ISSUE 0001 / October 2nd - October 8th 2014IT’S FREE - www.bsidemagazine.com.au

THE FIRST

ISSUE!

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IN THIS ISSUE

OUR PHILOSOPHY

ISSUE #0001

October 2nd - October 8th, 2014

Created by veteran Adelaide music guru Rob Dunstan, BSide Magazine is a weekly magazine totally focussed on what’s going on in the Adelaide Music Community.

Every week we will be bringing you the latest news, up-to-date information and entertainment through:

Regular music news updatesFeatures and interviewsTouring and gig guides

Local music industry newsAwesome competitions

Live music and CD reviewsTheatre news and interviews

Plus, we welcome the return of BOB’S BITS in print.

Our goal with BSide Magazine is to help rebuild the Adelaide Music Community, to refocus the emphasis on local music and uniting the different tribes encouraging and further enhancing a prosperous live music industry for all.

We want BSide Magazine to be like Gaffa Tape. The thing that will hold everything together.

Page 2Around The Traps

Our Philosophy

Page 4Motown Connection

Heading To Town

Page 5BSide Tour Guide

Page 6Feature Article:

Semaphore Music Festival

Page 7Mick Kidd

The Meanies

Page 8The Clothesline:

Theatre News/Interviews

Page 9The Funhouse Of Blues

Page 10MusicSA CD Reviews

Page 11Tuba SkinnyBob’s Bits

Page 13Frank Yamma

Rowland S HowardBill Bailey

AROUND THE TRAPSThe outrageous Matt Gilbertson will host a fundraising event for Variety SA from 7.30pm on Saturday 11 October at St Luke’s in Whitmore Sq, Adelaide. The Kru-sty Cowboy Club will be there to keep patrons entertained as will Don Morrison so there will be singing’, dancin’ and fun as well as magic and whip-cracking. And it’s only a gold coin donation too.

Adelaide songwriter Ry Kemp will be launching his new CD, Open Remains via Open Grave Records, from 7pm, at the Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymouth St, on Sunday 5 October. Special musical guests include Heath Anthony, Mountain Stranger and Amelia Alice and the $10 entry also gets you a copy of the disc.

Pride March Adelaide will present the premiere screening in Adelaide of award winning film Pride on Wednesday 29 October at 7pm at Palace Nova Eastend, Rundle St. Money raised will go towards making this year’s Pride March Adelaide louder and prouder than ever.

Tom Redwood’s new album, Look, is out now on Walking Bird Records and he will be launching it with a full live band and be supported by the very talented Sasha March at Church Of The Trinity, Goodwood Rd, Clarence Pk, from 5pm on Sunday 17 October. Copies of the CD will be available at the event for the special price of $10.

Max Savage & The False Idols will kick off a free entry Friday evening residency for the month of October at the Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymouth St, from Friday 3 October. There will be special guests and each night will be different and they continue on 10 Oct, 17 Oct, 24 Oct and conclude, fittingly enough, on All Soul’s Eve.

Music On The Lane, a free lunchtime performance event, happens every Mon-day from 12.30pm until 1pm in the beau-tiful, tree-lined Pilgrim Lane, 12 Flinders St alongside Pilgrim Church. It’s a unique, inner-city outdoor venue with an eclectic offering of music performed by a variety of singer songwriters, bands, choirs and ensembles. Music In The Lane provides a place for people working in the city to take a breather, enjoy music, connection and creativity in a colourful café-style environment.

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra has announced its program for 2015. Check it out and note the return of ASO and Zep Boys with Zeppelin Flies Again in early De-cember of next year and ASO Does Disco in late July. And did we see Gavin Bryars’ Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet in March as part of Adelaide Festival? Book at BASS.

Talented local harpist and vocalist Siobhan Owen will be performing at The Irish Club, Carrington St, Adelaide, as part of a farewell tour on Saturday 1 November and will mark one of her very last performances in this country before she heads off to Europe. It will be a very intimate show upstairs at the club, so tick-ets will be limited and cost is $25 or $20 for IAA members. Email Dan at sham-rocknshenanigans@gmail.com to grab tickets as special guest support on the evening will be 2012 SCALA Songwriter Of The Year Maddy Coutts, promising a very special evening.

Prom Night will again be taking place at The Promethean, 116 Grote St, on Satur-day 18 October and will feature local rock bands Squeaker, The Motive, Imogen Brave, Jungle City, The Serra and Slick Arnold. Tickets are $15 for six bands making it extra good value.

The Shaolin Afronauts have announced the launch of their double EP, Follow The Path, and it will take place at Rocket Bar, 142 Hindley St, Adelaide, SA, with Sparkspitter and other guests on Sunday 5 October. Bear in the mind the following day is a public holiday (for some).

The Funhouse Of Blues, an Adelaide blues combo with over 160 years musical experience between them, have com-menced a weekly Wednesday evening residency known as Mid Week Melt at The Gaslight Tavern 36 Chief St, Brompton, SA. Expect special guests each week.

After 10 years together, four albums, over 1,000 live performances and an ARIA nomination, Adelaide much-loved Low-rider have elected to take an indefinite hiatus. Say goodbye to them when they perform at HQ on Friday 21 November.

Shamrocks & Shenanigan’s will present Joe Mac’s Birthday Jam as a free entry evening of Irish music along with blues and rock’n’roll at The Irish Club, 13 Car-rington St, on Friday 3 October.

Sarah Lloyde, one of Australia’s best kept musical secrets and who has a strong, soulful voice, will be performing at Jade Monkey, 160 Flinders St, Adelaide, on Thursday 16 October. Sarah, who has performed with The Flaming Sambucas and very popular childrens’ band The Funkees, will be presenting Luv Fool in an intimate setting following a huge launch last month.

Fair Maden will be launching their debut, self-titled LP on the Bedroom Suck label alongside Bruff Superior, who will also be launching a 7-inch single, at Hotel Met-ro, 46 Grote St, in the band room from 9pm on Friday 17 October with Young Professionals also on the three-way bill.

The Kumfy Club will be making a welcome return to the newly re-opened Crown & Sceptre Hotel, 308 King William St, Adelaide, on Saturday 18 October. Expect deep, funky house, nu disco, good grooves and great vibes when Luke Million, TrunkFunk, Skot Holder, Elliot Ness, Stephen King and more take to the decks. The Kumfy Club then hap-pens again at the same comfy venue on Saturday 15 November and Saturday 13 December as a regular monthly event.

Welcome to the very first issue of what will be many more weekly issues of BSide Magazine.

We set up BSide Magazine as a website just seven weeks ago and also set up a Facebook page with the aim to eventually publish a regular print magazine as we felt that Adelaide needed a free, weekly street press publication to help keep punters informed about what was going on around this great and very vibrant city as far music and the rest of the arts scene.

The response to the website and Face-book page soon made it apparent that there were many out there who were in need of such a service.

And, via Facebook, we discovered that there was a plethora of live music gigs happening around town that only a few were aware of due to the absence of a weekly street publication.

Also via Facebook, we quickly became aware of the many small bars and cafes popping up around the place with some regularly featuring live music.

We also became aware of a number of new pubs opening up that will be having regular live music such as The Publishers Hotel, 110 Franklin St, which opened its doors some weeks ago, and the newly refurbished Hampstead Hotel, 110 Grote St, which officially opens on Friday 3 October with their opening night party featuring well-known Adelaide blues band The Healers with much more local music to come.

While we already have a comprehensive listing of touring artists currently in the magazine, we also aim to publish an equally comprehensive gig guide in com-ing issues. This will happen as live music venues and bands make contact with us regarding their weekly listings.

Many thanks to those who have come onboard for the first issue – your valued advertising support is genuinely appreci-ated – and thanks also to those who have offered support in other ways, whether it be a simple Facebook or website acknowl-edgement of what we are offering, or the offer of help and support in other ways.

A big thankyou also to Catherine Blanch and her dedicated team at theclothesline.com.au who will be collating a weekly page on what’s happening around town in the world of theatre, dance and comedy with interviews and reviews.

As BSide Magazine grows, and it surely will given the enthusiastic response thus far, it will also expand further with plans to add a variety of components includ-ing live music reviews, movie and book reviews and a dedicated industry page as well as visual arts. We shall also soon incorporate some competitions with par-ticipants being able to score some great prizes and also implement a page of pho-tos of people out and about at assorted gigs enjoying a good time.

We may also even add a horrorscope section when we find time to make one up, and are currently in negotiations with Three D Radio to publish their weekly Top 20 + 1 Chart which often highlights much locally-produced music.

As well as focusing on what’s happening locally, whether it be visiting interstate or overseas artists, there will also be an emphasis with local artists and this will in-crease as BSide Magazine becomes more widely known.

So thanks also to MusicSA who will also be providing regular CD reviews via their valued team of writers. Is there anyone else left to thank? Yes, there’s you for picking up this first issue of BSide Maga-zine and taking the time to peruse it.

Enjoy, and see you again next week.

WELCOME TO BSIDE

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MOTOWN CONNECTIONBy Robert DunstanThe 12-piece, horn-laden Motown Con-nection began life some years ago in order to play corporate functions.

