The Forty Thieves 3 - GORKER GALLERY

THE FORTY THIEVES 3- it's a great show, just look at that line-up... Ha-Ha, Makatron, Ben Frost, Drewfunk.. good theme too. I went to the show last night and bought the Ha-Ha piece. If you're killing time before the Birmy opens for your first frothy, stop by as it's just around the corner.

GORKER GALLERY

So, we're off are we?

Good good.
I don't like the layout colour, though.

Stay tuned.

Don't call it a festival, don't call it half-cocked.

But it's not just about the Tote here in Melbourne.
Look at this- the Birmingham's second birthday, a bunch of strange noisy Brisbane stuff at the Gertrude Contemporary Art Space under the "Psycho Subtropics" banner, and the Community Cup have all aligned.this week.
This means that there are thirty five bands playing, over two days, at three unrelated events, for a grand total of $5.00- which is what it will cost you to get into the Cup. With a game of football thrown in, too.
Here, I've put them in alphabetical order to make it easy for you, with a note of who's on where:

Abject Leader GCAS
Alex Cuffe GCAS
Baptism Of Uzi Birmy
Big Smoke Birmy
Chaos Kids Birmy
Chloe Cogle GCAS
Cured Pink GCAS
Danni Zuvela GCAS
Dead Farmers Birmy
Dick Diver Birmy
Dozers Birmy
Gerald Keaney GCAS
Greasers Birmy
Grizzly Jim Lawrie Band Birmy
In Tongues Birmy
Joel Stern GCAS
Keggin Birmy
Little Freddie & the Pops Community Cup
Madonna Birmy
Nick Barker & the Reptiles Community Cup
Ross Manning GCAS
Sarah Byrne GCAS
Scale Free Network GCAS
Scraps GCAS
Ship's Piano Birmy
Sky Needle GCAS
Swamplords GCAS
Teen Archer Birmy
The Black Hill Five Birmy
The Blackeyed Susans Community Cup
The Living End Community Cup
The Priory Dolls Birmy
The Stabs Birmy
This War Birmy
Wil Wagner & the Smith St. Orchestra Birmy

And here are the relevant artworks/handbills/scrawl for each one, too:



I've gotta say, things like this make combing the fine print of street press listings kinda redundant.

Choose choice.

A bit more on offer this week.
On Friday, you may want to take a chance on the Thod, playing the last night of their May residency at the Royal Derby in Brunswick St. with a couple of others. Entry is free, and beers are cheap. Did you know I almost got bitten on the neck by a pet snake upstairs at the Derby, many years ago? It's true.

On Saturday, eternal sideman and all round nice guy Stu Thomas is playing at Pure Pop in St. Kilda, in support of his new album, "Escape From Algebra". I haven't heard it yet, but I have seen the Paradox a few times and they are always worth your time and attention.

You could always hang around a bit after that, and check out what's on offer at the St. Kilda Film Festival , but I'd suggest heading over to Yah Yah's in Smith St. Collingwood to catch the last ever show by Deaf Wish. You would think that someone would get the coloured pencils out for such a great band's final gig, but try as I might, I can't find a poster for this anywhere. Supports are from the Stabs (who were in great form at the Old Bar last week) and Teen Archer. $12.00 gets you in, doors at 9.00, with Mikey Young DJing afterwards til 5.00am

So Grong, and yet so right.

DO YOU SEE WHAT I DID THERE?
Anyway, I'm either losing my touch or getting much more selective. This is another week where one show stands out- another visit by mighty back-from-the-grave Adeladians Grong Grong.

It's all there on that rather fine poster, I guess, expect for the fact that Saturday's Old Bar show now also includes ZOND as well as the Stabs as supports. And, er, me, DJing afterwards, from 1 til 3.00am, when I will be playing the most unholy mess of filthy noise I can dig out. Do come.

Shipping alert.

A nice spread of stuff on this week. Like this, at the East Brunswick Club on Friday:

Mistletone proudly presents legendary New Zealand band The Chills in their first Australian tour since 1992, playing two shows only in Melbourne and Sydney. One of the key proponents of the Flying Nun sound, The Chills have been much loved since the early 1980s for their charming, hook-laden guitar pop. The combination of their live energy and the consistent quality of their songs have established them as one of the most well-known NZ groups to date - particularly in the USA, UK and Europe. Having grown more iconic and relevant to indie pop as each year passes, there is huge anticipation for the return to Australia of The Chills and their heavenly pop hits.

Supports are from Guy Blackman and the (excellent) East Brunswick All Girls Choir. but I think that may be sold out.

On Saturday, my mate Zac (who mans the complaints desk over at Pissing On The Mainframe) insists that the Old Bar is the place to be, and I think he may be right:


And- is this Muppet lovefest on Sunday night at the Thornbury Theatre some Gen Y thing? Raised on "Sesame Street", I never really rated the crappy English TV show. But clearly some people did, and still do. This is an all-ages show to mark the 20th anniversay of Jim Henson's death, and has a hugeline up:

Performed by an array of local bands, dancers and comedians including Eagle & The Worm, Bum Creek & Shags Chamberlain, Super Wild Horses, Guy Blackman, Simone Page Jones, Clairy Baby Browne and the Bangin' Rackettes, Sophia Brous, The Suitcase Royale, Ooga Boogas, The UV Race, Heavy Mental, The Ukeladies, Manas Pandey & Lilith Lane, Evelyn Morris & Extreme Wheeze, Geoff O'Connor, Jessica Says, with Jess McGuire & Tony Biggs from RRR as Statler & Waldorf, the Thornbury Primary School chorus line and our very special guest star Kamahl!

