Adelaide Tour - Part 2

Here's the random pics I always end up taking everywhere I go.....

Adelaide Tour - Part 1

It's all quite odd being back in South Australia, the state I was born and raised in. All in all, I've now lived away more years than I've ever lived here and it feels like it! Just after I arrived the 2nd test against Sri Lanka started, and the match was being played in Hobart. Sitting in the air conditioned hostel, I felt suddenly and quite profoundly homesick - a very strange feeling indeed!

My Sunday off really drove it home. I know my way around this city very well but found myself doing really touristy things but also photographing things, buildings and places that meant something to me as a child. Walking down King William St yesterday on a very summery Sunday morning I was transported back forty years or more and could hear my father telling me about the history of Adelaide and it's settlement while I skipped and hopped, playing my private game of maintaining my grip in dad's hand and jumping from flagstone to flagstone without "treading on the cracks and break my mother's back".

Sweet memories - but just that now. For some things there really is no going back.

The Gigs

The Grace Emily

The day I got off the plane I had a first gig at The Grace Emily in the funky end of Waymouth St. The Grace is getting quite a reputation as one of the places to play for original, indie musicians. It's quite a small room but it's got great atmosphere and the staff are very chilled. (I particularly loved the shrines to Ernie Sigley and Bert Newton!)

The support was a trio (who don't have a name as yet I think??) Simon on guitar and vocals, Craig on percussion & bass and Sarah on violin and backing vocals. (The pic's a little dark but you'll get the idea!)

It was close to Sarah's 21st birthday so it became an impromptu party. Also, just to add another nice note, it turns out Simon & I have a mutual friend in the Hobart scene. Somedays it seems such a small planet!

All in all, a very pleasant way to start out a week in Adelaide!

Sarah's Cafe

No relation to the Sarah above (Well, I don't think so!) Sarah's Cafe has become a mainstay in the Adelaide latin & jazz scene. Centrally located in Leigh St (just off Hindley St) Sarah's is a really nice place to chill out, eat great food and indulge in the bevvy of your choice. It also hosts after work music sessions every Thursday & Friday and weekly salsa dancing classes.

Despite the fact that I don't really fit those genre types, it was a lovely little gig, very laid back and thanks to Andrew for having me.

SCALA @ The Joiners Arms

SCALA is the Songwriters, Composers And Lyricists Association Inc and they've been running a weekly origianal music night for twenty years - an awesome achievement in a smallish city like Adelaide and a fantastic boost to original musicians in any language.

I was on the bill with Craig Battams, Gred Chiapolino and The Amanda Emblem Experiment - all very fine Adelaide-based original musicians. It was also really nice to play at the Joiners. I think it was one of the pubs my dad used to frequent many many years ago and it's a typical old-style Adelaide pub. Low-built, Gawler stone, return verandah, friendly staff and great home-cooked meals.

It was a really lovely gig, probably the nicest of the tour. Partly because of the audience but a lot to do with the organiser, Rob Childs. Rob's been the stalwart and mainstay of SCALA for all of it's 20 years and his love of music - and more particularly original music - shows in all he does for the organisation and the people who play. He even picked me up from the hostel I stayed at and delivered me back to the door at the end of the night. Awesome!

I met up with people who knew family who now live in Singapore and even worked with friends in Hobart. Also, it was great to play for a fresh audience, who for for the most part haven't heard me sing before or at least since I was in Wild Pumpkins. I think that's one of the great attractions at the moment of touring, getting a fresh reaction from folks who haven't heard me before.

On Tuesday night I went back to the Joiners again but this time to run a workshop and share songs with some of the SCALA members. Again, this was a delightful experience and I was so pleased to be amongst a group of experienced composers. Increasingly, I'm getting a heap of satisfaction from balancing gigs with workshops. It's one thing to get up on stage and just do it, it's entirely another to share the creative process and analysis with other like-minded souls.


On the whole this was a fantastic trip - despite the insanely hot weather! - and I'm already thinking I'll be going back before the middle of next year.

The Nicest Hostel in Adelaide

And one last tip - if you're looking for somewhere to stay in Adelaide, check out Sunny's in Franklin St.

It's a great little hostel, walking distance to everything important in the city (Central Market, Rundle Mall, Hindley St, Elder Park, Art Gallery and the Torrens) and the hospitality is second to none! While it's not a palace, it'd have to be one of the friendliest hostels I've stayed in for ages and the rates are very very reasonable. John, the owner, is a sax player and one of his full-time residents (Gary) is a chef who makes everyone pancakes for breakfast every morning. Yum!

Adelaide November 07

Well, I'm here!

It's taken a while to find a public access computer but better late than never!!! Unfortunately, there's no USB access on this one so pics will have to put up at a later date.

So far, so good. The gigs have been great but the weather has been totally outrageous. Every day since I arrived (last Wednesday) has been over 30 degrees Celsius. Despite having grown up in Adelaide I'm just not used to the very hot weather anymore and I think the one saving grace is that it's a dry, desert heat - a la the southern mediterranean - and not the humidity of Sydney or the pseudo English summer of Tasmania - where everyone goes troppo as soon as it gets over 25 C!

Anyway, despite feeling like I'm melting, it's been great fun and I'm looking forward to my last spot tonight at the Joiners Arms in Hindmarsh.

More pics and chat about Adelaide later..... now I really must go and watch the cricket - the second test against Sri Lanka being played in Hobart...... it makes me feel a wee bit homesick, which in itself is truly bizarre!