Such was their success, in recent times the band have performed sell out shows at Adelaide Fringe and are now making a welcome return to the Gov-ernor Hindmarsh Hotel with a brand new offering.

“And that’s the real point of difference for this show,” Brett Hopgood, the en-semble’s keyboard player and musical director, says. “People who have seen a Motown Connection show in the past are in for a new experience. Instead of it just being a tribute to the Motown sound, this will be the Queens Of Soul taking on The Blues Brothers.

“So we are doing less Motown but highlighting the soul divas of that era as well as the songs covered by The Blues Brothers.

“So, obviously, we’ll be presenting songs by Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Dusty Springfield, Sam & Dave, Al Green and Jackie Wilson.

“We’ll also be doing a song by Linda Lin-dell,” he then adds with a laugh. “Every-one knows the song What A Man because En Vogue and Salt ‘N Pepa had a big hit with it about 20 years ago, but we do Linda Lindell’s original version from 1968.” Motown Connection elected to organise shows the general public could attend after great success in the corpo-rate arena.

“We were getting people saying to us all the time, ‘Hey, I’ve heard you have a really great 12-piece band, so when and where can we see you play?’, so we that’s when we decided to move into the general market. So we very quickly got that off the ground.

“And playing Adelaide Fringe has been a great way to do that,” he continues. “We hadn’t been involved in that until last year and then again earlier this year at which we presented The Motown Story that, essentially, was a replication of Motown music from 1959 through to 1971.”

“So that show covered all the major Mo-town artists including, of course, Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops, The Temptations and The Supremes as well as Martha & The Vandellas. So it gave people a taste of the Motown story performed in chrono-logical order from the beginning through to 1971.”

“And those Adelaide Fringe shows really opened up Motown Connection to people who had never seen us before,” Brett adds.

“And some were even coming up after-wards for a chat and asking if we were from interstate. They were often quite surprised when we said we were from Adelaide.”

Motown Connection has an easy to find rather excellent, eight-minute showcase reel on YouTube which gives a great representation of what to expect at a live concert.

“That was shot at the Governor Hind-marsh using three cameras and then professionally edited,” Brett reveals.

“And while it does give people a good taste of what Motown Connection are like, it’s only until we are seen playing live that people get the full extent of our huge sound.” The formidable ensemble, which re-hearsed for almost a full year before going public, boasts four vocalists, Ria Loof, Tony Minniecon, Belinda Martinez and James Musci.

“We’ve only had one member change over our journey and that was when we lost singer Sam Raciti and replaced him with Ria,” Brett reveals.

“But that then gave us the extra diver-sity of having two female singers and two male singers. So it actually gave the band some extra punch when Ria joined. And people comment on how good they are individually and well as when they harmonise.”

Alongside Brett on keyboards, the band features Steve Staben on drums, Gavin Cox on bass and Joe Rosmini on guitar with four horn players, Peter Raidel on tenor sax, Damien Hurn on alto and bari-tone saxes, Geoff Bradley on trumpet and Gareth Davis on trombone.

“And because Damien plays alto sax as well as baritone, so I’ve been able to arrange the horn charts to suit either baritone or alto as required,” Brett says. “If the song needs a big bottom end, he plays baritone and then alto sax when Gareth is playing trombone.

“And all the musicians in the band are really great players,” he concludes. “If you are doing something like this you have to pretty good otherwise you get found out pretty quickly.”

Motown Connection plays the Gover-nor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Saturday 4 October.

Book now for dinner and show or show only via OzTix or at the venue.

MOTOWN CONNECTION HEADING TO TOWNFor a comprehensive listing, also check out B-Side Magazine’s Tour Guide.

Brisbane’s Screamfeeder will play songs from their early classic albums at The Jade Monkey, 160 Flinders St, on Friday 17 Oc-tober. The band’s Tim oshand Kellie will also be gracing the Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymouth St, on Thursday 16 October in acoustic duo mode with special guest Lily Mojito.

Brisbane-based singer songwriter Sahara Beck, currently garnering much acclaim in the indie folk scene and beyond, is gear-ing up to release her second EP, Bloom, in October and will be hitting the road to celebrate its release. Catch the talented young songstress at Jive, 181 Hindley St, Adelaide, SA, on Friday 24 October with tickets now on sale via Moshtix.

Ben Ottewell, of award winning UK indie rock band Gomez, is undertaking yet an-other solo tour which will see him playing the Grace Emily Hotel, 232 Waymouth St, Adelaide, on Sunday 25 November. Book quickly via the venue as he sold out his show on his last visit.

Seems that Suzi Quatro is hanging up her leathers but not before she tours Austra-lia one very last time. In Adelaide she will play Thebarton Theatre, Henley Beach Rd, Torrensville, on Tuesday 3 February. Book via VenueTix on 8225 8888.

The Porch Sessions will feature Mel-bourne’s Al Parkinson alongside local singer songwriter Tim Moore at a secret garden venue somewhere in Adelaide on Sunday 12 October. And Sydney’s Winter-bourne are heading to town armed with a new EP, All But The Sun, to play The Porch Sessions II at another secret garden ven-ue with other special guests on Saturday 1 November. For more information about these popular events, head to The Porch Sessions’ Facebook page.

Joe Satriani, a backing singer on Crowded House’s debut album, will be performing in Adelaide at Grote St’s Her Majesty’s Theatre on Sunday 9 November. The Australian tour, in support of Satriani’s 14th studio album, Unstoppable Momentum, will have the legendary guitarist on the road with veteran band mate Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa and Steve Vai) on keyboards with bassist Bryan Beller (Dethklok and Dweezil Zappa) and drummer Marco Minnemann (Adrian Belew and Steve Wilson). Tickets are on sale now via BASS.

Melbourne tock band Empra are soon heading back to Adelaide and have lined up a huge night at The Promethean, 116 Grote St, at which they will be joined by locals The Valkyries, Indiago, Lost Cosmo-naut, Colibrium and California Cousin on Friday 3 October. Doors at 7pm and $10 will get you in.

New Zealand punks The Datsuns have not hopped across the Tasman for a while with their death rattle boogie, so we can happily report they have announced an Australian tour in support of a new album, Deep Sleep, and will be playing Jive, 181 Hindley St, on Wednesday 10 Decem-ber. Tickets via Moshtix.

Passenger has announced a national tour with special guests The Once, a folk trio based out of St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. They will play Adelaide Entertain-ment Centre Theatre, Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Tuesday 20 January of next year.

Three of the world’s greatest guitar play-ers, Ralph Towner, Wolfgang Muthspiel

and Slava Grigoryan, have recorded a new album, Travel Guide, for the presti-gious ECM label, and will be performing together at Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre, on Thursday 30 October. Book at BASS.

Following a recent sold out tour, Sydney band The Preatures have invited Brisbane’s Holy Holy and the Gold Coast’s Redspencer to join them on yet an-other circumnavigation of the country. Catch them in Adelaide at the Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Friday 14 November for an all-ages musical affair. Tickets via OzTix or at the venue.

Must be butterfly season! Brisbane’s Clint Boge, well-known for fronting metal band The Butterfly Effect, will be under-taking a solo jaunt around the country and in SA will play Royal Oak Hotel, 123 O’Connell St, North Adelaide, on Thursday 20 November and the newly re-opened Crown & Sceptre Hotel, 308 King William St, Adelaide, on Saturday 22 November. Tickets via OzTix or via the venues.

Following sell out comedy festival shows around the country earlier this year, multi-award winning comedian Ronny Chieng is set to tour nationally with his smash hit solo show, Chieng Reaction, as well as to promote the release of his debut live comedy album, The Ron Way. Chieng, named the winner of the 2014 Melbourne International Comedy Festi-val’s Directors’ Choice, will kick off his tour in Adelaide on Thursday 16 October at the Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, SA. Tickets at the venue or via OzTix.

Lanie Lane, who recently performed in Melbourne with Welsh singer Tom Jones, has just announced a national tour ahead of the release of her brand new Night Shade album. So mark Satur-day 8 November in your musical diary for when she plays Jive, 181 Hindley St, Adelaide, with tickets via Moshtix.

Acclaimed brother and sister duo, The Acfields (Dan and Hannah), are heading over from Melbourne to launch their self-titled album and a single, No Ups Or Downs, and will play Pt Noarlunga’s South Coast Folk Club alongside Gleny Rae Virus and Pete Filder on Thursday 2 October.

Melbourne duo Luluc, who now reside in Brooklyn, NY, have announced an Australian tour that will bring them to Jive, 181 Hindley St, Adelaide, SA, on Friday 12 December at which they will be present-ing their new album, Passerby, which was co-produced by Aaron Dessner of The National at his New York home studio. Book via Moshtix.

Globetrotting Kiwi band The Eastern have just been added to the stellar line up for South Australia’s Fleurieu Folk Festival which runs from Friday 24 October until Sunday 26 October at Willunga. The Eastern will join the likes of Keith Potger of The Seekers, Melbourne sister act The Little Stevies and fiddler Marcus as well as Brisbane’s Women In Docs and fellow interstaters Warren Fahey and Grimick. South Australian legend Chris Finnen will head an impressive local list that boasts Halfway To Forth, Courtney Robb, Gold-stein, Junior, The Hushes, Kaurna Cronin and many others.