It's all a bit academic for me, though, as I plan to spend the weekend admiring a couple more of Victoria's fine coastal lighthouses.

Get your own trumpet.

Look, I don't want to boast, but LTH 4 really is the best thing on this weekend. Well, apart from the X/UV Race show, but that's on Friday.

Aided by a massive press campaign (thanks, Paddy) it's a cert to sell out early. I'll be at the bar if anyone needs me.

Teen Archer/UV Race/Dead Farmers - Birmy this Sat the 8th!

Teen Archer/UV Race/Dead Farmers - Birmy this Sat the 8th!

Pissing On The Mainframe Presents #1!

FACEBOOK EVENT

Pissing On The Mainframe Presents #1!

FACEBOOK EVENT

Last Tram Home presents...#4

I think this is pretty self-explanatory, isn't it?
May 8th, the Old Bar. See you there.
As the Hicks would say, "This is gonna be gooooood."

Big thanks to Jez for his very autumn-ish piece of work this time round, too.

Longerer weekend.

How long since these guys played in Melbourne?

They will play an in-store at Missing Link on Friday at 5pm; a solo show as A Cloakroom Assembly (Scattered Order) and Shane Fahey (Makers of the Dead Travel Fast) at Loophole Community Centre in Thornbury on Saturday, supported by Charles Ives singers, Matthew Brown and Breathing Shrine; and finally at The Toff in Town on Sunday with Free Choice Duo and Paeces.
Yes. Scattered Order for free, at Missing Link, on Friday. Sticking with the oldies theme:

I have seen the Little Murders three times this year, I think, and they have never sounded so good. If you want real power-pop/mod/new wave stuff, they are still the real deal.
Then on Sunday, you can enjoy this, at the Old Bar, safe in the knowledge that Monday is a public holiday:

Not technically "records".

It was Record Store Day again on the Saturday just past. There appears to be some sort of shenanigans/argument going on around this, which I neither understand nor care about. What was important was that I managed to hit two participating stores in the space of a few hours.
At Polyester in Brunswick St. I bought a copy of "Prayers On Fire", from Julia Zemiro, of all people. That's three I have now- red vinyl, black vinyl and CD.

Listening to it later I was struck by how well it has aged. It is monstrously good- clever, heartfelt and immensely changeable from track to track.
Then, in the afternoon, I ducked into Greville Records over in Prahran to see Warwick and Steve, and grabbed this absolute pearl:

Details and samples can be found right here. I've had volume two- sadly, there are only two volumes- of this for a while now, it's good to finally make it a pair.
So, two CDs, for a grand total of $35, requiring a cross-town trip (which I woulda been making anyway) a bit of conversation and a few beers. A good day's work all round, even better that it was all done by 5.00pm.

(think of a title later)

I'm still in a bit of a distracted state for some reason. But allow me to surface long enough to draw some fine events to your attention.


I have been seeing Intoxica and/or their predecessors for a long, long time, and they never fail to deliver. Them Jacknives are pretty good too. Both of 'em for free over at the Retreat sounds like a fine way to spend an evening.
Or if you prefer something newer and, um, "edgier":

Chrome Dome are releasing an album and a 7', simultaneously, on the same night BUT on two different labels- Lexicon Devil and No Patience respectively. That's on at the Worker's Club in Fitzroy, with supports from Lakes, Free Choice, Repairs and No Zu. Not sure what it's going to cost, but I'm guessing it won't break the bank.
I also plan to brew my first batch of beer in a long time. Which will no doubt add to my distraction in the weeks to come.
And let me just drop this out there in an oh-so-subtle plug.

This Saturday at Fitzroy Bowls Club!

GALEFORCE

Go to this after the Mountain Fold #4 launch at Curtin House

This Saturday at Fitzroy Bowls Club!

GALEFORCE

Go to this after the Mountain Fold #4 launch at Curtin House

Digger & The Pussycats/Teen Archer/DJ Pissing On The Mainframe...

So coming up this friday at Old Bar:

Digger & The Pussycats
Assassination Collective
Teen Archer
Buried Horses
+ Me and Jack Petty are play tunes till 3am under the moniker of Dj's Pissing On The Mainframe.
Come down!

              


Chesshire Cat Design

Digger & The Pussycats/Teen Archer/DJ Pissing On The Mainframe...

So coming up this friday at Old Bar:

Digger & The Pussycats
Assassination Collective
Teen Archer
Buried Horses
+ Me and Jack Petty are play tunes till 3am under the moniker of Dj's Pissing On The Mainframe.
Come down!

              


Chesshire Cat Design

All hail.

Crazy times in the daytime right now. I'm just glad that today's earthquake didn't turn out to be much.
Anyway, I'll be looking for some downtime this weekend. Like this:

Howard was a founding member of Crime & The City Solution, These Immortal Souls and Pink Stainless Tail, as well as stepping in on occasional Birthday Party guitar duty. True to his pedigree, he will be backed by Dave Graney and Clare Moore who are “back in post-punk mode”. Supports by Stu Thomas (The Surrealists) and Bad Orchestra. Cost: $7 on the door.

Although, despite some questionable aims, as a stand-alone show, this has it's charms, too:

Mainly because I plan to throw Tim Rogers in the lion cage while the lights are out. Naah, just kiddin'.