interstella

It’s been a while so here’s a little update from our last few gigs.

Palm Creek was a nice day. I went up for the day on Sunday. It was my first Palm Creek. Saw Nick play his solo set. Dave’s other band with the harp player was a highlight. Our set was around 7:30pm after some African dancers. It wasn’t one of our best. I think the onstage sound was a bit off. I couldn’t hear Dave very well. John was talked into to using a Marshall Quad box and a Fender twin instead of his old trusty dump amps. I think I had either too many beers or not enough and maybe a little stage fright with the large crowd but it felt like we were struggling to find our groove.

Anyway the gig at Teakle’s more than made up for it. Jerra did our sound with a tiny PA. My amp was cranked up high. Somehow everything clicked and we rocked out, even though we played “Too Late” in half time for a while. After us was the Blue Wazoo’s who did some acapella dowoop and then Claire King and the Jargon.

Next gig was at the new Thuringowa Riverway park on an open air stage under some beautiful rain trees. It was another great show. Probably our best show yet. There were some monster subs under the stage so my bass sounded FAT. Kids were dancing. Afterwards we had a beer in the C-bar overlooking the lagoon. Very nice. I found some photos of that one so check back later I will post some here.

Finally there was the Exchange gig. We were supporting Alibi (myspace, website) a good looking commercial britpop (Coldplay, U2 style) band from Brisbane, but there was some mix up and the support slot was double or maybe triple booked. We played a short very loud set with some sound problems around 9:30 and got the hell out of there. Check out alibi’s journal, they have some photos of Townsville. I didn’t see them play but I would have liked to. The tracks on the their web site sound pretty good. The other support bands were some death metal band and The Street Pirates.

Exchange on Friday
Maybe my best gig yet. My screw up count is now into single figures. Monkeys, Eels was very popular. Steve Towson was blown away by The Street Pirates. Those guys (and girl) are awesome. Also there was a cover band on after us. They seemed quite young and had a girl singer with two-tone hair. They played some silverchair and some Muse (I think?).

Relay for Life
So there are several hundred people in purple shirts who are walking around a 400m track. Some are running. They have been going in relay teams all day and will continue all night. They have been promised money which will be given to help find a cure for cancer. The weather is bad and it has been raining. The grass inside the track is filled with coloured tents in which people take rests from the walking. There are people in costumes and people with silly hats. People are handing out drinks to the walkers and ambulance officers are standing by. Everyone seems to be in a happy mood despite being wet and tired. Powerful stadium lights at dusk on an overcast day give everything a strange brighter than life appearance. Entertainment has been organised. There is an multi-generational country band. There is a old ladies choir. In between them we play on a stage about five metres above the track. We cover our power leads because the tarp roof leaks. People look up at us as they walk by. Some smile and wave. They seem to like the music. Some clown girls dance. John breaks a string. It was dark by the time we had packed up and left. As we pulled away they were switching the lights out and lighting candles in paper bags with messages to departed loved ones. The walking continued.

These are from the Exchange gig. Click to see larger version.

Thanks Andrew from The Street Pirates for sending these in.

Update
If you just can’t get enough of these photos then click here to see the entire set.

Wow - we’ve reeled off another 2 in quick time - the Bellevue with Mike Cooper & the Uniclub. Both gigs went well although were very different. We played a much more stripped back sound @ the Bellevue with everything DI’d into the desk and no mics on sax & drums. The sound was sweet and crisp and people in the front row said they loved it as it wasn’t too much for the earholes! We only did 7 songs because of time, but it is definitely great to know we can pull that kind of sound off! And last night at the Uni was great too although as a 2 setter you have more time to establish a feel - the first set went really well and climaxed in our namesake song “Interstellajam” - no, not a breakfast condiment. But after the break we came back and rocked it up with songs like Mystery & Boppy to leave everyone feeling groovy. N

Tomorrow night we are supporting Mike Cooper at the folk club. Check out his web site and this recent interview. I feel very lucky!

Thursday May, 4, Folk Club, Bellevue Hotel 8.30pm. Cover charge $10 ($6 for folk club & MCNQ members).

Hi everyone. This is pretty exciting to have the band site up and running. We are getting some pictures from our first gig together last Fri night @ Exchange - so as soon as we receive them we’ll put them up for your viewing pleasure! c u l8r