Augie March photos- forum 29 August 2009

Yes I know….it’s about time!!! here are some photos from the last Augie March gig for their Watch Me set tour.

Gareth Liddiard

Dan Luscombe

Adam Donovan - looking all gangster like

Glenn Richards

Kiernan Box

Dave Williams

The Arnold Horns during One Crowded Hour

Ken Gardner

Augie March

Adam during Dogsday

Glenn

Edmondo Ammendola putting on the underwear someone threw on stage

Ed - and they are a perfect fit

Kiernan admiring Ed

ok back to being serious now

And I’ve got nowhere to go.

Yep…. this would be me, the person who kinda sorta got sidetracked by life and hasn’t captured the last show of the Watch Me Set My Strange Sun You Bloody Choir Tour in Melbourne at The Forum on 29 August 2009.

The title of this blog is a line from The Glenorchy Bunyip, a great song live. Like Pennywhistle, this is another song that I was ambivalent about until I heard it a number of times live.

Dan Luscombe and Gareth Liddiard from the Drones outshone themselves once again as the support act. It really was a great idea to have them join Augie March for this tour.

their set:
1. cold and sober
2. oh my
3. the drifting housewife
4. shark fin blues
5. locusts
6. your acting’s like the end of the world
7. jezabel – I could never tire of hearing this song.

As always, the emotions from the songs seems to stream out of every pore of Gaz’s body when he is singing whilst Dan seems to internalise his energy and is so incredibly focused and intent. It is great to see the dichotomy between the two.

Augie March came on at 10pm. The house lights came down and the band started in darkness,……… We were treated to an excerpt from Believe Me which seguayed into Hole In Your Roof which then flowed straight into Drowning Dream. Two songs I have loved hearing on this tour. Adam’s playing was a highlight for me on this song and they were joined by the Arnold Horns – Ken Gardner, Matt Habben and Adam Hutterer.

The one frustrating thing was that even though we were at the front of the barricade across the front of the stage our view was blocked quite a bit of the time by all of the photographers (must they be so tall??)

Third song was Maroondah Reservoir. Glenn looked a little frustrated with himself a couple of times during this song….. shaking his head and frowning a lot. Maybe he was unhappy with the sound as that seems to give him the most grief on stage.

Next was Pennywhistle with the full complement of Arnold Horns – Ken, Matt, Adam and adding Zach Hutterer (a favourite of the Augie forum-ites). At the start of Pennywhistlethere was a huge cheer from the crowd so it must have been a favourite of many of them. I still hear it quite a bit on the radio.

song number 5 was Glenorchy Bunyip with Adam on the pedal steel and the band joined by Matt Habben and this was followed by The Vineyard. The backing vocals especially were a dream on this song and sounded so clear.

There’s Something At The Bottom Of The Blackpool with the Arnold Horns (3 of them) was song number seven and it was followed by Brundisium with all 4 Arnold Horns. They really excelled themselves during this song and have been fantastic to listen tour on this tour.

Dogsday was next followed by another crowd favourite Cold Acre. there were some sound problems during this song unfortunately.

Dave got out his trusty mandolin for Sunstroke House and Kiernan entranced the crowd with his harmonica.

song number twelve for the night was another oldie The Keepa with Matt, Ken and Adam joining the band onstage.

Thin Captain Crackers was next and then Glenn said that people were forcing them to play the next song - The Offer. How fantastic was it to hear them play this once more. It bookended their tour, being played at Geelong and in Melbourne.

The final song of the main set (15 songs) was The Mothball with the Arnold Horns and the band left the stage at 11.40pm.

Of course the crowd was screaming for more and we knew they would come back and the first song in the encore was The Slant. The audience loved it when Glenn did a rock god guitar move kneeling down on the floor.

Seventeen was an acoustic version of Train and this was followed by There Is No Such Place with the four Arnold Horns.

And then the surreal moment when someone from the crowd launched a pair of tightey whities at Ed …and even weirder, he put them on and continued playing. Up there as an unforgettable Augie moment.

