The weekend of this gig was a busy one for me with the Paul Kelly tribute concert the night before. I confess to not having known much about Birds of Tokyo but a friend loves them and I trust her judgment so we went along.

It was at the Melbourne Town hall and this was the first chance I have had to go there. What a beautiful building, imagine being the person allowed to play this organ!

Glenn Richards had a half hour set as the support and played:
Lupus
The Slant
Brundisium
Here Comes The Night
There Is No Such Place
Train
and finally
One Crowded Hour

His voice sounded a little rough which he explained to us later as being caused by drinking Sydney water and thinking he had ingested some cow soup which would never be a nice experience for a vegetarian.

Train was dedicated to the Birds Of Tokyo crew and it sounds like Glenn enjoyed touring with them. I must confess to finding it strange to hear the opening chords and line of Train and not hear the crowd go wild.

There were a few grimaces from Glen while playing, most notably during Here Comes The Night however it didn’t detract from his performance. With just himself and his guitar dwarfed by a huge stage Glenn did very well to keep what seems to be fans of a very different genre of music entertained.

It must be difficult for a lead singer of a band, especially one who is the main songwriter to find their own voice in a solo career and it will be interesting to see what Glenn does in the future. Glenn ended his set by telling the audience that “you may know me from Augie March but I will be doing something different for the next couple of years”.

I don’t know what Birds Of Tokyo are like usually but from what I understand this was a very different type of show for them with an acoustic type of show and the addition of a string quartet and piano. The audience absolutely loved the show though and were very enthusiastic throughout. The lead singer has the biggest hands I have ever seen and I confess that they distracted me from listening to a lot of the music ha ha.

lead singer - Ian Kenny

Gosh where do I start, this was an incredible night of beautiful music and even more incredible performances by an array of Australian leading lights of the music industry.

At the beginning of the night it was great to hear people in the audience sharing their stories of when they first heard Paul Kelly’s music. For me I remember seeing Paul Kelly and the Dots on Countdown and that was it, I was a goner. And yes, that was almost thirty years ago.

The backing band consisted of some blokes you may know….

Dave

Ed

Kiernan

Adam

And look there were even some

Arnold Horns thrown in

Ash Naylor

Performers included

Bob Evans

Megan Washington

Paul Dempsey

Dan Kelly

Katy Steele

Dan Sultan singing Give In To My Love, does this man ever take a bad photo??

Clare Bowditch

Clare singing To Her Door

Jae Laffer from The Panics

Ozi Battla from The Herd

Adalita from Magic Dirt

Missy Higgins

and the first surprise of the night - John Butler

come on, any excuse to add another photo of Dan Sultan

They were then joined by everyone on stage for the final chorus

it became a great big love fest

Michael Barclay

and Jon Schofield

I love this photo of Clare as it shows just how loved and admired Paul is

………. and a good time was had by all

The End.

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

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.

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

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

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)

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)

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)