The Eastern will also be performing at The Wheatsheaf Hotel, 39 George St, Thebar-ton, SA, on Thursday 23 October with Max Savage as special guest For more details about Fleurieu Folk Festival, visit their website at fleurieufolkfestival.com.au.

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THURSDAY 2 OCTOBERTuba Skinny (New Orleans) at the Gover-nor HindmarshGleny Rae Virus & Pete Fidler (NSW) and The Acfields (Brisbane) at South Coast Folk Club (Pt Noarlunga)Lovely Head (Sydney), Sparkspitter, Swim-ming and Firs at Hotel Metro

FRIDAY 3 OCTOBERThe Love Bombs (Melbourne), Kitchen Witch, Carpedenim and The Council (Mel-bourne) at WorldsendAndrew Strong & The Commitments (Ire-land) at Governor Hindmarsh (SOLD OUT)The Cat Empire (Melbourne), Madre Mon-te and Tom Thum at Thebarton TheatreSemaphore Music Festival at SemaphoreEmpra (Melbourne) The Valkyries, In-diago, Lost Cosmonaut, Colibrium and California Cousin at The PrometheanMartyr Defiled (UK), Boris The Blade, Eleg-ist and I Exalt at Fowler’s Live

SATURDAY 4 OCTOBERGleny Rae Virus & Pete Fidler (NSW) at The Singing Gallery (McLaren Vale)Choirboys (Sydney) at Chasers Function CentreThe Meanies (Melbourne), Pro Tools and The Profiteers at JiveSemaphore Music Festival at SemaphoreCaptives (Tasmania), Battlehounds, Dead Joe and Babes Are Wolves at Crown & Anchor

SUNDAY 5 OCTOBERBlues On The Parade: Mia Dyson (Mel-bourne), Stefan Hauk, Dusty Lee’s Wasted Wanderers, Filthy Lucre and more at Norwood LiveFollow The Sun: Paul Dempsey (Mel-bourne), Bonjah (Melbourne), Dallas Frasca (Melbourne) and more at Colley Reserve (Glenelg) Semaphore Music Festival at SemaphoreOlympic Ayres (Sydney) at Rhino Room

MONDAY 6 OCTOBERSemaphore Music Festival at Semaphore

TUESDAY 7 OCTOBERReece Mastin (Sydney) and The Kin at Governor Hindmarsh

THURSDAY 9 OCTOBERSlaves (US) and Just Like Clockwork at Enigma BarNils Frahm (Germany) at Governor Hind-marsh

FRIDAY 10 OCTOBERDiesel (Sydney) and Rin McArdle at Gover-nor HindmarshAdam Brand (Melbourne) at Hahndorf Old Mill (Hahndorf)DMA’s (Sydney) and The Creases (Bris-bane) at Rocket BarOlivers Army (Melbourne) at Jive

SATURDAY 11 OCTOBERThe Tea Party (Canada) and The Superje-sus at Thebarton TheatreThe Whitlams (Sydney) at Governor Hind-marshLaneway Live: Tom Richardson (Victoria), Kelly Menhennett, Ciaram Granger, James Abberley, Rat Ta’mango, The Villenettes and Sweet Anarchy at Loxton Hotel (Loxton)Undergang (Denmark) and Cauldron at EnigmaCrooked Colours (Perth) and North East House Party at Adelaide Uni BarMiss Elm (Brisbane) and Life In Letters at The Exeter HotelThe Elliotts (Melbourne), The Motive, The Dirty Chins and Electric Exiles at Enigma (Bar 3)

SUNDAY 12 OCTOBERThirsty Merc (Sydney) at Highlander HotelJustin Townes Earle (US), Lindi Ortega (Canada) and Marlon Williams (NZ) at Governor HindmarshThe Porch Sessions: Al Parkinson (Mel-bourne), Tim Moore and Juno at TBAAll Our Exes Live In Texas (Sydney) at Wheatsheaf

MONDAY 13 OCTOBERLindi Ortega (Canada) and Max Savage at Governor Hindmarsh (Front Bar)

WEDNESDAY 15 OCTOBERThe Selecter (UK) at Governor Hindmarsh

THURSDAY 16 OCTOBERSay Anything (US) at Fowler’s LiveTim & Kellie (Brisbane) and Lily Mojito at Grace EmilyVinai (Italy) at Apple BarGrace Barbe (Seychelles) at Space The-atre, Adelaide Festival CentreBlue Eyes Cry (Melbourne) at Gilbert Street Hotel

FRIDAY 17 OCTOBERScreamfeeder (Brisbane), Diplomat and Freak Wave at Jade MonkeyComeback Kid (Canada) at Adelaide Uni BarThe Griswolds (Sydney) at JiveDZ Deathrays (Brisbane), Velociraptor and Horror My Friend at Fowler’s LiveArea-7 (Melbourne), The Resignators (Mel-bourne) and The Dirty Chins at Enigma Bar

SATURDAY 18 OCTOBERAllday (Adelaide/Melbourne) at Fowler’s Live (SOLD OUT)Steve Smyth (Sydney) at The Exeter

SUNDAY 19 OCTOBERFourPlay String Quartet (Sydney) at Gov-ernor Hindmarsh

MONDAY 20 OCTOBERMiley Cyrus (US) at Adelaide Entertain-ment Centre

TUESDAY 21 OCTOBERBall Park Music (Brisbane), MILLIONS and Pluto Jonze at Governor Hindmarsh

WEDNESDAY 22 OCTOBERBall Park Music (Brisbane), MILLIONS and Pluto Jonze at Governor Hindmarsh (SOLD OUT)

THURSDAY 23 OCTOBERDevin Townsend (Canada) at Governor Hindmarsh (guitar clinic)The Eastern (NZ) and Max Savage at Wheatsheaf Hotel

FRIDAY 24 OCTOBERHot Chocolate (UK) at Her Majesty’s TheatreKingswood (Melbourne) at Adelaide Uni BarScreaming Jets (Newcastle) at Governor HindmarshSahara Beck (Brisbane) at JiveConfession (Sydney), Prepared Like A Bride and Graves at Fowler’s LiveFleurieu Folk Festival: The Eastern (New Zealand), Women In Docs (Brisbane) and so many more at Willunga

SATURDAY 25 OCTOBERThe Rolling Stones (UK) and Jimmy Barnes at Adelaide Oval Slow Chase (Melbourne) at Crown & AnchorScreaming Jets (Newcastle) at Governor HindmarshMissy Higgins (Melbourne) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre TheatrePop Crimes: These Immortal Souls, Mick

Harvey, JP Shilo, Brian Henry Hooper and more at Wheatsheaf HotelFleurieu Folk Festival: The Eastern (New Zealand), Women In Docs (Brisbane) and so many more at Willunga

SUNDAY 26 OCTOBERPop Crimes: These Immortal Souls, Mick Harvey, JP Shilo, Brian Henry Hooper and more at Wheatsheaf HotelBen Ottewell (UK) and Buddy (US) at Grace Emily

Fleurieu Folk Festival: The Eastern (New Zealand), Women In Docs (Brisbane) and so many more at WillungaThe Audreys and Brillig at Trinity Sessions

WEDNESDAY 29 OCTOBERRodriguez (US) at Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre

THURSDAY 30 OCTOBERMore Than Life (UK) at Crown & AnchorRalph Towner (US), Wolfgang Muthspiel (Vienna) and Slava Grigoryan (Melbourne) at Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre

FRIDAY 31 OCTOBERRick Price (Brisbane) and Ian ‘Bushy’ Mar-tin at Capri Cinema (Goodwood)Hot Dub Time Machine (Melbourne) at Thebarton TheatreDeuces Wild Rockabilly Weekender: Louis King (Melbourne), The Lincolns and Slavy & The Hired Help at Gaslight Tavern

For a more information on who is touring go to www.bsidemagazine.com.au

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FEATURED INTERVIEWSEMAPHORE MUSIC FESTIVAL

SEMAPHORE MUSIC FESTIVALBy Robert Dunstan

The annual Semaphore Music Festival, now in its 10th year and which will take place at the picturesque seaside suburb on the October long weekend (Friday 3 October until Monday 6 Octo-ber) once again boasts an impressive line-up of local and national talent.

The four-day boutique festival will feature a number of interstate acts (Mick Thom-as and Squeezebox Wally of Melbourne band Weddings Parties Anything, Gleny Rae Virus and Melbourne’s Weeping Willows as well as Charles Jenkins & The Zhivagos) alongside a whole host of local talent.

Opening night of the festival on Friday 3 October will highlight The Dirty Roots Band with Snooks La Vie, Nick Kipridis and Billy Bob at a funky but chic dress up Blue Ball supporting beyondblue at the Palais Ballroom with Bec Gollan Band and Kineman Karma performing at Port Adelaide & Semaphore RSL and Gleny Rae Virus, Pete Fidler and Don Morrison’s Rag-ing Thirst at Semaphore Workers Club. Indigenous artist and national treasure Frank Yamma will be performing with oth-er local acts on the Foreshore Reserve as a huge celebration of SA music on Sunday 5 October at which he will be highlighting songs from latest album, Uncle.

