World Wide Woozle episode #611

Hi everyone,

Here we are again. Thanks for continuing to read these (or at least for not blocking me).

Manowar - Carry On - https://youtu.be/SGs7MzWkukk

Last Friday night I went to a live gig. There's nothing all that new there except for the fact that I went alone. To be honest, I tried that last year and really felt awkward but I am determined not to miss out on the joy of live performance. A while back I saw that Fanny Lumsden was coming to town and before I could second guess myself I secured a ticket.

What I didn't realise was that I'd booked myself dead centre in the third row! Maybe I just chose the "best available" option on the booking site. As a result, I was pretty much at eye level with the band and directly in front of Fanny herself.

The gig itself was a ripper. The opening band, two members out of four of Melbourne outfit Georgia State Line, played a beautiful, if not somewhat disjointed, set of music that sounded like Gillian Welch mixed up with Neil Young. I enjoyed it but wished that they'd thought about how to manage what were long, silent and awkward pauses between songs. The bass player had fabulous sparkly silver boots though!

Fanny Lumsden is an Australian country singer. Maybe alt-country, I'm not sure. All I know is that I like her music. Fanny and her band are energizer bunnies. And the harmonies, wow!! The day of the gig was the launch date of her latest album, Hey Dawn. Towards the end of the show we were all encouraged to get up and dance to a song that had some actions. This is something I did NOT want to do but I was front and centre and really had little choice. It ended up being tons of fun.

Fanny's band was amazing. The mandolin and chicken-pickin' electric guitar were highlights for me. The venue (Street Theatre, Canberra) was sold out and I'm pretty sure everyone in there went home feeling as if they'd had the best time. See Fanny for yourself if you can. She tells a great yarn, writes songs with heart and meaning, and is a natural performer. She's played Glastonbury and been on Play School too. Not bad.

Fanny Lumsden - Millionaire (acoustic, live) - https://youtu.be/-RzQcsIcJV8

As a result of having to learn a few songs for an upcoming gig I've been listening to a fair bit of Cold Chisel. Digging into some lesser known tracks has been a lot of fun. If you're a slave to commercial radio then you'll hear the same five or six Chisel songs on high rotation all the time. They're not bad songs, just overplayed. I remember being given a copy of a compilation cassette, Razor Songs, when I was in late high school. The Radio Songs LP was essentially a greatest hits but Razor Songs was the raw, live Chisel that really spoke to me. It wasn't a greatest hits. It was just great and still is.

Cold Chisel - Home And Broken Hearted (live) - https://youtu.be/5Ei9sm23Law

Staying downunder, The Screaming Jets have a couple of new singles out and an album called Professional Misconduct coming in October. There's a tour as well although to see them here one needs to go to the Summernats Festival and that is really not my scene. In days gone by I could've sat in my lounge and heard the show but I've moved house and the wind generally blows the other way! Having seen them a couple of times I can confirm that the Jets excel in a live setting. If sweaty rock and roll is your thing then get a ticket to a show near you.

The Screaming Jets - Nothing To Lose - https://youtu.be/v1JlC9_hwd8

Lastly, in sad news, Angus managed to break his thumb at football training. That means the end of the season for him which will be a huge disappointment. I know he's really been enjoying his footy and also I've been loving following his progress. Surely he can be the waterboy with just one hand??

Mike Brady - One Day In September - https://youtu.be/IIqmsxQ-ChY  

Rock on everyone,
The Woozle

"And he watched too much shit on TV,

And he studied the east for relief..."

The Externals, Edge of the World, 2019