Busy fortnight as BellRays, X, Dimi Dero Inc and Penny Ikinger hit town

Some housekeeping:

Caught the BellRays at the Gaelic Club in Sydney two Fridays ago. Much expectation in the air after their only headlining gig of their Australian tour (as supports ro Radio Birdman) at Annandale last year and it has to be said that they didn't scale those same dizzy heights. Maybe that Annandale show was a high mark (it's certainly one of the best gigs I've seen ina decade.) They were great last Friday-week but also seemed a little tired. Maybe they were holding a little back for the festival gig at Summer Plains in Victoria the next night. The set was paced and didn't have the same building dynamics.

That said, they were still mighty formidable although a few people passed comment, post-gig, that the songs got a little samey towards the end. I was up front for most of it which isn't the best place to evaluate the sound and the lines between what they played and what I thought they played were blurred after constant exposure to their albums in the week preceding.

No shortage in dynamics in the sets last week by French tourists to Australia, Dimi Dero Inc. A four piece led by the charismatic Dimi Dero (vocals and guitar), they turned in a stinging headliner at the Excelsior in Surry Hills last Thursday night and played an even betetr support to X at the Sando on Saturday evening. These guys play brooding, dark music that's rockier in the flesh than on their excellent "Sisyphus, Window Cleaning" album (Off the Hip). More about both shows at the I-94 Bar in the next few days but the Dimis are doing a national tour with the Drones. Dates below. Catch 'em if you can.

There were also wonderful sets by Penny Ikinger (with Dimi himself on drums and Vinz from Dimi Dero Inc on bass) on two of thbese nights. Penny toured Europe last year with Dimi and Vinz, did an Excelsior set on Thursday and supported X on the Friday. Penny has about 20 songs ready to record and they sure sounded fine on both nights.

And if you're wondering, the two-night stand by the reformed X at the Sando on Friday and Saturday was excellent. More on this one very soon too.

Not much more need be said...

...even if the Gay-Lick Club is a Tooheys venue.

This weekend.

Show of the week has gotta be the BellRays at the Spanish Club. I can't find confirmation of all the supports, but the Pink Fits are in there somewhere (as well as doing their own thing at the Espy on Saturday).
What else...ummm...a trip down the peninsula for me, but that won't interest anyone...nope...looks like it's the BellRays or nothing, I'm afraid. Oh, and maybe a game of pool. If I find anything else of interest I'll be sure to let you know, OK?
NEXT week is gonna be a killer, though.

2006 Top Ten list. At last.

I sent this in to the I-94 Bar a little bit late, so it's not going up there until the Barman gets back from holiday/out of detox.
Regardless, this is the shit-hot illustrated interactive version. It took me HOURS to do, so I would appreciate it if you could at least read the goddamn thing, OK?
In rough chronological order, then, here's a list of things that made an impression on me last year:

1- Getting kidnapped from the Niagara exhibition opening night at Outre Gallery, by Niagara & Colonel Galaxy. Two of the most charming and witty people you could ever hope to meet- Tracey and I spent an excellent hour or so drinking and chatting with them in the deserted beer garden of the Town Hall Hotel in North Melbourne.
We picked up a copy of the "Hot Box" 5 CD set, as well as a print:

2- Having my nose broken by an old friend in a stupid fight. I fixed it myself, at the bar of the Greyhound Hotel, with a handful of ice cubes in a napkin. Looked straight enough at the time.
So yeah, I finally ended up in Fred Negro's "Pub" comic strip- the hard way:

3- The second Tiger By The Tail LP. If it lacked the same impact as the first, that’s only because I had a better idea of what to expect. I’m looking forward to more from them in 2007.

4- Brewing- among other things, I brewed three batches of all-grain beer this year- malt, water, hops & yeast. From mash to mouth in a month. All tasted pretty damn fine to me, too. Then Little Creatures Brewery released their Bright Ale, which kind of removed the need to make it myself.
But our labels are better than theirs

5-
Pet frogs- if you want a really Zen pet, get a tree frog. They just sit there and look at you in a very calming way. Don’t get a yabbie, it will end in tears.
Note: they do get an absolutely murderous look in their eyes at feeding time, though. And they make a noise like a chainsaw, click here and scroll down to "calls" to listen. Then imagine hearing that at 6.00am in the morning, and repeated at random throught the day.

6- I can’t believe I only saw the Drones once in a whole year. Shit.

7- Radio Birdman- both “Zeno Beach” and the live shows. Standing inside the crush barriers at their final Melbourne show for the last few songs gave me as intense a barrage of music as I’ve ever seen and felt in my life. And of course them Bellrays, too. What did Lisa Kekaula whisper in my ear that night? I’ll never tell…
And I still can't get over this poster, which arrived in the mail, unsolicited and unexpected:

8- The net- all that myspace, podcast, message board and blogging stuff. I found old friends-hi, Hank! hi, Lindsay!- made new ones- hi, Grrtch!- heard some great new music, and tried to spread the word. Hope you found it entertaining.

9- Ian Rilen. Enough said.

10- Now I’m not really a list guy, so I’m gonna cheat by sticking a load of things in one item. I didn’t like the way the epicentre of live music in Melbourne got dragged even further north of the city this year. I did like the way so many people got it together and released their own CDs. Looking forward to – new Beasts of Bourbon, Penny Ikinger, Killer Birds & Double Agents CDs, the Lethal Weapons reissue, more RRR, more Kim Volkman, less broken noses…
I've heard the new Beasts album, and it's great. The Killer Birds are being produced by Ross Knight of the Cosmic Psychos- can't wait to hear it.