The band must have been exhausted by the time they played Owen’s Lament – 18 songs and a very long show.

And still the crowd screamed ….. and screamed….. and screamed for more.

SECOND ENCORE
Just Passing Through - finally they brought this song out. personally I think this is one of the best songs for them to play live as it has such energy and the audience went wild. Matt, Ken and Adam joining them for this song.

Clockwork had the four Arnold Horns and is yet another song that has been sounding beautiful on this tour.

the 21st and final song for the night was one that later was widely debated by fans – they chose to end this tour and possibly the main part of their touring career with One Crowded Hour. It was their most widely played song and brought them the most accolades and even though many die-hard fans may not like it that much, it is the song that meant they could fill the Forum.

The show ended at 12.25am, so we had almost two and a half hours of Augie March….. not a bad way to end.

I will add photos from this gig on the weekend and then have the fun part of writing up the Paul Kelly tribute gig which had the four Augies minus Glenn as well as the Arnold Horns and the the Birds of Tokyo gig which had Glenn as the support.

Photos-Augie March Ballarat 27.8.09

Yes I know, I need to be sacked as a blogger…..shhhh don’t tell DC!!

Ok finally here are some photos from the Ballarat gig

Glenn Richards

Adam Donovan

Dave Williams

Ed Ammendola

Ken Gardner - Arnold Horns

Glenn Richards

Glenn and Adam

Matt Habben - Arnold Horns

But the day that I cease from my labor then the devil has won, Until that day I won’t be holding my tongue.

The title today is taken from Devil In Me from the album Watch Me Disappear (for all of the very publicly voiced dissatisfaction from some of the band and a lot of fans about the production on this album I do think a number of these songs will still be very listenable in five, ten, fifteen years time – yep I guess I just put a great big bullseye on myself – let the arrows start flying!!)

One of the things that has always drawn me to the band apart from the music of course is that they do not always say and do what would be conventionally expected of them. I imagine they can be a publicists nightmare at times however this results in interviews and gigs that expose their innermost thoughts and feelings, and to me this is a good thing.

For example, I think I can understand Glenn’s exasperation at yet another person screaming loudly for One Crowded Hour when he and the band have just played one of their beautifully crafted songs from their earlier albums or ep’s with minimal response from the audience….. but anyway I digress.

This is the belated write up for the second Hobart gig at Moorilla Estate on 8 August 2009. This was one of my favourite gigs this tour and I wanted to wait until I had the time to do this gig justice (damn that sounds pretentious but you know what I mean….I didn’t want to have to rush it)

Firstly though I have to say that I stayed at the most fabulous place. It was a motel literally ten minutes walk from Moorilla Estate and from my bed I looked out onto this view of the Derwent

and I was woken in the morning by this (and it’s friends) outside my door

my alarm clock

I went for a walk on the saturday and was caught in the rain walking back to the motel and my already pretty good day (I love the rain, even when I am caught in it without an umbrella) became perfect when I got to see a divine rainbow. Tasmania is such a scenic place.

My heart leaps up when I behold a rainbow in the sky......

Okay enough of my holiday snaps…onto the gig…

Once again I was at a beautiful venue to see Augie March play and like the night before, people got there early to nab the comfy cushions and couches. I think it’s the big floor cushions scattered around the place that make it such a laid back venue.

Gareth Liddiard and Dan Luscombe came onstage just after 8pm and played their 45 minute set. (Mike Noga was in the audience). Both Gareth and Dan were having a lot of fun on stage tonight. On stage Dan and Gareth seem so connected with Dan watching Gareth intently and seeming to take a lot of cues from him.

Gareth’s vocals during The Drifting Housewife were dripping with emotion and intensity. These two have been putting on amazing shows as the support and even when they seem a little ‘tired and emotional’ they still are fantastic.

Gareth Liddiard

Dan Luscombe - as he watches Gaz

The crowd once again were a bit frustrating, lots of talking during their set but overall they were more polite than the audience the night before.

