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.
sounds amazing, jim!
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