festival, and i’m filled with joy, as we wander up the hill to join the throng.
Everything is so packed, and the weather is so gorgeous that we don’t actively listen to much music .. but i dance to a couple of Tzigas numbers outside Open Studio; and Gerard has a funky dj in his backyard next door. That was fun.
The gig that i really savour later on is the magnificent spoonbill at 303 .. who plays a very enjoyable set. Listen here to his version of Gum Tree:
It was a bit weird when he invited dj drizzle on stage to do some MC work, and this guy just wouldn’t let go of the microphone. Some of the crowd shouted at him to get off so we could enjoy the spoon .. but mr bill was too polite to grab back the mic.
Ah madness. Oh fun. Potato cakes and broken yellow buckets. Huge sunglasses and crazy thongs made out of rubber LP shapes. Lots of wonderful people from the Northcote tribes.
.. and i forgot my camera, so only mobile phone photos. Will post if i can get the blue teeth to work.
Later in the week, i read in the local paper that there were 100,000 people at the event .. 30,000 more than last year. Big !!
Ciao.
This Saturday night looks fantastic on the Northcote High Street.
Emma Tonkin is playing the Uniting Church .. but not alone; she has a choir behind her to really stretch the beauty of her songs. (Have a listen here, or visit her space.)
Competing with “Girl, interpreted” which is a celebration of Auslan song interpretation. Oh, why are they on at the same time.
Boo.
i have to say, it’s quite an adventure moving across to the other side of the Merri Creek. Time seems to move more slowly now because there’s so much newness to absorb.
Sydney road has a different character from Northcote High Street .. can’t quite describe the difference just yet. Larger range of ethnic diversity? More established cafes and hotels?
But all these new cafes, i need a local tour guide .. and where are all the musicians madly improvising?
Thank Evans i’m still cycling distance from the Northcote hill.
image thanks to deepwarren at flickr
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.
