Apollo Bay, Burst Pipes and Cockatoo's

As we drove from Melbourne to the southern coast town of Apollo Bay the sky became darker and a light drizzle began to fall. The ride through mostly farmland was uneventful except for the fact that I spied my first Kangaroo (or Wallaby as they look pretty similar).    The rain stayed with us the entire weekend, which was a shame as the Apollo Bay Festival is in a gorgeous setting, with lush green hills sloping down to Caribbean blue waters of the Tasmin sea.    The festival takes over the whole waterfront of the town with 11 stages and a buskers competition as well.   It made for quite a din at times with jazz combos competing for sonic space with trashing rock bands.  Like most Australian festivals the big stages were in tents, a good thing given the weekend forecast.   We checked in and were given our accommodations at the home of our soon to be friends Brian and Sue,  a pair of school teachers with a lovely house overlooking the bay.  

I spent the first night of the fest roaming around and checking out the local talent.   I was quite taken with a group of young kids in a New Orlean's style brass band called the Megahorns.  It was remarkable how this group of what looked lke schoolboys were able to channel the funky sounds of Dirty Dozen and Rebirth with great spirit.  The crowd loved them.    I was able to catch both of the evening's main stage headliners The Flatlanders and New Orleans supergroup Little Band Of Gold.    The Flatlanders were in good form splitting the songs equally among Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock.   It felt like most of the crowd was unfamiliar with their music as the response was muted.  It's always a pleasure to see Joe Ely sing "Dallas".  Little Band Of Gold rocked the house despite some serious sound issues and jet lag.   The 8 piece band features Louisiana legends CC Adcock, Warren Storm & Steve Riley with everything from a horn section to pedal steel guitar.  It was a little strange to see a band so unique to a small American scene be well received halfway around the world.    I left  the show early as I was beat.  On my walk home I heard what sounded like a small orchestra pounding our AC/DC's "Back In Black".....I had to check it out.     The group was called Foreplay....3 violins, 1 cello and a very eclectic repertoire.     It's impossible to underestimate the popularity of AC/DC here,  as they are Australia's most successful musical act ever.   I somehow passed by the opportunity to take the "Bon Scott Tour" in his hometown of Fremantle a few days ago.   

We awoke Sunday to another grey day.  Chris had his main stage slot in the mid afternoon right before the festival headliner Kasey Chambers.   After Chris came off stage Kasey ran up and gave him a big hug and gushing compliments.  I don't think the grin has left his face yet.    Kasey is one of Australia's biggest stars and a huge crowd turned out to see her play a great set.    The festival ended in late afternoon with a fantastic 9 piece African band King Marong & Afro Mandinka,  a super high energy group with great dancing.   The perfect way to close a festival.....even in the rain. 

That night Brian and Sue made us a lovely lamb supper and I retired early only to be woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of running water and muffled voices.   I thought  this is a strange time to be talking a bath, so I got up to investigate.   My first step was onto a wet rug and I quickly realized what was going on.   A pipe had burst and there was 2-3 inches of water through the entire first floor of the house.   We helped clean up the best we could,  but it was a major hit for our hosts.  

As we left town on Monday morning the sky had begun to clear and we had a fantastic drive up the coast along the Great Ocean Road.   The road hugged the coast through 50 miles of amazing, unspoiled park land with dramatic cliffs on one side and a steep drop to turquoise seas on the other.    We stopped a couple of times to take pictures and decided to spend the night in the small surfing village of Lorne.   I went for a long walk along the beach and watched the surfers and fisherman.   A great relaxing day.  Chris' hotel room had a balcony, and every time he stepped out a Cockatoo or two would land looking for a handout.   After we presented cookies we soon had a small flock!   Amazing.

It's back to Melbourne to meet up with Signature's latest addition Patty Larkin, who is here to play a couple of festivals this week.

2 days in Freo

We landed in Perth late at night after a 4 hour flight and 3 time zone changes.   It's easy to underestimate the size of Australia....it's roughly the same as the US.    The west coast has only one major city in Perth and is otherwise sparsely populated.  It's hard to see why.   The coast line is beautiful and climate  superb......at least this time of year.   Perth and the surrounding area is one of the wealthiest  regions in Australia as it was the focal point of the Gold Rush in the 1800's and continues to benefit from the mining industry.   We picked up our rental  car and drove a half hour south to the port town of Fremantle or Freo as it's known by the locals.   The morning light revealed a lovely small town with unusual victorian architecture.    The downtown buildings were mostly  two story structures  with 2nd floor patios that had ornate wrought-iron railings.   Underneath these patios were dozens of open air cafe's.   Downtown Fremantle looks remarkably like the French Quarter in New Orleans.  This town has the highest population/cafe ratio I've ever seen.  It seemed like most of the townsfolk spend  their day lounging in cafe's.   Of course that is how I spent much of my time there as well. 

Luckily for us Chris was scheduled to perform for 2 nights at a funky cool club called Kulcha.     This gave us the chance to unpack the bags, do some laundry and otherwise relax.     The beach was in walking distance, so I had a couple of swims in the warm aqua blue Indian Ocean.    This trip felt more like a beach holiday than a tour stop.  Unfortunately it was abruptly ended by a 4am alarm in order to catch an early flight back to Melbourne. 

Melbourne

One of the amazing things about Australia is proximity of the outback to the major cities. Less than an hour after leaving the rural splendor of the winery we were at our hotel in the Brunswick section of Melbourne. Over 90% of the population live in the five largest cities. When you consider that Australia is about the same size as the US, you realize just how much outback there is.