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it,” Frank says of playing a Semaphore Music Festival foreshore concert as one of the headline acts, “because it seems like a while now since I last played there with David Bride. So it’s going to be good. And it’ll just be me and my guitar this time.Tamworth legend Gleny Rae Virus is looking forward to making her debut at the festival as it will enable her to kick two goals at once.

“I have always wanted to play Semaphore Workers Club but I’m not considered quite bluesy enough,” Gleny Rae says of the venue at which she will be performing from 8pm on Friday 3 October alongside Pete Fidler and Don Morrison’s Raging Thirst.

“And the reason I’ve always wanted to play there is that I have some good friends in bands, The Detonators for instance, who reckon it’s one of the best venues in the country.

“And I’ve also always wanted to play Semaphore Music Festival because I’ve heard so many good reports about it,” she continues. “So to play Semaphore Workers Club at Semaphore Music Festi-val ticks two boxes at once.”

Also on the bill will be Don Morrison’s Raging Thirst with whom Gleny Rae once

played with at The Wheatsheaf Hotel in Thebarton one wild New Year’s Eve.“That would have been back in about 2006 or so or something like that,” Gleny Rae. “Gee, it’s a while ago now. And I’ll be sharing the stage with Don’s rhythm section at Semaphore, so it’s going to be a real cracker and a mix of rockabilly and some western swing. So it’ll all be pretty upbeat as it’s my understanding that the people who go to Semaphore Workers Club like to get up and dance.

“But we’ll do a couple of ballads as well to break it up a bit because I’ve got a new bluesy kind of ballad that I want to try out,” she laughs. “But I’ll also be doin’ stuff going as far back as my first album, High Rollin’, and some songs from my last two. So it’s going to be a great night of music and dancing.”

Semaphore Songs Project, the backbone of Semaphore Music Festival, will be mentored in 2014 by locally born singer songwriter Charles Jenkins, now based in Melbourne, and who will be playing his own concert at Semaphore Workers Club on Saturday 4 October with The Hushes.

“Looking at the list of those who are involved this year [in Semaphore Songs Project], I’m not sure I will need to be doing much mentoring,” Charles says of Adelaide singer songwriters such as Kelly Menhennett, Hannah Yates, Koral, Matt Ward, Fee Brown, Snooks La Vie, Sasha March, Tom Redwood and Brenton Manser, who are all penning a song about Semaphore for this year’s event before showcasing them at a special session from 2pm on Monday 6 October at Sema-phore RSL Club, 10 Semaphore Rd.Saturday 4 October and Sunday 5 Octo-ber will have St Bedes Church open for music as The Gully Wind Elders Choir, Vonda Last, Hannah Yates and Nan-cy Bates will appear on Saturday with acoustic singer songwriters A.P D’Antonio, Courtney Robb and Tristen Bird featuring on Sunday afternoon.

Award winning Melbourne-based singer songwriter Mick Thomas, of the band Weddings Parties Anything and The Sure Thing and also of the Vandemonian Lags collective, is looking forward to making his debut at this year’s Semaphore Music Festival.

Mick, accompanied by accordion player Squeezebox Wally, also of Weddings Parties Anything fame along with being an occasional member of Melbourne folk rock band The Go Set, will be playing Semaphore Workers Club from 4pm on Sunday 5 October with Junior as special guests.

“I understand that Semaphore Music Festival is a very organic event that has grown over the years,” Mick says of the community-minded festival. “Like most

festivals, I’d imagine it had a humble beginning.”Mick, who now has a wealth or original material to draw on, is unsure of what songs the duo will be presenting as part of the festival.

“We’ll just play it by ear like we usually do,” he declares. “But it’ll be good playing with Wally because, while he hasn’t played on absolutely everything I’ve ever done, he’s probably the one musician who has played on the most.

“Wally and I also did a European tour a while back and we’re doing shows where we were just kinda taking requests each night,” Mick continues. “So we were trying to cram in as many songs as we could and over the course of the whole tour, I reck-on we did about 80 or 90 different songs.“We were doing some songs that had never been recorded because, especially in England, we were taking request from songs that had only ever appeared on live bootleg recordings,” Mick recalls. “So we’d have a go at them and then wonder why they had never been recorded.

And if there are only two of you on stage, and especially with someone like Wally, you can have a go at something and there’s a pretty good chance you are going to pull it off.

It is likely that the award winning song Fa-ther’s Day, a moving ditty Mick penned pri-or to becoming a dad himself, will make it onto the Semaphore Music Festival set.“I was doing a show only the other day and someone said, ‘There’s only one thing worse than having a song you are expected to play at every gig for the rest of your life and that’s NOT having a song you have to play at every gig for the rest of your life’,” Mick laughs. “And he’s com-pletely right.

“You spend your time writing songs and sometimes you get one away,” he says of Father’s Day which picked up an ARIA for Song Of The Year in 1993. “I don’t work in what you could call a commercial area so I have no right to be expecting to have hit after hit each time I write a song but the success of Father’s Day was an accom-plishment on a personal level.

“It’s a song that has served me well be-cause it’s one of the reasons people still come to gigs after all these years and the reason there’s still a little bit of money in the bank account,” he philosophises. “And I’m still happy with the song and still stand by it. So it’s a rare night that I don’t play it.”

Mick is also buoyed by the fact that long-running and much-loved Adelaide trio Junior will be special guests for his festival gig, especially as they rarely play these days due to other musical commit-ments.

“Yeah, I’ve known those guys for a long, long time,” Mick says of Steve Ped, Justin Slater and Pete Arthur who make up Ju-nior. “So that’s going to work really well.”

The Foreshore Reserve Concerts on Sat-urday and Sunday will host 30 bands over the weekend including Kaurna Cronin and Sam Brittain who have recently returned from European tours. Other artists ap-pearing include Koral, Dexter Jones, Filthy Lucre, and The Weeping Willows from Melbourne.

Rockabilly Mayhem also returns to the Foreshore Stage on Monday 6 October and features Jam Jets, Dead Lucky, The Villenettes, The Saucermen and The Silverados.

And don’t miss the Closing Event Party with The Lincolns and The Satellites in The Palais Ballroom on Monday 6 October from 5pm until 9pm.

Three D Radio’s popular Hillbilly Hoot will also again be broadcast live from Semaphore Workers Club from 8pm until 9.30pm on closing night.

The Foreshore Reserve will also boast boutique beers and wines alongside a delicious selection of gourmet truck food. There will also be sideshows for youngsters near the famous carousel and waterslide.

Semaphore Music Festival takes place from Friday 3 October until Sunday 6 October.

Visit semaphoremusicfestival.com for more information with tickets avail-able from trybooking.com

MICK THOMAS & SQUEEZEBOX WALLY

7

THE MEANIESBy Robert DunstanMelbourne punk rock band The Mean-ies must have formed a quarter of a century ago as they are hitting the road on a Silver Jubilee tour to mark their 25th anniversary. “You don’t think about any longevity when you first get together,” bass player Wally Meanie reasons.

“But then you play a few Big Day Out’s with bands you have high regard for like The Ramones, who started out in the ’70s, and begin to think, ‘Hey, it might just be possible to do this for a while’.

“I do think though that back then we didn’t even know what a Silver Jubilee was,” he adds with a chuckle.

Wally acknowledges that the band, who lost DD Meanie to a life-long illness in ear-ly 2008 and Tas Blizzard to a fatal car acci-dent later the same year, have had many adventures over their lengthy career.

“I was only thinking about this the other day because it seems most magazines want lists these days,” Wally sighs. “I just read one that Tumbleweed did where they had to name their top eight memo-rable moments. What’s with that? It’s the year of lists.

“Anyway,” he continues, “we have memo-rable memories of driving over in convoy to Adelaide for the very first time because our guitarist, DD Meanie, was originally from Adelaide and knew some friends there who could organise a couple of gigs for us. And then there was going up the Hume in a convoy of cars to Sydney for the first time.”

That’s two memorable career moments quickly taken care of, so just half a dozen more to go.

“Well, there was travelling around Europe for the first time in the back of an Iveco truck with all the seats taken out and just mattresses on the floor,” Wally says. “Pretty dangerous and silly now that we look back on it.

“And then there was learning all the songs for the 10% Weird album on the flight over to Seattle to record it,” he recalls. “That actually was pretty memorable because [vocalist] Link had the songs for 10% Weird but no lyrics or melodies. He just had the chord progressions because he thought it would be a good way to get the band really tight and we could just go wham, bam, thank you mam when we got to the studio.

“Linky thought that if we were to learn the songs as instrumentals on the plane on the way over to America, we could then knock them off quite quickly once we got there,”

Wally continues. “And it worked a treat because me and drummer Ringo Mean-ie did our parts over the first day and a half and were done. We then both spent the rest of the time sightseeing, meeting people and just generally hanging out. But we did pop back into the studio every so often to see how it was all going.”

