Now where were we? 

Day 8

Jo headed home in the morning leaving us glad to have had her company but sad to see her go. Having her along made the trip very special for us folks that like harmony sounds :-)

Our next gig was the late night session at the Albert hotel. The boys were itching to play something electric by this stage, Rosie was even looking forward to Help Me and a 24 bar guitar solo.

But before we could get there, it was time for lunch, and having marinated Lamb overnight  in Theo's Red Wine (with Theo looking around going WTF happened to my wine), I realised we needed a barbie. Cooking this on the stove top would have been sacrilege.

Enter the worlds smallest (and cheapest) Hibachi!

Having spent $25 on it I was too cheap to buy firelighters and opted for paper. When I brought the thing home, the boys cheerfully pointed out the error of my thinking and went off in search of the correct way of lighting coals. It was worth the extra effort.

We enjoyed lunch with DJ Grizz, who popped in for Lamb, Couscous and fresh Hummus. Mr Wizard has suggested that we release a cookbook instead of an album. There could be something to that...

Nonetheless, we are not here to cook, although thanks to Costco, Aldi and Moree Meats, we ate rather well and I did receive a Thankyou Card from Mr Wizards Colon, ( Take the Stormcellar Fibre Challenge!), we are here to Rock. (hahaha, I cant even type that with a straight face)

That night we headed into the Albert for the 11pm show, where we planned on playing none of that nice stuff with harmonies in it.

As it was Australia Day Eve, the crowd had already started celebrating and we caught a few minutes of the band.

Meanwhile, out in the street, the boys were getting their stuff together for the gig.

I should make mention of Theo's very happy acquisition. After 28 years of playing the same Brady Snare, Theo picked up a brand new custom Brady dove tailed bamboo-wood snare drum, and this was his first chance to use it, no wonder he's so happy.

While I was standing watch over the gear, I took a couple of snaps of folks wandering along peel st.

I think the Steve Edmonds band was playing across the Street and they were rocking it out.

The it was time for us to go do our late night, all electric, no sweet song gig.

How'd we go?

On more familiar ground, I got some footage of a few moments of the gig:

Mid set, Ben from The Swampers was inspired to give me his Hat, which I was almost reluctant to return, as apparently it was 'Country Couture' :-)

How did Theo go with his new snare? Now I film whenever I can put the harps down and am not required to start singing, so I often get a lot of the boys solos etc, but even after a few years of filming Theo, I am still amazed. Check this out.

OMG.

Not to be outdone, Mike 'Redline Rix' took on the Been-Eating-Beans-All-Week Challenge and, well..

As this was the 11pm slot, we were performing as the clock rolled around to Australia day and the folks were definitely celebrating.

We should also send out a big thanks to Steve and Bernie, who stuck around for an extra day at the Festival just to come to the late night set. Cheers guys, and a shout out to Gasman for doing the Praying To The Lord dance :-)

We were also introduced to some more Southern Belles, including some all the way from Macon, Georgia.

The chap running the sound desk for the evening, who shall only be known by his nickname 'fatman' was enthusiastic to say the least.

To say more, my ears were still ringing from the on stage sound two days later. I may have evidenced a certain grumpiness after the gig due to the fact the sound was so loud they could hear us in other dimensions, but c'est la vie. What? Can you speak up?

After a frenetic, loud and fast paced set, we limped home to recover in time for the next days gig at 2pm.

Day 9...Australia Day .....What?....WHAT?

After a big night, Paul and I headed into town for a quick Radio Spot on Festival FM. Thanks John!

John managed to coax answers from us despite the fact that I felt like I'd been hit by a sledgehammer after the previous gig - and that's after drinking nothing but water and cola...

Luckily, this was in walking distance of the Albert, so duly, off we went for an Australia Day Afternoon gig at the Albert.

As we entered the car park, one of the Security Staff approached and bade me good day, shaking my hand. 

'Eh Bro' he said. 'Good set last night'

'Thanks mate" I replied.

He nodded. 'yeah mate, had to replace 5 windows' 

Me: 'Huh?" (thinking -'wtf', followed by 'Oh #^&$ are we gonna have to pay a glazing bill?)

