You had to be there.

Mostly because I didn't get as many pics and vids as I wanted because the music was non stop.

We must start by confirming that Theo is The Machine - he drummed at high intensity for 3 and a bit hours straight, providing the rhythm for the band and our guests. Way to go Theo, that was amazing. His drumming during George Rigatos's version of Little Wing was peerless. What a night.

We were joined on Bass by the freshly travelled Mr Rix, who is also Georges band mate in the Midnight Ramblers, and what a three piece combo (with Theo) they made. Ah but I am getting ahead of myself again.

Ahem.

Right, so as predicted we had more Muso's than space (or time) and all of them warranted more time than we had. It was like a mini festival :-). It is appropriate to give each of them special thanks, which I shall now do:

Firstly, our profound thanks go to Fettler (Mike Kerin) for sitting in with us. Playing with someone of his calibre necessitates that we lift our game and last night was no exception. I highly recommend his new album 'Fiddle: The Devils Instrument'. Cheers Fettler and Tinka! 

 As we finished our first set, Ross Ward got up to do a set supported by Theo, Rixie and Mr Wizard and blasted out some terrific Blues, we wanted him to go longer but  he claimed he had to get up early (likely story Ross!). It turns out that Ross and Theo are old playing buddies, so it was a musical reunion. Great work Ross, thanks for coming down and bringing your lovely partner.

For those of you who couldn't make it, here's some of what ya missed.

 Ok, 1 set from us, 1 set from Ross, time to take a brea....nope, its time for George to get up!

George is a heck of a guitarist, here's a few snippets from a version of Little Wing

And of course, Mr Wizard was into it as well (hey its his Birthday Bash and who's gonna tell him no?)

 So after three blistering sets, its time to pause, take a moment and...no..whats that? The Bald Rock closes by midnight? We have to go straight on with...oh...

Yikes. Poor Theo. We had to combine our second and third sets, drop a bunch of songs and cram as much as in as we could. We tried out another new song last night, Country Radio, which has been hovering in the wings for the last few weeks. It got a good reception but I think it still needs some cooking, however even on its first appearance, it looks like another strong contender for the next album.

During the set I was handed a note saying 'play Classical Gas, don't be scared, we're at the Bald Rock' LOL...I've been handed notes with requests before, but that's a new one :-)

We send our thanks to all of our guest muso's, and a special thanks to all the folks that came down, including (but not limited to, cos it was a busy night), Josh, Sue B, Sue K, Claudette H, Steve, Ingrid, Joan (thanks for getting Elsa to boogie) , Walter, Terry, Dave T, CB, Ken and omg that's where my brain shuts down. It was a truly busy night :-). Thank you all.

Walter (I think) made a comment that he'd  'seen the band before, and it was nice to see all the guests and the different arrangements with the Fiddle player' :-) No worries Walter, we like it too! That's why we do it :-)

That was one of those evenings that remind you why its worth going out to catch some live music, with a great crowd, a whole range of styles, non stop music and a lot of dancing.

We're back on deck in Bondi this coming weekend, back to being a 5 piece (awwww.....) but we're likely to continue mixing it up like this, so stay tuned, there are some nights in particular that you wont want to miss.

MJEB