Similar to the friday show, much of the audience was sitting on the floor in front of the stage before the band came on.

They were sitting much closer to the stage for tonight’s gig rather than leaving the big space in front of the stage as had happened the night before.

Augie March came on at 9.30pm and I was disappointed to note that the crowd remained sitting.

I have mentioned this before no doubt but I am loving how Hole In Your Roof as the opener morphs into Drowning Dream. Both songs sounded fantastic.

Ed

Gareth came out and sat right in front of the stage, in between Adam and Glenn’s line of sight and he and Mike Noga proceeded to heckle and attempt to distract those two as much as possible.

Adam (be quiet Gaz)

It was fun to watch and everyone had a laugh when Glenn spat out his drink over the two of them after Brundisium. Which by the way was earth shatteringly good tonight. The ending was superb and Dave in particular really helped to add power and drive to what is such a great song.

Glenn and Adam trying to ignore Gaz (without success)

Unfortunately there was a moment of extreme distress for me during Pennywhistle and I fear I may never recover from the trauma of this experience. I was (as usual) at the front of the stage balancing my notebook in one hand (since I have a memory like a sieve) and my camera in the other and I found that if I bent to the left while balancing on one leg and slightly crouching I could actually get some photos of Dave when he wasn’t hidden by his mic. I was lining up what I am pretty sure would have been an award winning photograph of him when my camera went blurry. I gave it a bit of a shake and then looked up to see a shoe (attached to a foot) being waved in front of the lens and Glenn looking down at me and grinning. I will see you in court Mr Richards!!!!

the right shoe is the culprit!!

Glenorchy Bunyip was another song that was belted out by the band and Matt Habben. Once again the band didn’t let us down with entertaining banter.

Glenn – we haven’t played this much as it is hard.
Dave – some things have to be hard to do it…… like penises

Dogsday sounded interesting ….. Glenn told us at the end of this song that Donno was playing in the wrong key and he deliberately kept going.

Dave during Dogsday

The acoustic Train with Glenn and Kiernan was able to reduce most of the crowd to silence which was wonderful.

Glenn and Kiernan during Traiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin (acoustic)

There were a number of comments from both bands during the night about having had a big night on friday and being hung over and I think this added to the relaxed feel coming from the stage. This was possibly also helped by gold such as Ed being late on stage for There Is No Such Place and apologising profusely when he did arrive for going into the ladies toilet by mistake.

Dave

Glenn’s introduction to Mothball was met with silence from the audience and when I belatedly started applauding (after having put down my camera and notebook) he thanked me.

Matt and Ken from the Arnold Horns during Train (whole band)

The mood during this gig was lighter and even though the audience feedback, especially during many of the older songs, was quite subdued it felt as if the band were having a good time on stage.

Glenn

This was an absolutely fantastic show

Moorilla Estate photos Augie March gig 7 Aug 09

Well these are only slightly overdue – oops sorry about that.

Kiernan

Glenn and Adam

Matt Habben - Arnold Horns

Ken Gardner - Arnold Horns

Ed

Adam

Glenn

Kiernan

Glenn

Dave

Augie March setlist 27 August 2009 Ballarat Karova Lounge

blah I hate getting lost ….. a word of advice, never trust a gps!!!!!

Gareth Liddiard and Dan Luscombe’s set
1. cold and sober
2. oh my
3. the drifting housewife
4. shark fin blues
5. locusts
6. your acting’s like the end of the world
7. jezabel

Augie March
start 10pm
1. Hole In Your Roof which morphed into
2. Drowning Dream with Ken Gardner and Matt Habben (The Arnold Horns)
3. Maroondah Reservoir
4. Pennywhistle with the Arnold Horns (Ken, Matt and Adam Hutterer)
5. Farmers Son with the Arnold Horns
6. The Vineyard
7. Glenorchy Bunyip with the Arnold Horns
8. Cold Acre with the Arnold Horns
9. Little Wonder with the Arnold Horns
10. Mothball with the Arnold Horns
11. Something At The Bottom Of The Blackpool
12. Dogsday
13. There Is No Such Place with the Arnold Horns
14. One Crowded Hour with the Arnold Horns
15. Train with the Arnold Horns

finish 11.20pm
11.30pm encore
16. The Slant
17. Clockwork with the Arnold Horns

I absolutely promise I will do this write up and the second Tassie gig by Saturday.

