A polite reminder.

Well, I say polite, but really, you'd be a fucking idiot to miss this at the Old Bar on Friday.
Number three in an infinite series:

Yes, you read that right- Uneasy Listeners are indeed the four remaining members of the Seminal Rats, Penny Ikinger is playing with Andrew McCubbin, and Johnny Casino and the Secrets are playing all up close and personal.
As ever, feel free to say hello. I'll be there til closing.

On Tour Now

Binocular Soccer

OK, soccer is not rock and roll but blogs can be indulgent. The new Japanese sport of Binolcular Soccer probably won't catch on in a hurry but is worthy of your consideration:

And it does segue into the fact that the I-94 Bar will be presenting a Japan-Europe Tour Diary from Penny Ikinger in the near future.

Penny in Japan and Europe

If you're in the area, you might want to drop by Melbourne's sultry feedback queen Penny Ikinger's shows in Tokyo next month.


Penny's playing solo and accompanied by a local outfit on the final show.

If that's inconvenient, there's always France and Spain where she'll be gigging with Vinz and Dimi from Dimi Dero Inc under the moniker Penelope Inc. More on that leg of the trip and full details of the Tokyo shows here.

A month off

So, I took a month off from this, and a few other things, for various reasons. But I'm back, and as of next week will have some shit hot new portable wi-fi tools to play with, so may end up posting even more.
Anyway- THIS:

Really, nights like this come along all too rarely. Get there if you can.
On Saturday, if you rug up warm you can probably trot up and down Johnson St. and catch some of this, too:

Penny Ikinger- live and on screen

Depending on where you are and when you read this, you may be able to catch a live set by Penny Ikinger at the Greyhound in St Kilda on Thursday 24th May, from 8.00pm. She'll be playing with Andrew McCubbin, and is planning to debut some new material. Entry is free.
If you can't make that, "Electra", the Rachel Lucas documentary about Penny, is showing as part of the St. Kilda Film Festival on Saturday 9th June, at the George Cinema in Fitzroy St. It was selected for showing from over 700 entrants to the festival, and if you've seen any of the videos Rachel & Penny have worked on previously, you'll know why. If you haven't, well, here's "Kathleen":

Movie details:

Chrissy Amphlett interviews iconic Melbourne electric guitarist/chanteuse Penny Ikinger on her unique rock n' roll journey in this candid conversation between two pioneer women of Australian rock.
Ikinger is a genuine rarity - a female electric guitarist renowned for her searing, mesmerising guitar solos and violent use of distortion pedals - a graduate of the Radio Birdman school of axe warfare.
Featuring: Penny Ikinger, Chrissy Amphlett, Deniz Tek, Louis Tillet, Kim Salmon, Charlie Owen, Clare Moore

Sounds good to me. And yes, I know I've been talking about movies a lot lately. Sue me.

Scrabble

Not quite sure why, but this week I signed up for the 2007 Mess & Noise Scrabblefest. I haven't played for ages, and I have no idea how good the competition is- an assorted gathering of fans, writers, musos and chatterers, as far as I can tell.
Round 1 kicks off in the Corner Hotel beergarden on Saturday afternoon (followed by Slayer), with more games at Exile on Smith Street on Sunday (followed by Penny Ikinger). I think I'm playing at Exile.
But I also have an appointment with an acupuncturist (hi Janine!) on Sunday afternoon, to try and get this infernal godamned tinnitus sorted out. Though I may then undo all her good work by going to see Steve Lucas at the idGAFF in the evening.

Mark and Chase: Eclectic excursions into musical back pages

Remiss of me not to pen a review for the Mark Sisto's Detroit Actual gig at the Excelsior Hotel in Surry Hills a couple of months ago, I know. But other factors got in the way. So treat this, not so much as a review of that show, but a preview of what's coming up when the Marquis and Friends returns to the same venue on Thursday, March 16. Except predicting what they might do next is fraught with danger.
Mark, who you may know as Radio Birdman's Minister for Defence and back-up singer or vocalist for the post-Birdman band the Visitors, has been fronting a band called Vindicator Electro. Only, when they play laid-back stuff, they're Vindicator Smooth. Members include Radio Birdman's Chris "Klondike" Masuak (on drums but back on guitar), Ged Corben (Lime Spiders), Steve Lucas (X) and Jon Schofield (Paul Kelly, Hell to Pay and dozens of others), but it's more a floating collective than a permanent line-up.

Last outing, the gig started with a set by KLINK - not the Colonel from Hogan's heroes but principally Madeleine Chase, of '80s Sydney band The Skolars - and friends, who had dual membership of Detroit Actual. This was the "nightclub trip" - Madeleine and Mark dueting at times, on cruisy, loungey stuff. Chase plays Julie London, Sisto is cast as Scott Walker. No Corben, Schofield or Lucas on board this time, but Jack Stewart Shanley was adeptly cool on sax and a session guy Calvin Welch (an actual Michigan native who's played with Earth, Wind & Fire and Jackie Orszaczky, among others) sat in on drums and - stunned us with his mastery of the traps. Props to the consumate bass skills of Andy Newman (ME-262), the constant in these fluid line-ups.

Next came a KLINK set of the rockier stuff - "Detroit Actual" - with some country and blues excursions. Not so much actual Detroit songs (although "Get Ready" obviously hails from Motown) but a diverse selection, something like Detroiters would have grown up listening to on the radio in the '60s. Cue surprise guests with Birdmen Deniz Tek and Pip Hoyle joining bandmate Klondike.
We gratefully cop the Tek-penned "Pushing the Broom" (replete with ringing Masuak country licks), Visitors tunes "Brother John" and "Sad TV" (the former with a fucked up tempo - but whadya expect when it was played on a whim?), and a Tek solo vocal with dance moves on Guy Clark's "Desperadoes Waiting For A Train".

Take note: Deniz was seen playing a Strat.

Mark's own "Atoms Action" gets an airing with Chase harmonies. If anything, the set's a bit light on for the stuff he did with his '90s band Manifestations and those Vindicator songs of a more recent vintage, but this can change on the night.
All very eclectic, which is what a lot of Sydney rock and roll isn't. It drew well too, even though the show fell on the same night as the Big Day Out (which I suppose wasn't the same demographic.)

Anyway, you can listen to a couple of songs here and if you want to show up at the Excelsior on the 15th you ought to know that it's being billed as "Showdown at the Lazy K". And it will be supporting either Penny Ikinger Inc or French band Dimi Dero Inc (or maybe both) so be early. Plus Electra Jean (a French duo) will be opening up. I don't really know what Mark and Chase are going to do (Johnny Halliday, the French Elvis? Serge Gainsborough?) but it will be fun.

Some more plugs

Some tough calls to be made over this festive weekend.
Friday night is a toss up between Penny Ikinger & the Evolution playing for free at the Pint on Punt in Windsor, or Tiger By The Tail over at some new place in Collingwood, called Exile On Smith Street.

Then on Saturday Kim Volkman is at the Greyhound
Like I say, tough calls, each of 'em. Maybe you should just stay home and wrap yourself in tinsel. Or not.