Stormcellar Band Home Page

Weddings, Funraisers and Receptions - weekend gig report

Howdy Folks.

Firstly, a big congrats to D and R for their amazing nuptials on Sunday.

Yes, whilst the rest of the band were hanging out at the Mal Eastick/Milena Barrett Fundraiser, I was singing along with the congregation at R & D's wedding.

In fact I know D will appreciate the contraction as he's really into R&D (full pun intended.works on two levels, awesome!). Mazel Tov! You crazy kids...

I had a scant few minutes of the reception before I had to bolt for the car and the Mal Eastick Gig, arriving with 10 minutes to spare (whew) thanks to Traffic and the fact that the gig was so popular that there was no parking, even in the secret little back street parking areas known only to locals (NOOO!!).

I had to side street park some way away, do a superman outfit change in the back of the car and bolt for the show.

As a result, I am light on the photos and vids and we can all hope the boys will finally get around to blogging some shots (fer crying out loud guys you all have logins and passwords, what gives? We're still waiting for Rosies blog from the US tour!)

I did get one good shot of Rosie

and a quick vid to illustrate the good turn out.

Any way, long noodle short soup, big gig, very well attended, lotsa bands, great vibe, good sounds. We got up, we played, we didn't over stay. Good guest behaviour. Hurrah!

We wish Mal, T-Bird, Milena and the band all the best for their trip to Memphis to compete in the International Blues Challenge.

Now of course, when we were finished, the boys got to hang around for the night and the jam session at the end, but for some of us, social responsibilities called, so it was back to the car, another outfit change and...

BTW - we have a late, last minute gig that's come in for the 13th, a late night black Friday show in Marrickville, so I'll post some details soon.

Stormcellar at the Mal Eastick-Milena Barrett Fundraiser, Dec 1st at The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt - $25

Howdy Folks - Sunday mid morning update, looks like everythign is on track for the fundraiser this afternoon and there seems to have been plenty of ticket sales so it should be a packed house.

As these things can be a bit variable, we're estimating that we should be onstage somewhere between 4:30 and 5:30.

We think.

But why worry when there are so many good acts.

See you there.

---

We're helping to show the love and send Mal and Melina off to Memphis Next year.

A great lineup (yes I would say that, wouldnt I?)

$25 for a lotta music folks :-) Sunday 1st December, Bald Faced Stag hotel in Leichhardt.

MJEB's Week of Fail Blog - or - Chaos and Entropy are my friends

Howdy Folks, well it's been a big week of teeny tiny little things not quite working.

As per usual, when the site's quiet, it's cos we're off in the lab, wiring up a new contraption.

Sometimes, things work out, sometimes, you get...well..Fail.

Over the last few years we have tried various weird and wonderful experiments

For example, the Reactors (sound reduction cabinets for on site recording during Hired Guns)

All in all a WIN, despite the fact that the boys wanted to do over dubs anyway, we still used live takes and we kept the amp spill out of the drums.

Less successful was the home built stabiliser I made for a camera

the stabilizer kind of works but we had FAIL because it was a video clip for our song about Ned Kelly (Last Drinks at Glenrowan) and the dude cast as NED shaved his fricking beard off for a different role a week before production..

Sigh.

This week I have been trying to arrange multiple things and so far...

Now in my usual way, I abide by the rule of 'if you don't have something nice to say...'

However, during a discussion with Mr Wizard about 'stuff', it dawned on me that I'm Ok with FAIL.

I don't like it, I strive to avoid it, but I don't see it as singular punishment from the Gods, it's just background noise.

We have done some fun things because we're willing to try and then get back up and try something else, or even the same thing again.

So to celebrate FAIL, here are some happy moments of FAIL this week!

Scheduling? Getting details from engineers? Confirming dates?

(sigh)

We'll try again next week.

Partly my fault for not following up on this thing sooner, we sent our TASCAM US 1800 away for repairs, they sent it back to us still broken and I was so mad I let it sit there for a month before chasing it up to get it repaired. Suffice to say it didn't go well and now it would come in handy so I did a final test and nope, it's a brick. IMHO the TASCAM recorder is not a reliable device and the local support is not so crash hot. I put my hand up fro not following up fast enough but I kind of feel like I got jerked around until the warranty expired and then left high and dry.

Right, rant done.

Am I going to frip and caper about? Nope. We'll just keep trying.

Long live the fail! May we avoid it wherever possible and make light of it when unavoidable.

ARRRR!!!!!

Wind Rain and Fire - weekend gig reports.

Howdy Folks. What was potentially our last full weekend of gigs for 2013 was a great way to finish up the years live shows.

Saturday night saw us head for Bondi, with the strangely cold November weather threatening.

Fortunately we got setup before the heavens descended...and how!

On Saturday we invited Close Magic practitioner Neo to join us for a combined evening of music and magic.

It was amazing to watch but I promised not to video much of it for Trade Secret Reasons...

I wanted to video it but I also didnt want to accidentally reveal any of his methods so I was a little hesitant in filming but anyway....

Meanwhile, outside, it was coming down with a vengeance.

Inside, the music was on, the dancing happening, Neo joined us during Sweet Misery to perform a floating ball illusion, we had a new light system that Dr Tom was trialing.

Blondes not included :-)

Between the rain beating down outside, a packed house, magic and music, there was quite a vibe at that gig :-)

That was a remarkable night.

Shout outs to Nick, Tom, Al, our Lady of the Red Dress, DJ and al the folks who spent the evening with us.

We brought out three new songs to test, Downward Bound, On The Low Low and Queen Above the Oceans ad they all survived first release into the wild. Fly, be free little songs!

Sunday saw us head up to the gorgeous Catherine Hill Bay and the Wallarah Hotel.

As we drove up it became apparent just how close the bushfires had come to destroying this sea side community.

And this gives you an idea of why people settled near here...

How close the fires came was really brought home when I went to the rear of the pub.

We played inside on account of the rain and had a grand time, and in a first for Stormcellar, an actual request (some canned heat).

Driving up to the hotel past the long thin wispy strips of black and orange, you have a sense of re-growth, even in the desolation.

Cheers to Jane, Jessica, Harvey and the locals and travelers who helped put a few extra dinero back into the community.

As summer comes around, the Bush will renew itself and the spirits of the locals will rise again. We'll be back there to cheer :-)

MJEB

Stormcellar at the Royal Hotel Bondi Saturday 16 Nov and Wallarah Hotel Catherine Hill Bay Sunday 17 November

Howdy Folks. On examination of our calendar it looks like these might be some of our last gigs for 2013, except for a possible show or two TBA in December.

But just to be on the safe side, we're going berserk for this weekend. EVEn our FONTS have gone MADD!!!