hmmmm I believe I will be the person asleep at my desk in the morning (I really am getting too old for this ha ha)

setlist Perth Augie March show 21 Aug 2009

Yep I know, I still have to write up the second Hobart gig from a few weeks ago (has it been that long already???) Until I have more time to write that one up I will have to suffice with a quick run down of the second Perth show which is the only one I went to over there.

Dan and Gareth – they stick to the same songs for their sets but it is always a good show. I think Gareth set a new record for how far he can spit while singing during Jezabel.

The crowd was already crowded up against the front of the stage before Augie March came on which was good to see. I feel it is so much nicer than having a crowd who is standing so far back from the stage that it seems as if the act is performing to a small empty section right in front of them.

1. Hole In Your Roof
2. Drowning Dream with the Arnold Horns (Ken Gardner and Adam Hutterer)
3. Maroondah Reservoir with the Arnold Horns
4. Penny whistle with the Arnold Horns
5. Farmers Son with the Arnold Horns – Donno played the mandolin
6. The Vineyard
7. Glenorchy Bunyip
8. Cold Acre with the Arnold Horns
9. The Mothball with the Arnold Horns (loud cheer from the crowd when this started)
10. There’s Something At The Bottom Of The Blackpool with the Arnold Horns
11.Brundisium with the Arnold Horns ….now this is what I came to see. This was played with passion and energy
12.Dogsday
13. There Is No Such Place with the Arnold Horns The crowd sang along
14. One Crowded Hour with the Arnold Horns
15. Train with the Arnold Horns

Encore
16. The Slant
17. Owens Lament – Adam’s playing was particularly beautiful during this song
18. Clockwork

I so don’t know what to write about this gig. I felt as if there was something missing but am not sure what it was…..passion, desire, energy?? To me many of the songs sounded quite pedestrian and the sound issues didn’t help. I am thankful that I have seen some amazing shows by the band when they really are putting their heart and soul into the performance and I just feel that this was not one of those nights.

I will say though that an ordinary Augie March is still pretty damn special.

And may I also add that this is entirely my personal opinion only, other people I spoke to thought the gig was great. (insert smiley face here)

setlist Castlemaine 14.8.09

I didn’t get to see this gig so thank you very much to the friend who sent me in the setlist

HIYR (AH)
Drowning Dream (AH)
Blackpool (AH)
Brundisium (AH)
Pennywhistle (AH)
Glenorchy Bunyip (Adam on pedal Steel)
Vineyard
Dogsday
Slant
Train (Adam Pedal Steel)
No Such Place (AH)
Mothball (AH)
OCH (AH)
Owens

Encore

Bottle Baby (Solo w/- Adam)
The Night Is A Blackbird
Clockwork (AH)

setlist Saturday 8th August 2009, Hobart Moorilla Estate

1. Hole In Your Roof
2. Drowning Dream (with Matt Habben and Ken Gardner from the Arnold Horns)
3. There’s something At The Bottom Of The Blackpool
4. Brundisium with The Arnold Horns
5. Pennywhistle with The Arnold Horns
6. Glenorchy Bunyip with Matt Habben
7. The Vineyard
8. Dogsday
9. The Slant
10. Train – acoustic version
11. There Is No Such Place with The Arnold Horns
12. The Mothball with The Arnold Horns
13. One Crowded Hour with The Arnold Horns

Encore

14. Owens Lament
15. Train (crowd go wild jumping up and daown dancing version yay) with The Arnold Horns

Bottle Baby and Clockwork were on the setlist but not played

will add the write up (which will be a fun one to do) and photos later

Rattle rattle, face to the battle Set your jaw for the hour of the war

for Sam

Oh no I am so behind on blogging, I apologise (yes, again) for the delay in writing up the latest gigs I went to – which were the Hobart ones.