At first glance Melbourne pales when compared to Sydney, mostly because it lacks the gorgeous waterfront and stunning modern architecture. Melbourne shows the undeniable influence of the British, and at times I thought I was walking in London during a heat wave. It didn't take long to discover that this city has it's own charms. Our hotel is in the middle of a leafy section of town that boasted a huge, lush park across the street and an incredible restaurant row just down the block with an amazing array of small ethnic eateries. There's a great tram system that runs everywhere, and it was fun exploring the city by hoping on and off the trams. Chris is to play 3 separate shows in the city over the course of a week, so there's plenty of time to poke around.

Our first Melbourne show was held in the Brunswick town hall and hosted by Chris' Australian agent John,McAustian, a slightly eccentric but completely charming man who books tours for a number of American artists. This is the fifth tour of Australia for Chris, and he has a large and enthusiastic fan base all across the country. The Australian audiences are amazing. They arrive early, are extremely attentive and quiet and then buy LOTS of CD's. One of my primary duties on this tour is to man the merch table each night. The moment the show is over they storm the table, and it seems like every member of the audience buys at least one disc. The remarkable part is that CD's in this country sell for $30 each! Every show I walk away from the table with a huge wad of bills. At this rate Chris will sell over 2,000 CD's on this tour alone. Who says the CD is dying? There's no evidence of that here.

The day after the Brunswick gig Chris has a taping for a national TV show. It's a weird set that looks like something out of Wolfman Jack's Midnight Special circa 1972 with strobe lights and a smoke machine. Chris plays the same songs over and over again til they get the lighting and sound just right. I can't wait to see what it ends up looking like on TV. After the show we wander around Melbourne killing time before out 9:30pm flight across the country to Perth.

the outback

My third day is Australia couldn’t have been more different than the first two. I arrived in Melbourne and met Chris at the airport. We were picked up by a wonderful guy named Peter and driven to the gig about an hour outside the city in the town of Lancefield. It was remarkable how quickly the landscape moved from city to suburb to beautiful and sparsely populated hill country. It reminded me very much of the hill country outside of Austin, TX. After a stretch on a long dirt road we arrived to Burke & Willis winery and were greeted by our amazing hosts Andrew & Heather, who’ve created one of the most unique music venues that I’ve ever enjoyed. The winery was not what I had pictured at all. It was just a smallish house, several outbuildings and lots of farm equipment lying about. What made the place special was the spectacular and unspoiled 360-degree view. The show was held in a large tent behind the house where a crowd of 150 or so was enjoying the opening acts, a three-course meal and the delicious wine. It was a perfect sunny day and it just couldn’t have been lovelier. Chris went on about 5pm and played a very long and much appreciated set. Afterwards it seemed every member of the audience bought CD’s and had their picture taken with him. What I found most amazing is that no one left after the show. Heather insisted that we meet her prized Clydesdale horse Mr. Clumplers and brought him over to the stage area where he grazed the rest of the evening. Most of the audience stayed for hours wandering about visiting and enjoying more wine. Along about 9pm our hosts brought out more food for the 30 people or so who were still there and we had another meal followed by a jam session with Josh White Jr. who had arrived to perform the next day. I crashed in a guest room at 11 or so with the party still in full force.

Day 3

I was surprised when I awoke the 2^nd day feeling great.   I had booked a bike tour around the city, which turned out to be a lot of fun.   Our group of 7 and tour guide Rob hit it off especially after the mid-point stop at the oldest pub in Sydney.  The riding became more difficult but  very fun.  We rode across the bridge and enjoyed amazing views.   After lunch with the group I made plans to meet up with new friends Shan (from Singapore) and Jeremy (from Melbourne) later that night to go see a reggae/ska band from New Zealand called the Black Seeds.   It was a fun show with a huge crowd of 1,500+ pogoing away to the music.  I left early as I had a morning flight the next day to Melbourne.  It was time to meet up with Chris and get to work.

Day 2 Sydney

I arrived in Sydney at 7:30am after a seemingly endless flight. They showed two movies and countless episodes of The Office, served 3 meals and constantly urged us to walk around. Fortunately I had my new friend Ambien and was able to get 7 hours of sleep. I was seated next to an Australian musician who gave me some very good advise, telling me not to nap that day and stay up as long as I could. We arrived to a brilliant sunny warm day, and I was excited to explore. I checked in early to my midtown hotel and took off on foot to explore the harbor and find some lunch. I was struck immediately by how cosmopolitan and ethnically diverse Sydney is. It feels quite similar to the city I had just left in the US. Like San Francisco there are water views everywhere and the warf area is one of the liviliest and most beautiful parts of the city. The view is dominated by two amazing structures, the famous Sydney Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. It’s pretty much impossible to take a picture without one or the other involved. I decided to take a ferry ride to the beach town of Manly, about a ½ hour away. The ferry ride offered gorgeous views of the city and I had a great time watching the surfers at the beach. The place had the feel of the Jersy shore.   I returned home for a quick bite and off to bed….I had made it to 9:30pm!

Day 1

It’s day four in Australia already my original plan for daily blogging has been scrapped.   I will try and catch up…..

My journey began last Monday with a flight to San Francisco and a day in one of my favorite US cities.  I wondered around a bit and took a commuter ferry to Marin county to meet up with my compadres at Mongrel Music in the lovely town of San Anselmo.   It was great to finally see home office and meet Val ,who I’ve spoken with on the phone hundreds of times but had never met.  After a lovely meal of margaritias and Mexican it was off to the airport for an 11pm flight.    I was a bit  nervous to get on that plane knowing that 15 hours of captivity was ahead of me.   There was also some time travel involved as we had the unnerving experince of flying over the international date line and thus completely missing a day.  We departed on March  16^th and arrived on  March 18^th….no St. Patrick’s Day for me this year.