The Meanies, an early influence on Fren-zal Rhomb, recorded 10% Weird in Seattle in 1994 with American producer Conrad Uno.

“We got to Seattle just as things were starting to die down, although to be honest Seattle is a bit like Melbourne in that the music will never stop,” Wally reasons. “Seattle is always going to be a great music city with tons of bands and plenty of places to play but, for want of a better term, we got there as the so-called grunge era was coming to an end. It was almost uncool to go over to Seattle to record, so that’s why we did it. We can be quite daggy like that.

“And it was Bruce Milne, who ran our la-bel, Au Go Go, who got Conrad involved,” he continues. “Conrad had done a lot of stuff with Mudhoney, Sonic Youth, Fresh Young Fellows and all these other fantas-tic bands so Bruce felt that The Meanies should work with him. And he just hap-pened to be based in Seattle.

“And it was also Bruce who organised for us to go to Japan for the first time because he was releasing the early Sonic Youth stuff in Australian via Au Go Go and had been to Japan with them,” Wally says. “So he thought we should go there too.“And that actually was our first really memorable moment as, until then, The Meanies had never been out of the coun-try before,” he adds. “And it was memora-ble because, compared to touring Austra-lia, it was quite a huge culture shock.”

Wally finishes the interview by discussing at great length the vinyl re-issues that will soon be coming from The Meanies and all that exciting extra information can be found by visiting BSidemagazine.com.au

The Meanies hit Jive, 181 Hindley St, Adelaide, on their Silver Jubilee jaunt on Saturday 4 October with local bands Pro Tools and The Profiteers as special guests.

MICK KIDDBy Robert DunstanAdelaide blues and roots artist Mick Kidd (pictured right) is greatly look-ing forward to launching his new CD, Winter Sun, which features harmonica player Dave Blight on nine of the 10 offerings as part of the 10th annual Semaphore Music Festival.

“It all ties in nicely,” Mick suggests, “be-cause I have played Semaphore Music Festival in the past and also been involved in Semaphore Songs Project as part of the festival. I actually reckon I’ve now played at about four or five of the 10 festivals. So it’s great to be involved again and have a new CD to promote.”

Mick goes on to say that Winter Sun is receiving much community radio play across the country and, as such, is cur-rently sitting in the monthly Australian Blues & Roots Airplay Charts.

“It debuted at number 16 so it seems like the planets are aligning at the moment,” he laughs. “There’s dozens and dozens of blues programs on community radio, especially in country areas such as Warnambool and the like, so the chart is based on each presenter’s submissions every month to a guy called Anthony up in Byron Bay who collates it all as a top 25.”

The musician said the Winter Sun album came about when he was asked to con-tribute a couple of songs to a documen-tary.

“There’s a documentary being made about the Adelaide Hills Steam Ranger which has some government funding so I was asked to be involved in that,” Mick recalls. “The brief was that they want-ed some slide guitar blues with a bit of harmonica. I then got together with Dave [Blight] because we’d done something to-gether for SCALA a couple of years back.

So we did songs for the documentary, Free Wheelin’ Feelin’ and Duke 621 [which has Emily Kelly on backing vocals, and then mentioned to Dave that I had a few more songs and asked if he wanted to work on them with me.

“So Winter Sun came from all that,” he adds.

“Dave and I just started recording and then didn’t stop. I have a portable digital studio so we did some of it at my place and some at Dave’s. And then we got DD McGee to add some drums as well as a bit of percussion and then got Marty Jones, who often does the sound at The Wheat-sheaf Hotel, to mix and master it.”

Everyone has heard Dave Blight as he is the harmonica player on many songs by Cold Chisel, most notably Khe Sahn, and has been considered an unofficial mem-ber since their early days and often joins them at their now rare live shows.

Dave also works with Cold Chisel’s Don Walker on his assorted solo projects and will again be touring the eastern states with the songwriting master in Novem-ber. Dave’s blues band, The Flyers, is also in the process of recording a new album.

“I’d first met Dave when I was hangin’ out with Rockin’ Rob Riley because they were both mates,” Mick says. “And because I used to go and see The Flyers a lot, I knew who he was. So, as time went by, Dave and I also got to be good mates.”

Winter Sun enjoyed an Adelaide Hills launch a few weeks ago at Littlehampton.“I live up this way and play pubs like the Littlehampton Hotel quite often,” Mick says. “So, because I have quite a few friends up this way, it seemed right to do a CD launch for them before heading down to town.”

Mick recently performed in Murray Bridge at River City Rumble, an event with a focus on vintage cars and motorcycles along with some like-minded music.“That went really, really well,” he enthus-es. “I was the first act on the Saturday and did a solo spot. And then East Texas were on after me and they were great. And then The Satellites finished the night off. It was really well-attended so I reckon it may become an annual event.

“And I think that now the weather is get-ting better and better, people are finally coming out of hibernation,” he concludes. “So I reckon Semaphore Music Festival, especially with it being the 10th anniver-sary, will do really well this year.”

Mick Kidd launches Winter Sun with Dave Blight at The Exeter Hotel, 152 Semaphore Rd, Semaphore, from 5pm on Sunday 5 October.

MICK KIDD THE MEANIES

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THE CLOTHESLINE

State Theatre Company SA 2015 Season LaunchBy Catherine BlanchGoing to see live theatre is really one of the joys of life. Next to losing your-self in a good book, watching actors on stage as they tell a story – maybe even your own story – can entice a whole gamut of emotions, from happiness to sorrow, grief and excitement.

Becoming engrossed in a stage produc-tion can be cathartic or enlightening or simply a temporary moment in time away from the business of life and work and responsibilities.

Hosted by Artistic Director Geordie Brookman, Thu Sep 25 celebrated the announcement of the 2015 State The-atre Company SA Season Program at the Dunstan Playhouse: “Many Worlds in One”. We see the return of some theatri-cal favourites – plays and actors – that will thrill and delight all the senses.

Samuel Beckett’s trilogy, Footfalls, Eh Joe and Krapp’s Last Tape, Beckett Triptych features three of Australia’s finest actors: Pamela Rabe, Paul Blackwell and Peter Carroll respectively, performed in two State Theatre Company’s spaces; The Scenic Workshop and Rehearsal Room as part of the 2015 Adelaide Festival.

After nearly twenty years, Ray Lawler’s Summer of the Seventeenth Doll returns to the Dunstan Playhouse in a 60th Anni-versary production. This new take on an Australian classic stars Chris Pitman (Ba-byteeth, Speaking In Tongues, Cloudstreet) and is directed by Geordie Brookman.

Masquerade is the iconic children’s book by UK author Kit Williams, which has been adapted for the stage by award-winning Australian playwright, Kate Mulvany. Adelaide favourite, Nathan O’Keefe (The Importance Of Being Earnest, Pinocchio) is the bumbling yet faithful Jack Hare, playing alongside West End star Helen

Dallimore (Wicked) in a production that will also perform at the Melbourne and Sydney Festivals.

A highlight of the 2015 season, Harold Pinter’s Betrayal sees the reforming of the creative team behind the acclaimed 2013 production of Hedda Gabler. Director Geordie Brookman reunites with Help-mann Award-winning Alison Bell as the woman caught within the infidelity of a complex love triangle. Betrayal premieres in Adelaide before performing a season in Canberra and, in a first, a season at Melbourne Theatre Company.

Adelaide writer Emily Steel, teams up with actor Paul Blackwell (Vere) is a reworking of the swindling Volpone in the corrupt city of Venice. This brilliant satirical come-dy was written by Shakespeare’s contem-porary Ben Jonson and first performed in 1605, yet is to this day as funny and relevant as ever.

In a world premiere co-production with Belvoir Theatre, Angela Betzien’s Morti-do is a crime thriller starring stage and screen legend Colin Friels (Malcolm, Water Rats, Blackjack) and marks Colin Friels’ first Adelaide production since Shadow and Splendour during the 1992 Adelaide Festival.

The season closer sees a new production of pure silliness with The Popular Mechan-icals, led by Helpmann Award-winning actress Amber McMahon. Originally di-rected by Geoffrey Rush in 1987 for Com-pany B Belvoir, The Popular Mechanicals recalls the tale of the Rude Mechanicals from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; a group of amateur thespians who stage the ridiculously earnest and unin-tentionally hysterical Pyramus and Thisbe.

The 2015 State Education production is the New York Fringe Festival award-win-ning production This is Where We Live by Vivienne Walshe. Co-produced with HotHouse Theatre in Albury, This Is Where We Live shares the highs, lows and angst of teenage love.

The irrepressible Miriam Margolyes (Neighbourhood Watch, Harry Potter, Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries) returns to Australia for the world premiere of The Importance of Being Miriam as part of the 2015 State Extra production. The consum-mate performer, this will be a show about Miriam as you’ve never seen her before.

The 2015 State Umbrella, supporting Adelaide’s independent theatre sector, presents Madame: The Story of Joseph Far-rugia – a new piece of movement-based theatre about the life of outrageous adult entertainer and founder of the Crazy Horse Revue Joseph Farrugia a.k.a. Ma-dame Josephine.

