Howdy Folks, spring is sprung, the grass is riz, and every weekend, we gots gigs.

It's a glorious spring day as I write this stuff and an early taste of a warm summer, ah relaxing. But enough of that! Some gig reporting!

We started on Friday night with a gig at the Eastern Lounge at the Roseville Memorial Club.

David and the crew have put together a rare success story in a market of diminishing musical gigs, running monthly shows with a variety of acts and styles.

We were on the bill for the last show of the year which featured Folk, Jazz and then us. 

The first act was the wonderful Rebecca Moore who impressed Rosie and Mr Wizard with her Mandolin and singing. She also has a social conscience and invited people to donate to a worthwhile cause at the merchandise table.

We also have a worthwhile cause to donate to...well..sort of

Err...Stormcellar Fund for Paying Off Our Album Debts?

After soundcheck, we disappeared around the corner to rehearse a new song for the set at Mika's place. With our gear on stage we had to borrow her Bass.

And of course, what goes better with a pink bass than a pink ukulele!

After a quick rehearsal, we headed back and found the place was jumping.

Luckily for us there was a dedicated spot for the band!

It was kind of hard to get a spot so I had to crane around a corner to get a view of Belinda doing her Jazz thang.

The crowd were reluctant to let Belinda go, but soon it was time for a quick changeover for a late night set. We were fortunate to have Bill V with us on Guitar Tech duties. Yay Bill!

Now that I have my new Harmonica case (the Harp Gaurdian 5000), wonky stages and dancing loons do not bother me. With the bass drum to my immediate left, the thump-thump knocked my harp case off its chair no less than 3 separate times, in the first two songs, which normally would have led to the scattering of harmonicas and much chagrin for me as I scuttle around trying to fix it, but NO! Thanks to the latest in MJEB Labs Technology, everything stayed put.

3 times. That's field tested ladies and gents, get yours now! I have to state some degree of personal satisfaction with this outcome. The audience looked at me as if 'OH NOES!' but, AHA! it's HARP GUARDIAN 5000 for the WIN!

Anyway, we did our stuff, people danced and we did some encores. The dancers at the front were so enthusiastic I asked if they'd repeat their enthusiasm for the purposes of making us look good on youtube. they kindly obliged. Here's me doing my best Invader Zim impression as we coax a little extra praise from the audience.

Cheers to David, CB, S & C (new gps anyone?), Belinda, Rebecca, Callum and all the folks at the Eastern Club. What a great place to get down on the North Shore. They have stacks of good stuff on in the 2013, starting again in February. Check'em out at www.easternlounge.com.au

Saturday

The following evening we were in Jannali, back to a full three set show. Little did I know that my phone/camera had filled up and the rest of the photos i took went into cyberspace...yargh.

Still, we  had a good solid nights playing and I didn't manage to drop my Harp case even the once. Ho Hum.

Cheers to Chris, Blake, Eric, Julie, Lucas and all the folks who came out for the evening.

We've got another two shows coming up this next weekend and lots of other stuff to do. Theo's taking a month off over December and we'll be featuring Mr. Tony Boyd on drums for some gigs in December, so this week will see additional rehearsals as we gear up for the change over in a few weeks.
 
Stay tuned for more adventures in the annals of a working band!