The title of this blog is a line from the song – None Shall Pass from the Waltz ep. This write up is about the Hobart show at Moorilla estate on friday 7th August 2009.

The venue was absolutely divine ( the sound for both gigs was superb) but oh my, some of the people in the audience talked constantly and loudly not only through the entire support by Dan and Gareth but also through much of the Augie’s set. I just don’t know how someone can keep playing when they are faced with such blatant disinterest. Thankfully these people are usually in the minority.

ok now that I have done my feather ruffling on to the gig itself.

Gareth Liddiard and Dan Luscombe did their 45 minute support slot. At this show they seemed almost understated compared with other shows, less energy and almost no banter in between songs. I wondered if it was because of the people having their own very loud conversations during their spot which could be heard from the front of the stage. Fortunately even when not seeming to be at their best they can still put on a good show.

Augie March came on stage at 9.30pm and launched straight into The Slant. I really liked that as an opener. A lot of people in the front half of the venue had been sitting on the floor while Gareth and Dan were playing but I had expected them to stand up for Augie March but they didn’t. Maybe the floor was comfier.

The set list is in the previous blog so I will just pick out some songs to comment on. Hole In Your Roof sounded glorious, the intro is just fantastic and it was helped along by excellent acoustics in the room (well from the front at any rate).

Hole transitioned into the third song of the night The Drowning Dream rather than there being an obvious finish and start of the next song which was great.

There were only two members of The Arnold Horns in Hobart, Matt Habben and Ken Gardner and as always they sounded excellent.

Kiernan’s playing on Drowning Dream was particularly beautiful and again the backing vocals were just sounding lush.

It was Penny Whistle that finally coaxed some people up the front to dance which was fun to watch. Unfortunately they drifted away after that song and it was back to a mostly seated audience. I felt quite self conscious standing up at the front of the stage however I just can’t fathom going to see them and sitting down the whole time – even at the gigs I have seen of theirs at Kings Park in WA I have always had to at some stage go and have a dance in the dancing section of the park.

Brundisuim was one of the bet songs of the night for me. Glenn’s vocals (I love you like I love my own skin), the thumping bass line, Dave’s energy on the drums ….. just inspiring to listen to live.

Just before they started Dogsday there was a very drunk woman yelling for One Crowded Hour to be played. I did like Glenn’s look of frustration and “Come on, there are other songs love”. This resulted in some to’ing and fro’ing between her and Glenn with Dave getting out from behind his drum kit to join in.

The acoustic Here Comes The Night with Glenn and Kiernan was divine as well. Of course the quality of the mix that night and the venue acoustics just made what is already a beautiful version of this song sound even better. Glenn’s voice was so clear and sounding very strong – this line always slays me when he sings it well and he did so at this gig – “So let it come, let it rain,
Let it burn though you and me again“

Glenn and Kiernan also played the acoustic Train and I am always left in a dilemma when I hear either this or the high energy crowd goes wild version as they are each so fantastic to hear and polar opposites in style, why can’t they play both at gigs (ha ha someone must have heard my thoughts …. see setlist for the saturday show next)

It was a lovely surprise to hear Asleep In Perfection and the band and the crowd had a bit of a laugh when they played One Crowded Hour and noticed that the woman who had been yelling out for it was nowhere to be found (she was last seen a song or two earlier being half carried out of the venue by a friend).

And again Clockwork was sounding fantastic and was a great way to end the gig. Owens Lament was the only song from the set list that wasn’t played.

As mentioned earlier I really liked hearing The Slant as the first song and I wouldn’t mind hearing One Crowded Hour played early in the set so that those who really want to hear it can get their thrills early and then chill out a bit for the rest of the show. Glenn is continuing to take missed words and chords in his stride this tour and the banter on stage adds to the enjoyment of these gigs. It really is nice to see the band enjoying themselves.

I have some photos which I will upload when I have some time.