For further information and bookings, head to www.statetheatrecompany.com.au.

Circa – WunderkammerBy Siân WilliamsA show that celebrates the raw, un-blemished skills of those in front of us, instead of the distraction of too many costume changes and busy sets, Wunderkammer, from Circa Artistic Di-rector Yaron Lifschitz, has been hailed by The Guardian UK as a raw display of dazzling burlesque; smart, skilful, slyly comic and sexy.

After speaking with Daniel O’Brien, who is currently performing with Brisbane’s Circa (formerly known as the Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus) and specialising in hand-balancing and aerial straps, I think I have found my kind of circus to run away with… once I brush up on a few tricks and skills, of course. Ahem.

O’Brien is relaxing before a show in Port McDonald and we begin by asking if being a graduate of NICA is in the same family as ANAM (Australian National Academy of Music) or NIDA (Australian Institute of Dramatic Arts)?

“Yes,” he laughs. “It is essentially a circus university. It follows the same pattern as what other uni courses offer: theory and practical, history and methodology. It was an amazing place to be, to be surrounded by those wanting to follow the same path as me.”

Had you always considered this you natural full-time career? “After the enormous amount of money and time my family invested in my gymnastics hobby

through my earlier years I certainly felt it was important to at least give it a shot at performing full time,” O’Brien replies. “Then, of course, being in such an envi-ronment I found just how much I loved it and here we are!

“When you study at NICA (National Institute of Circus Arts) the school puts on a major show every year, but naturally nothing of this magnitude. It is very excit-ing to be involved with such a huge show, and especially considering how well it has been received.”

O’Brien explains that it is Yaron Lifschitz who essentially choreographs the basic premise of the show, then lets the artists work through how they want to link together the themes and ideas for the show, is well respected in the physical arts world.

“Yaron is a graduate of UNSW, University of Queensland and NIDA,” O’Brien says. “He is renowned for being the youngest director ever accepted into the graduate director’s course. His relationship with the performers is important, as while he in-troduces ideas and elements of the show, there is plenty of room for self-expression which he then works with to bring the best out of all the artists.

“The performers of Wunderkammer each have their own skill set complementing the others, and together their show is sassy and provocative.”

Do you get much down time when performing? “Not really, he laughs, “although, we actually just had a bit of a break. When we are away touring it is pretty full on; we train a little on the first day to safety check all the equipment but the whole show really is very physical so really it is good to have continuity. We work very hard.”

Circa performs Wunderkammer at Her Majesty’s Theatre from 7pm on Wed Oct 1 until Sat Oct 4 with a 2pm mati-nee performance on Sat Oct 4. Book at BASS on 131 246 or bass.net.au

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THE FUNHOUSE OF BLUES

THE FUNHOUSE OF BLUESBy Robert DunstanThe Funhouse Of Blues, an Adelaide combo with over 160 years musical ex-perience between them as it features keyboard player Tom Kassai, guitarist Peter ‘Fish’ Tsounis, sax player Gabriel ‘Gabs’ Chammah, bassist and vocalist Ron Kosmider and drummer Enrico ‘Mick’ Morena.

The band have now commenced a weekly Wednesday evening residency at The Gas-light Tavern, so BSide Magazine caught up with drummer Enrico for a chat. “We are actually soon going to change our name to Funhouse,” he begins. “And that’s primarily because, while we are blues-based, there’s so much more to us than just straight blues. We do jump blues and swing and also throw in some tunes that are out of left field.

“And we do some original songs as well so don’t want to be totally roped into the blues idiom because then people tend to think you might be just another generic blues act,” he adds.

The band formed some six months ago and have since performed in live music venues such as The Wheatsheaf Hotel and Semaphore Workers Club as well as scoring their Gaslight Tavern residency.

“I’d put the band together because some touring work I’d been doing was begin-ning to dry up,” Enrico, who used to play with Adelaide band Rocket 88 at Hindley St venues such as Ko Club and Cargo Club back in the late ’80s before moving to London, says. “I’d been touring regu-larly with Kate Ceberano, which was good money being with such a well-known artist, but that kinda stopped when Kate started playing drums herself.

“And I also drum and record with The Baker Suite when they play as a full band,” he adds. “But they can also quite easily play as just a duo or sometimes a trio, so I’m not always required.

“So I thought I’d put a group together that could also serve as a backing band for visiting blues acts such as Fiona Boyes and others,” Enrico then divulges, “but also do gigs on their own. “And it may be that we’ll be working with Gail Page in the future,” he says of the vocalist who flits between Adelaide and Sydney for gigs.

“And now we have the Wednesday night residency as The Gaslight,” he adds. “And that’s building up as more and more peo-ple come down and then come back with friends the next week. And on occasion we’ll have some special guests.”

The Gaslight Tavern is an inner western

suburbs pub that is about to be renovat-ed and it has become a haven for music lover and musicians over recent times as it now boasts live music every night of the week apart from Monday evenings.

On Tuesday evenings, it has The Blues Lounge, a well-attended blues jam with special guests most weeks and on Thurs-day evening there’s another jam night, The Groove Factory, while Friday nights give way to a rock-orientated jam night.

The Gaslight Tavern, which now has a barista on board and which also boasts a new cantina-style menu alongside its nor-mal pub meals, hosts original music on Saturday evenings with The Customliners, The Pumpin’ Piano Cats and Dead Lucky set to play there on Friday 10 October.

Canberra-based punk bands The Vacant Lot and Bladder Spasms will also be playing the pub alongside Perdition and Fear & Loathing on Friday 14 November. And The Iguana Lounge, a showcase of local music of all kinds, takes place at the pub every Sunday evening as a free entry event from 6-10pm.

The Funhouse Of Blues also brings a strong musical pedigree to The Gaslight Tavern as most of the players have been performing in various bands since the ’60s and ’70s. “Oh, it’s a quality band alright,” Enrico readily agrees, “and we are more than capable of playing lots of different styles of music.

“As I said, our current repertoire is a little bit off-centre as far as blues is concerned and we often go off into old school R&B territory because Peter ‘Fish’ Tsounis is an expert in that area and [keyboard player] Tom Kassai is a boogie master. And Gabs, who plays sax, has been around forever.

“And Ronnie Kosmider is such an Adelaide icon,” he adds of the well-known local musician who used to host a music show on Saturday mornings on Channel 10 in the early ’70s.

The Funhouse Of Blues, soon to be known as Funhouse, play The Gaslight Tavern, 36 Chief St, Brompton, from 8.30pm every Wednesday evening with an easy $5 entry.

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CD/DVD REVIEWS

Babylon Burning‘Silence Rains’

Reviewer: Phil CatleyRating: 4/5

Babylon Burning is a local 7-piece roots/rock/reggae band with a strong political agenda. “Silence Rains” is its latest re-lease. This 8 track album is musically solid and consistent, and is heavily influenced by reggae and ska.

This collection of songs is relentless in its delivery of the political and social message. The politics is sympathetic with movements such as GetUp!, the Greens, and Socialist Alliance, which is what you would expect from a Reggae/Roots band (someone may prove me wrong but I cant think of any right-wing bands using Reggae to deliver their message).

So if you like reggae, ska, horns, and a strong left-wing message, this is the band and the album for you!

This reviewer loves reggae and a good horns section is always welcome, so there is a lot to like in this release. Musical politics can be a difficult genre to do well. In general terms, there are two form of Musical Politic that work well for me.

One form is the song that is understated and subtle. I’m thinking of songs such as “Who’ll Stop the Rain” or “Galveston”. The other form is the in-your-face angry blunt message; Rage Against The Machine comes to mind as an angry bunch of blokes with an angry message delivered in an angry tone.

Bob Marley tends towards the subtle, but as a Rasta from a poverty stricken third world nation he can say what he likes in whatever form he likes (or could).

This brings me to “Silence Rains”, which sits in the middle of the Musical Politics spectrum. There are plenty of good social causes being championed on this album, but there is no anger and there is little subtlety.

The band clearly has a number of causes they strongly believe in and are using music to tell the world. Personally, I would like to hear the messages delivered with a bit more of an angry edge, or with a bit more lyrical complexity.

Otherwise - great album!

Blood PlasticBlood Makes Fantastic

PlasticReviewer: Kyle Opie

Rating: 4/5Blood Plastic’s debut nine track LP ‘Blood Makes Fantastic Plastic’ was written and recorded in both Berlin and Adelaide over a period between 2013 and 2014.

In its short time on local community radio charts it has already proved to be demandingly popular. Their sound is of something altogether unique, but with a warming edge of familiarity. The twisted mix of psychedelic, grunge and alterna-tive rock sounds takes you on the sort of moody adventures you might expect to find in an independent short film.

Characterised by an almost stilted dynam-ic of driving toms and thick distortion, each tune builds on the same musical theme, but with their own unique set of timbres developed by slight changes in the application of instrumentation.

The album does well to paint a picture as a whole, as well as track by track, with a clever restraint that features throughout. Seldom is there any use of cymbals other than a tambourine on two and four.

This restraint gives way to the layers of distorted guitar and Hammond organ, whose minor key moods in addition to melodically minimalistic tension-building bass lines reiterate the psychedelic land-scape provided by the vocals.