'Yeah mate, blew out 5 on the 2nd floor. Glazier said they was too dangerous to leave, ahd to get them replaced this morning'

Me: 'Huh? 2nd floor?' (thinking "I knew it was loud, but that loud? Holy Crap!)

'Yeah' he nodded. 'Good show, but."

Ye Gods.

Fortunately, I was distracted by the excellent sounds coming from the marquee and promptly stopped worrying about calling O'briens Glass.

Wandering inside we caught the last set of Den Hanrahan in the Marquee at the Albert.

One of the great things about doing this stuff is the chance to see great music from other bands, and I loved Den's set. I video'd few moments so you can hear what he sounds like.

As Den finished and cleared stage, we got our stuff together and went up.

Whilst the boys were setting up, I took a couple of snaps some Country Gig Posters :-)

Just before we started our set, there was a noticeable change in the weather.

Typical Bloody Stormcellar Weather! It's almost like clockwork!

Meanwhile, Theo was hurriedly setting up his kit, including the New Brady Snare (drummer drool time)

You can see the dovetailed pieces of bamboo in the construction.

Better get inside guys...here comes the weather

We had a new soundo for the gig, as I think the last guy must have spontaneously combusted after the bass drum mike hit once too often the night before. Cheers Daniel!

As the weather closed in and we were awaiting the final moment to step on stage, I got a great shot of Mike Rix. 

As this was an afternoon gig after a Big Night, we started with some of the Material from Carl's Chair and then ramped it up as the afternoon progressed. We were also fortunate to be joined by Steve Passfield on Didgeridoo for a song during the last set, straight after his diggers breakfast and before another gig. 3 for the day? Now that's working hard!

We had some very special folks dancing along during the set , including a Mini-Rosie :-) 

The Hay Bales are for the Australia Day Crab Race that we ended our set early to accommodate! Go you good thing.

The downside is that the Winners of the Crab race get eaten first! Being a champion is a tough business.

We had a rousing welcome, considering the Celebrations of the night before were starting to blend in with the celebrations of the current day :-) and a good set was had by all. I could even still feel my face after we finished! (what? Whaaaat??)

As we left, the Rattlesnakes were starting up with some Rockabilly and you just new it was going to be a big night...

 Day 11

An 11am  start time the day after Australia day...Hmm...Who can back up that quick?

The answer? Den Hanrahan! Stomping it out solo and barefoot in the front bar!

I wonder if it was a Big Night at the Albert...I wonder

But have no fear, the Albert have a solution for your day-after-the-night-before

So sad Poor crabs. Mmm... Crab...

Out the back, Theo had discovered what comes of too much playing...

 'Let me go on, like a Blister on the Drum', to badly paraphrase Violent Femmes (aint I a card?)

For the early morning set we opted to start with all the gentle stuff sure to soothe a hung over head and lo and behold, we were visited by the fabulous Mr Michael 'Fettler' Kerin, who came up to play for the show.

Fettler was up for a Golden Guitar on Saturday night, I'll have to check to see whether he won.

Nonetheless, he ably lent his talents to the show, allowing Rosie and I to kick back and let him handle the solo's :-)

This now meant we had 4 Michael's onstage. We've asked Theo and Paul to change their names to Michael to keep it from getting confusing.

 We also had our youngest dancing fan yet

By the end of the set, we were out of the Nice Songs so we asked the audience if they felt like hearing some of the  Electric stuff and once again to our surprise, the answer was a resounding yes.

By  the time we finished with the Boogie, things were just starting to heat up at the Albert as the Hair Of The Dog was providing great comfort to Day-After-Australia-Day revellers.

However, for the illustrious crew, we had another gig, this time a 2 song live set on radio 2TM.

We headed off down Peel St, where I heard at least 5 simultaneous versions of Johnny Cash's Burning Ring Of Fire.

Setting up in the outdoor stage thing.

We did two songs, Lucky Streak and the new one called (tentatively) Road Rise Up. Thanks to Kramer for the interview. I think Louise recorded it so when I get a copy I'll post a link.

This left us only with one more gig to do, an evening session on the Saturday night at the Albert.

But I'll leave that for the last and final blog of the tour, part 4!