Velcome to Decembre! Last month of the year, and the time of year for copious amounts of drinking and eating and celebrating (apparently).
A few good gigs on this week that I think I might head out too.
Firstly, the ever so nice Blame Ringo play with The Gallant at Mish Mash (Rosies in the City) on Thursday the 10th of December. Thats assuming you're not already going to the giant Powderfinger/Custard show at the Riverstage. And if you are, I'm slightly jealous for missing out on Custard but also smirking at the fact that Custard fans will be greatly outnumbered by the church of Powderfinger. 'Internationalist' was a good album, but everything since? Blergh.
Idle.:.Cranes (still unsure of the stops and colon usage in the band name here!) bid farewell to Brisbane with a send off show at the Hangar on Saturday night (12th) before jetting off the the UK. This also doubles as the Hangar Xmas Party. The lineup looks pretty sweet and others on the bill include include the Judy Dolls, Re:enactment, Nova Scotia, Do The Robot, Sounds From The Ward, Sleepwalks.. Event kicks off at 5PM and cost is a measly $10 (BYO).
Oh yeah, so me and my budding literary overlord friend, Mister JM Donellan, were lucky enough to catch the first of Blame Ringo’s laundromat gigs which I talked about last week. The gig was in West Ashgrove, a short walk from my place, though despite that fact, we still drove – our bad.
The band played a few numbers from their ‘Lucky Number 9’ LP which was released earlier in the year, as well as some newer songs – which I must say, sounded very good. Actually, this happened to be the first time I’ve ever seen the band live, something that I had been meaning to tick off my long ‘things to do before my death and eventual reincarnation as a puma’ list. I’m pleased to say that this has now been achieved.
Despite its short nature, no doubt due to logistical issues of attempting to play three laundromats within three hours, there was much to like about Blame Ringo’s gig. Newer songs like 'One Way Driver' and 'The Sunshine Song' sounded particularly good, the boys employing vocal harmonies and other techniques that have the power to make teenage girls soil their undergarments to great effect. I guess it was lucky they were performing in a laundromat then. The setlist (and some other photos from the laundromat tour) are available for perusal on their myspace blog. I managed to take a small video of the band performing ‘Garble Arch’ which you can see below. Unfortunately my camera battery ran out about a minute in...but you get the gist, right?
Anyway, Pete from the band, being the nice guy that he is, did me the courtesy of answering a few of my meandering and somewhat random questions about the band, the tour, and forthcoming plans.
Hi Blame Ringo, that certainly was a flattering photo of the band that I saw in the Sunday Mail a few weeks back. Some would say arousing. In the spirit of your moniker, can we also blame Ringo Starr for the inclusion of such racy material in our local rag?
We blame ringo for pretty much everything. I'm not sure whose idea it was to strip for that photo shoot though. In fact, I think it was Tony, and he ended up covering up with a Rave Magazine! Cheeky bugger.
A very interesting video clip of people attempting to re-inact the famous Abbey Road record cover accompanies the song 'Garble Arch'. Can you tell us the story behind how this came about?
We all love the Beatles and I'd always heard these stories about how Abbey Road is still as popular for tourists as it's ever been. It seemed like a no-brainer really. Granted, we had no idea that it was going to take off the way it did, but we always knew it was going to be very popular.
This laundromat tour is certainly a very interesting idea. You guys have a history of quirky live performances, I recall your former band “The Little Heavies” performing from a back of ute, parked on Waterworks Road in Ashgrove. How are you going to possibly one-up the laudromat idea? Playing on rooftops in New York a la U2? Gigs on a space shuttle en route to Mars?
To be honest, it's now time for us to cut the crap and put out a killer new record. We've got some wacky plans for the new year, but for now it's all about the music. We're demoing later in the month and feel confident that we're onto something special.
So these gigs at the various laundromats around Australia, did you manage to do any ‘covers’ (ho ho ho)?
Not much washing was done in the end. I booked the schedule far too tightly. We literally pulled up outside a laundromat, ran in, played our tunes, said our goodbyes and got the hell out of there, speeding off onto the next show. It was a riot though.
Your recent record “Lucky Number 9” is a great little local release. What are you intending to do next?
As I mentioned before, we're currently demoing for a release early in the New Year. The tunes are taking a slightly more pop-rock direction, but our Kinksian stylings will be as strong as ever. We'll keep everyone up to date as best we can over the next few months!
Indeed. ‘Cash in Jackson’ from “Lucky Number 9” features some killer guitar chops and a somewhat epic solo. Can we expect this tune on any future evolutions of the Guitar Hero franchise?
Believe it or not, I've thought about Guitar Hero. I got "World Tour" and played it to death. And I will be getting the Beatles one when it comes out in a week's time. Not sure how it all works though. The new record is going to have equally gnarly axe wielding though, don't worry about that. We have a few gigs coming up before the end of the year, and will keep you posted on them for sure.
Blame Ringo are playing a few more gigs in the next few months, the details of which you can discover for yourself on their myspace page.
I meant to write about this a lot sooner but a combination of work and university study has kept my music writing hobby to a minimum. I do think you should read about the upcoming tour by local Brisbane indie pop group, Blame Ringo! who are about play a whole heap of laundromats over the coming two weeks down the east coast.
If you haven't heard of Blame Ringo! well you obviously haven't been reading the music press or the Courier Mail or listening to ABC radio, because they're beginning to garner a bit of well deserved attention. They released a great little record earlier this year called "Lucky Number 9", which hearkens back to the best bits of the Kinks and the Beatles and which you should immediately go out and purchase.
Not only that, I insist you check out the Garble Arch video featuring the many tourists attempting to replicate the Abbey Road album cover.
The tour kicks off tomorrow with a set at my local laundromat in Ashgrove, Brisbane at 4pm before moving on to the Paddington Laundromat at 5pm. I'm going to be there, but will YOU!?
Thursday, August 27th - BRISBANE Ashgrove Laundromat – 483 Waterworks Rd - 4pm Paddington Coin Laundromat – Cnr Given Rd & Latrobe Tce - 5pm New Farm Laundromat – 540 Brunswick St - 6pm Bar Soma, Brisbane w/ Dave Di Marco - 8pm
Friday, August 28th - NSW COAST The Washing Well, Yamba – 27 Coldstream St – 9am Grafton Laundromat, Grafton – 205 Prince St - 10:30am Northside Coin-Op, Coffs Harbour – Park Beach Rd - 12pm Willing & Able Laundrette, Port Macquarie - 17 Short St - 3pm The Lass O’Gowrie Hotel, Newcastle w/ Like… Alaska - 8pm
Saturday, August 29th - SYDNEY Elizabeth St Laundry, Surry Hills – 571 Elizabeth St – 10am My Beautiful Laundrette, Newtown - 110 King St -12pm Annandale Laundrette, Annandale - 20 Booth St - 1pm The Lewisham Hotel, Sydney – Budget Music Festival - 2pm
* Photo 'borrowed' from the web. If I've done something wrong here boys, get in touch and I'll take it down.
Lucky I read Before Hollywood this week, I completely forgot that legendary Brisbane band Screamfeeder are playing their great album 'Kitten Licks' in full at the Troubadour this weekend. I encourage you all to go along - I know I will (hopefully) be there.
Speaking of gigs, a few good local bands play tonight, including Last Dinosaurs play at Rics Cafe whereas Blame Ringo! play at Bar Soma.