Ice on MercurySelf Titled

Reviewer: Chris SavillRating: 5/5

Before we even get into the music aspect of these guys, I had a good laugh at reading their biography on their official Facebook page. I suggest you go and have a look of what I’m talking about! And the funny thing is, it sums these guys up really well!! I could see instantly that they take their music seriously, but also have an awesome sense of humor.

Doing my research into the band, I discovered that they have some impres-sive accolades behind them from the local scene, such as the Rocking Angel Award 2012, and being named Cavern Club/Rocking Angel Bourbon Favorite SA Artist 2013 from the Fowler’s Live Music Awards.

Listening to their self-titled EP was a plea-sure. I could hear the passion for music in their tracks as well as the effort that the whole band had contributed in putting this release together. All of the tracks are performed really tightly and the musician-ship is second to none.

I have a lot of respect for this band when it comes to the recording process as well, as these guys pretty much recorded everything in analogue, using traditional recording methods. No click track. No dig-ital plug-ins. No computer recording, and instead they went straight to analogue tape... Wow!

To do that and get it right takes a lot of skill, but you will understand that just by listening to this EP; you can instantly tell Ice on Mercury were up to the challenge.

I can’t find the right words to explain how good this EP is ‘Awesome’ would be an understatement. My favorite track has to be the first one on the EP, called “Revolv-er”.

The track just sucks you in. It has amazing hooks, awesome sounding riffs and above all, you can hear the passion for music that drives this band. You can hear that they love music. It’s what they live for. This is definitely a track that you should crank up to 11.

I will be keeping my eyes on these guys, as they will definitely be putting SA on the musical map in the future. As for the EP, I recommend going out to secure your copy. Now.

These guys get the big 5 out of 5.

The Timbers‘Lawless’

Reviewer: Michael HunterRating: 5/5 stars

The Timbers have always been a hard working band. It seems that every time you look at a gig guide, they’re playing a show here, a festival there, starting an interstate tour and so on. The promo-tional side of things has always been well organised, too. Since their first recording in 2011, the music has so far undergone a few changes, mainly necessitated by variations in line-up and instrumentation.

However, the many admirers of The Tim-bers have had comparatively slim pickings when it comes to recorded music, partic-ularly in the current ‘brassy’ line-up. A few singles and EPs have had to suffice until 2014 when finally, the full-length album ‘Lawless’ has been unleashed. Maybe it’s a little strange for a debut to take this long, but if the band needed to wait until the planets aligned correctly to make an im-pressive and professional recording, then they have been more than vindicated with this release.

So many aspects to consider. The first to mention though (and it’s stating the obvious to those familiar with the band) is that while the music would fit under the category of folk and acoustic, it is mostly loud, raucous and energetic! That’s proba-bly what defines The Timbers’ sound to a large degree nowadays - and I think it’s fair to say they do have their own sound. The energetic rhythms of songs like ‘Rock The Boat’, ‘Need A Change’ and ‘Some-thing To Do’ are similar but very much distinctive as songs, and the strong 4-way harmonies are also.

There is plenty of great interplay between instruments, and the brass certainly adds a whole different timbre (sorry) to the sound. In fact, I find the trumpet riffs on songs such as ‘Gallantry’ to be among the most persistent earworms of the album.

In other examples of diversity, ‘Mean Streak’ has an arrangement that reminds me somewhat of a jugband style in many places, but with modern touches and definite originality, while ‘Sailing My Way’ is positively epic in terms of the intensity of its production and overall feel. The addition of percussion and keyboards on various tracks helps to fill out an already full sound, as well. ‘Shepherd Of The Seas’ is listed as a bonus track as it was

recorded separately from the album per se, but it earns its place with its dramatic and somewhat rockier arrangement, and obviously important message.

The studio doesn’t seem to have cramped their style to any noticeable degree. It has however given them the chance to utilise subtle production tricks with regard to voice and instrument placement and the like, but always in the service of the music itself. The packaging also has a distinctive design, and thankfully includes all the lyrics. Collectively, The Timbers have produced an album that doesn’t just withstand repeated listenings, it practical-ly insists on them.

Music SA is a not-for-profit organisation committed to pro-moting, supporting and developing contemporary music in South Australia.

We are thrilled to be working with BSide Magazine to bring you reviews of South Australian artists.

Want to see your CD reviewed here? Go to musicsa.com.au for details on how to submit your EP or LP.

CD REVIEWS

11

BOB’S BITS

So, here I be back in print again

It didn’t happen overnight, these things never do, but it did happen.

And, to add to all this excitement, is not the weather quite lovely at the moment? And the lovely weather will continue to pick up speed as we speed towards the upcoming Long Weekend, so it all augurs well for celebrating the 10th anniversary of Semaphore Music Festival down at the picturesque seaside suburb of Sema-phore which kicks off on the evening of Friday 3 October with gala event The Blue Ball featuring Snooks La Vie heading The Dirty Roots Band at Semaphore Palais.

And, as it’s to be for a good cause, Be-yond Blue, I refrain from any jokes about dirty roots and blue balls. So, the trusty weather application on my smart phone indicates it will be a balmy 27 degrees on the festival’s opening night and become considerably warmer on Saturday – al-most 30 degrees by the looks of it – and then move into quite acceptable low-20 degree territory on Sunday and Monday although they indicate that the festival’s closing day on Monday could well be partly cloudy and could well cause some rockabilly mayhem on Semaphore’s Fore-shore Reserve.

Anyway, I recently had some phone conversation with Mick Thomas about the fact the former front-person for popular folk rock band Weddings Parties Any-thing is coming to town in early October to make his debut at Semaphore Music Festival.

Mick, who, accordion to my information will have Squeezebox Wally, also from Weddings Parties Anything, alongside him, will be playing Semaphore Workers Club, 93 Semaphore Rd, Semaphore, from 4pm on Sunday 5 October with Adelaide’s Junior also on the bill.

My chat with Mick also caused me to recall that it was due to him and his Wed-dings Parties Anything band mates that I made my first ever visit to the Grace Emily Hotel in Waymouth St.

Let me explain.

The year was 1998 and Mick and his trusty crew were undertaking a lap of the country on their Lap Of Honour farewell tour accompanied by The Waifs.

In Adelaide they were playing Heaven (now known as HQ) and after the gig at which several tears were shed – and that was at the beginning of the night when they kicked of with that a capella ditty about fusiliers – I had found myself backstage knowing that the band very likely probably would want to kick on for the night.

It was than announced that we would be heading to a pub that a mate from Melbourne was running called the Grace Emily Hotel. As I knew of no such pub in Adelaide with such a name, I boldly asked where it might be located and was told, ‘Somewhere in Waymouth St’.

So, as I had no idea where it was and nei-ther did anyone in the band or crew, we elected to walk the length of Waymouth St in search of it with myself thinking to myself, ‘This pub does not actually exist in Adelaide and they are probably thinking of another pub in another city entirely’.

But I went along with them because, well, that’s the kind of thing you do when you have visitors in town.

Anyway, to make a short story long, for some reason we, including at least one waif, began our mission at the very top end of Waymouth St at King William St. Quite how we got there from Heaven (now known as HQ) I can’t now recall but I do remember passing a karaoke bar – it might well have been Raglan’s – during our Waymouth St trek that had a sign suggesting they hosted functions for weddings, parties, anything, so we had to stop for a quick photo opportunity that probably took longer than was completely necessary.

As we ventured further and further down Waymouth St with myself still thinking to myself, ‘This Grace Emily pub does not exist in Adelaide and they are probably thinking of another pub in another city entirely’, and passed yet another couple of pubs which were not the one in ques-tion, there in the distance was a rather welcoming sign on a building that clearly read ‘Grace Emily Hotel’.

‘Goodness me’, I thought, ‘this used to be the Launceston Hotel’, a public house which I remembered from my distant past as I had once, and once only, stepped inside its doors for a quick pint only to discover that the bar staff were wearing hardly any clothing. But that’s another story.

Once we were all safely inside, I was intro-duced to the owner/operator who kindly informed me that he had only re-opened the pub a few days ago and had made no big or any kind of official announcement about its arrival on the scene.

So it was all good as, weeks and weeks and weeks later when people would ask of me, ‘Hey, Bob, you been to that new Grace Emily pub in Waymouth St yet?’, I could kind of sneer knowingly at them and say, ‘Yeah, I went there weeks ago when it first opened’.

Semaphore Music Festival takes place from Friday 3 October until Monday 6 October at Semaphore, SA.

Visit semaphoremusicfestival.com for more information.

Mick Thomas & Squeebox Wally and Junior play Semaphore Workers Club from 4pm on Sunday 5 October.

Tickets are available now from try-booking.com

TUBA SKINNY

TUBA SKINNYby Robert DunstanTuba Skinny, an ensemble featuring Erika Lewis on vocals based in New Orleans who play, early, old-timey jazz and some blues using such instru-ments as tuba, trombone, washboard, guitar, tenor banjo and cornet as well as spoons, are heading to Australia for their fourth tour.

