For those that are regular readers of the Blog, you might know that we post a lot of the Journey stuff for the benefit of our overseas readers, especially those who are serving in harms way, as a chance for them to get a bit of a reminder of Home, or at least something different to the daily grind. In particular, we send our best regards to Roscoe (of Roscoe's Boogie fame) who's back In Country, doing what he does best. Stay Frosty, Roscoe.
Of course, part of the joy of doing this stuff is the chance to wend your way through the countryside and this weekend the weather was perfect for a drive. Just ask the Comanchero MC that we saw out in full force. Also, in full force, the Police pulling them over for a Quiet Chat...probably wanted to talk about the cricket.
Ahem.
Nonetheless, here's a taste of the sunshine from this weekends ride up North:
Ah, back on the highway
With Mal at the wheel, it was nice to be in the Passenger seat for a change, Theo enjoyed his time off as well :-)
We stopped for a rest break in Willow Tree where we observed what happens when you buy the Economy Sweeper.
I suggest maybe the Premium Sweeper would be a better choice
Continuing my fascination with local signage, this one was a hoot. If you dont buy petrol at this station, you have to take a pee in the park :-)...Heh...19Kms south...cruel
Getting closer to Tamworth
We arrived in Tamworth early afternoon after a very scenic trip and strong exposure to Mal's choice of Countyr Music (Kenny Chesney and Rascal Flats, confirming what happens when you play country music backwards) for a night at the Albert Hotel:
Apparently, they ran out of chalk and had ot shorten our band name..
We set up for the evening and kicked off in fine style. Big thanks to Michael (Gasman) Sharon, Keryn, Binnie, Wayne and Val for dropping in. Now I'd show you pictures but I managed to leave my dang (dang! LOL...too much Country with Mal) phone upstairs during the gig, but I remedied that the next night.
According to our mate the Bouncer they havent had that big a crowd in a while and I think we'll be going back there soon.
Right.
Sunday morning saw us head off for the Wikham Park Hotel gig in Newcastle on a gorgeous, sunny, sunday..
As you head towards Newcastle, the Industrial Age reasserts itself.
We arrived at the Wicko and found no shortage of chalk!
Also, rather cool cars, which sparked the attention of the boys:
Inside, I spotted a classic name for a band. must check these guys out..
Delta Skelter...awesome.
With the fathers day lunch crowd well fed and heading home, the night crowd started to come on in.
A big shout out to Sandi Mac (hope you enjoy the t-shirt, great to see ya darlin), also cheers to Pete for giving us some sound advice, Blue for help with the Desk, Patti, Belinda (no I am not using your full name cos you are in trouble) and who could forget the singing sensation of Zen..ah moments like that dont happen all the time ;-)
Ahem. So how did the gig go? Well, this time I remembered to have the camera handy! Why write it when I can simply do this...
Mr Wizard back from Tokyo and still wearing that hat!
Even better, in between singing and Harping I got some footage...here ya go:
That was a HUGE gig and a big night, with a little inadvertent Stage Diving after one rather exuberant fellow crashed into my feet, some stage invasion from the lovely Zen (Sorry we dont know R.E.S.P.E.C.T) who had to be dragged off by her mates... A big night.
Thanks to Paul behind the bar for making us feel welcome and an extra special note of thanks to our golden roadie, Carl, who makes these long range trips possible.
This weekends gigs are a little closer to home, if you havent had a dance in a while, take a cue from the Boogiers at the Wicko and come on out and spend some time on the boogie with us!
MJEB