It follows two previous visits to our city to perform at Adelaide Cabaret Festival in 2012 and also at WOMADelaide in 2013.

The lively collective also come armed with no less than two new albums, Owl Cat Strut and Pyramid Blues, with the latter of-fering being recorded in Tasmania during the band’s last visit.

BSide Magazine spoke over the phone to washboard player Robin Rapuzzi and recalled that when we last spoke, the musician had said Tuba Skinny would be recording Pyramid Blues on one of the 334 islands that surround Tasmania.

“That’s what we had originally been told,” Robin laughs, “but it ended up being re-corded in a forest just outside of Hobart. I think it was in a fruit-picking area and we did it on this beautiful old property and stayed in some of the old fruit-picker shacks. They were just run-down cabins really, but it was great. And we did it with Chris Townsend, a good friend of our Australian manager, Jordan.

“And the great thing is, because both those new albums were recorded since we were last in Australia, this will be the first time we’ll have had them available at gigs down there. We’d started recording Owl Call Blues in December of last year and finished it off in January of this year. And we recorded it at Shaye [Cohn] and Erika’s home where they have a piano in their living room. And, because we like to keep things local, we got our good buddy, Max Bien-Kahn, to record us.”

This writer first experienced Tuba Skinny when, following a ticketed show as part of Adelaide Cabaret Festival, they had dragged their instruments outside the Banquet Room venue and began playing on Adelaide Festival Centre’s plaza area where they attracted interested onlook-ers and made many new friends.

“That tends to happen when you sponta-neously play on the street,” Robin says. “You make a connection with people because the band and audience are on the same level.”

Tuba Skinny, who had moved to New Orleans independently of each other before forming the band, are greatly look-ing forward to touring Australia as they are bringing new member, guitarist and vocalist Greg Sherman.

“And Greg’s great,” Robin enthuses. “He joined just before we made Owl Call Blues so he’s on that album and it means we can now do some fast-paced country blues that he does as well as some of the slower blues that’s he’s really good at.

“I really love playing on the stuff Greg sings with Erika singing back-up,” he re-veals. “Greg is a great blues fingerpickin’ guitarist and that featured in a lot of early jazz. Most early jazz bands had a badass blues guitarist who played some really bluesy licks. So on the new album there’s a song like that called Willie The Weeper and we all love playin’ it.”

“But at gigs we play a real variety of the music that we’ve done over the years,” he adds.

Robin then says that New Orleans is still slowly rebuilding after the devastation that was Hurricane Katrina of almost 10 years ago.

“There’s a few neighbourhoods that are really doing well,” he says. “For example if you are in the French Quarter and go east towards the Ninth Ward, the neighbour-hoods out there have really come up. There’s been a real boom within the arts community and lots of new restaurants have been opening up.

“So that’s good but that’s only in a small area,” he continues. “There are pockets of small ghettos all over the place where much needs to still be done.

“But the tourists are still coming to New Orleans,” Robin says.

The band have fond memories of per-forming at WOMADelaide at which they also took part in Taste The World to show off New Orleans cuisine.

“And I remember it being really, freakin’ hot,” the washboard player concludes with a laugh. “But it was great to see so many different performers from all around the world playing in the one place. I remember seeing an Italian folk band [Nidi d’Arac] and they were just amazing.”

Tuba Skinny plays The Governor Hindmarsh, 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh, on Thursday 2 October.

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PRESENTS….

Saturday October 11, St Luke’s, Whitmore Square (city) 7:30 pm - GOLD DONATION AT THE DOOR!

https://www.facebook.com/KrustyCowboyKlub - www.blueringrecords.com

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FRANK YAMMA

FRANK YAMMA By Rob DunstanThe annual Semaphore Music Festival, now in its 10th year and which will take place at the picturesque seaside suburb on the October long weekend (Friday 3 October until Monday 6 Octo-ber) once again boasts an impressive line-up of local and national talent.

Taking part in an afternoon concert on the foreshore on Sunday 5 October which will also feature Sonny Keelor Band, Brenton Manser & The She Rebels, Kelly Menhennett Band, Courtney Robb, Golon-ka!, Tristen Bird, The Weeping Willows, Bec Gollan, Corey Theatre Band, Kaurna Cronin, Nancy Bates, Lilly & The Drum as well as Karl Teffer & Paltya Dance Troupe, will be singer, songwriter and guitarist Frank Yamma, a traditional Pitjantjatjara man from Australia’s central desert who speaks five languages.

Frank, who will be highlighting songs from his latest album, Uncle, as well as from his Countryman album and Silver Eagle debut, is anticipating performing at the festi-val again after having played the event in 2012 alongside pianist and longtime collaborator David Bridie. The association had begun when association that includes when they teamed up in 2001 to record Yamma’s song Coolibah for the Corroboration project.

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it again,” Frank says of playing Semaphore Music Festival as one of the event’s headline acts, “because it seems like a while now since I played there with David. So it’s going to be good.

“And it’ll just be me and my guitar this time,” he adds.

Frank was born in Docker River but grew up in Alice Springs as the youngest of seven brothers. His father Isaac was a country singer who sang in language with

The Pitjantjatjara Country Band and who also ran a recording studio as part of CAAMA.

Growing up in such a musical environ-ment – Frank began by playing bass in a rock band before switching to electric rhythm guitar – is the reason that the mu-sician has since travelled the world and performed at a WOMAD festival in the UK, Bled Castle in Slovenia and throughout the rest of Europe.

In fact, Frank had just returned from a trip to Canada when we spoke during

which he’d shared a stage with Buffy St-Marie, the Canadian American Cree singer, songwriter, visual artist and social activist who wrote such songs as Universal Soldier, famously recorded by Donovan, and Until It’s Time For You To Go which was recorded by Elvis Presley as well as many others.

“Performing on stage with Buffy was wonderful because she’s such an amazing woman,” Frank says of the experience in Winnepeg at a music festival. “We were on stage together for about an hour and it was such an amazing experience. And it’s always wonderful playing festival and having everyone come together.

“So it’s always good to get over to the other side of the world and make a bit of noise playing music,” he adds with a laugh. “But it can be a challenge even though it’s mostly fun.”

Semaphore Music Festival takes place from Friday 3 October until Monday 6 October at Semaphore, SA.

Visit semaphoremusicfestival.com for more information.

Frank Yamma plays Foreshore Reserve on Sunday 5 October alongside Sonny Keelor Band, Brenton Manser & The She Rebels, Kelly Menhennett Band, Courtney Robb, Golonka!, Tristen Bird, The Weeping Willows, Bec Gollan, Corey Theatre Band, Kaurna Cronin, Nancy Bates, Lilly & The Drum as well as Karl Teffer & Paltya Dance Troupe.

Tickets are available now from www.trybooking.com

BILL BAILEY AT THEBARTON THEATREBritish comic, actor and musician Bill Bai-ley, who can often be spotted as a guest panelist on Stephen Fry’s QI, is returning to Australia for the world premiere of his brand new live show, Limboland,which will have him taking over Thebarton The-atre on Thursday 9 October.

The gap between how we imagine our lives to be and how they really are is explored in Limboland.

With his trademark intelligence and sharp wit, Bill Bailey tells tales of finding himself in this halfway place.

From his countless global travels, he recounts the hilarious saga of a disas-trous family trip to Norway to see the Northern Lights. He rails against a world that doesn’t match up to our expectations as he contemplates the true nature of happiness.

And no Bill Bailey show would be com-plete without music, so we have his ver-sion of the protest song and a heart-rend-ing country ballad played on a Bible along with a fabulously downbeat version of Happy Birthday.

Book quickly at Venuetix on 08 8225 8888 or via their website.

POP CRIMES: A TRIBUTE TO ROWLAND S HOWARDPop Crimes: The Songs Of Rowland S Howard featuring Mick Harvey (formerly of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds), Harry Howard (Near Death Experience), JP Shilo (Hungry Ghosts) and Brian Henry Hooper (Beasts Of Bourbon) comes to The Wheat-sheaf Hotel, 39 George St, Thebarton, SA for two shows on Saturday October 25 and Sunday October 26.

The late Rowland S Howard, who would have turned 55 that very weekend, was arguably one of the most influential gui-tarists Australia has ever produced.

He created a sonic language of sharp, brutal intensity unheard of in this country in bands such as The Birthday Party, Crime & The City Solution and These Immortal Souls.

Pop Crimes: The Songs Of Rowland S Howard brings together original members and key collaborators from his illustri-ous career for these two special concert events.

In conjunction with the two shows, the venue will also be hosting screenings of Autoluminescent, the 2011 Richard Lowenstein documentary about Howard, as well as an exhibition of gig photo-

graphs from the archive of photographer Alison Lea, and tap beers from the Spoon-bender series from Yeastie Boys which have been inspired by Crime & The City Solution songs.

Tickets now on sale will go on sale via Oxtix.

ROWLAND S HOWARD BILL BAILEY

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BSIDE MAGAZINEMAKING MUSIC LOCAL AGAINwww.bsidemagazine.com.au

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courses.musicsa.com.au

CAREER PATHWAYS

2015