Well Childers. Where to begin….
First of all, Sarah is right. (For once hehe) The seats in the back of the van are not conducive to long trips. After a while, I forgot what it was like to feel you had a bum :P But it was a fun-filled four hour trip despite that. And, it was Flook I was bopping along to, not John Butler. The boys were in fine form, we laughed and talked, and I had a great time catching up with Seh in the back. The trip was great.
We stayed with Jan and Col Perrin in Bundaberg all weekend and we couldn’t have asked for a lovelier couple to have welcome us into their home! They were gems, truly. Our first gig wasn’t till 4:30pm on Saturday so we just settled in and walked around, checking out what there was to see in Childers.
So then we did our first gig at the Cultural Centre Stage. I have never enjoyed performing so much! It was fabulous. Kristy was walking around advertising the EP and promising that we would sign them for free. Sure enough, we sold heaps! She did an awesome job. Thanks Kristy! Love your work :) We did another gig at 7:00pm which was fantastic as well. I particularly enjoyed singing Dreams and Galileo. Mine and Seh’s harmonies were really together. And it was almost a full moon, which was beautiful.
The next morning our first gig was at 9:30am. It was a gorgeous day, quite warm but still breezy. The festival was in full swing with the main drag being shut off for HEAPS of stalls. There were heaps of people already! If I had any choice I wouldn’t be up before noon, but it was a great morning despite some technical difficulties with sound. If it hadn’t been for our brilliant sound team, we wouldn’t have been able to perform to the best of our abilities. They were awesome! We sold all of the EP’s and were seriously considering auctioning off the last one as there were so many hands up for it! Lol It was a pleasure to sign them for all the people, who were lovely and supportive. It was a first for me as I’ve never sign my autograph and I could definitely get used to it! We were on a high after we finished our noon gig and walked around the festival for a while, checking out stuff. We saw a Sand Mandala completed by some monks of the Dalai Lama. It was so cool! The intricacy of it and the detail with just sand was unbelievable. Also the band bought me the coolest and most beautiful scarf made out of coloured, shredded bits of wool, satin and silk. I was so glad to have a memento of such a wonderful experience. Thanks guys! I love it :)
One of the highlights of the festival for me was seeing Walisuma no less than four times! They are an incredible four piece band who play music from the Andes. They play (and with much gusto and loads of talent) pan pipes, flutes, little guitars and those things that look like a bunch of nuts strung together on a rope that sound really cool when you rustle them. Lol. You know the ones? Anyway, no matter how many times we saw them, they almost always slowed us in our tracks just so we could listen to their music. If you ever catch them at a shopping centre, or at a festival like this one, count yourself lucky! And come to Childers next year, it won’t disappoint!
Cheers. Over and out.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Ooop North
So. Childers. It was absolutely amazing :) Once again I've split my blogs into three, to cover what happened over the weekend.
Friday: I’m currently in the back of the van, it’s 10:30pm and we’re on our way up to Bundaberg to perform at the Childers Multicultural Festival.
The first thing I was entertained with was a hysterical story Hailze told about our Nanna’s friend. She spilled coffee on her new cordless Telstra phone, then rinsed it under water to wash off the coffee. Incredibly, she then microwaved it to dry it off (I kid you not!!). Amazingly, she took this black smouldering mass back to the shops for a replacement & even more amazingly, she received a replacement, because there wasn’t anything in the manual that said not to rinse or microwave your cordless phone.
After Mannie, Paul and I finished wiping the tears from our eyes we got on with the impending drive.
It set the scene for a Sunas road trip nicely :)
We stopped at Gympie for Fat Maccas (there really isn’t any other way to explain, is there?), and are back in the van ready for the next leg. Paul is driving now, and Mannie is taking full advantage of this break by snoozing in the passenger seat with his hoodie on. He looks like a trendy monk :) Paul is blissing out to Vangelis and off in his own little driving world, while my sister Hailze is sitting next to me listening to songs on her phone and bopping her head away. I'm guessing John Butler is inspiring the bopping. I have my lovely latte, but I just can’t get comfortable back here. I’m very appreciative of the beloved van, but the seats weren’t built for long distance travel.
We’re staying with Jan & Col Perrin in Bundaberg. We met Jan through my friend Kristie while performing up at Bundaberg North State High School a few months back. I’m looking forward to catching with Col & Jan, they're the lovliest people, and I know the boys & Hailze will get along with them famously!
Not too fond of this sleeping vertically business - this is shite! Bring on the horizontal spaces. More later.
Friday: I’m currently in the back of the van, it’s 10:30pm and we’re on our way up to Bundaberg to perform at the Childers Multicultural Festival.
The first thing I was entertained with was a hysterical story Hailze told about our Nanna’s friend. She spilled coffee on her new cordless Telstra phone, then rinsed it under water to wash off the coffee. Incredibly, she then microwaved it to dry it off (I kid you not!!). Amazingly, she took this black smouldering mass back to the shops for a replacement & even more amazingly, she received a replacement, because there wasn’t anything in the manual that said not to rinse or microwave your cordless phone.
After Mannie, Paul and I finished wiping the tears from our eyes we got on with the impending drive.
It set the scene for a Sunas road trip nicely :)
We stopped at Gympie for Fat Maccas (there really isn’t any other way to explain, is there?), and are back in the van ready for the next leg. Paul is driving now, and Mannie is taking full advantage of this break by snoozing in the passenger seat with his hoodie on. He looks like a trendy monk :) Paul is blissing out to Vangelis and off in his own little driving world, while my sister Hailze is sitting next to me listening to songs on her phone and bopping her head away. I'm guessing John Butler is inspiring the bopping. I have my lovely latte, but I just can’t get comfortable back here. I’m very appreciative of the beloved van, but the seats weren’t built for long distance travel.
We’re staying with Jan & Col Perrin in Bundaberg. We met Jan through my friend Kristie while performing up at Bundaberg North State High School a few months back. I’m looking forward to catching with Col & Jan, they're the lovliest people, and I know the boys & Hailze will get along with them famously!
Not too fond of this sleeping vertically business - this is shite! Bring on the horizontal spaces. More later.
Friday, July 27, 2007
On the Road Again
Well I'm writing this in the near darkness of the Sunas tour bus. I'm only able to type when we tick under a streetlamp and I can actually see the keyboard. We're on the Bruce Highway, heading north to Childers for the Festival of the Cultures. Arrgh and now the streetlamps have vanished so I'm kind of using the Force here. Nope, no good. I'll have to come back later after my drive shift.
Sodding semi-trailers. Maybe there's a 10pm curfew or something, as every single one of them has screamed up behind us (and we're cruising at the speed limit here and not dawdling). They come up behind, literally so close that I can count the bugs squashed on the bull bars, then just sit there. Am I supposed to just pull off onto the dirt at 100kmh? And aren't these things supposed to be speed limited?
Anyway, enough whinging.
I had a 'moment' earlier, around midnight. I was driving along, The Waterboys whispering from the iPod connected to the stereo, under a near-full moon. The road was bordered by the indigo of cane fields, and the air was cool yet still scented with sugar (it's harvesting season too). I think Mannie, Sarah and Hayley were asleep (Renee is away in New Zealand), and it suddenly occurred to me that we were driving through the night to play music at a festival. Doesn't sound like much really, but there can't be too many better jobs going.
I wonder what the weekend will hold...?
Listening to 'Peace of Iona' by The Waterboys
Sodding semi-trailers. Maybe there's a 10pm curfew or something, as every single one of them has screamed up behind us (and we're cruising at the speed limit here and not dawdling). They come up behind, literally so close that I can count the bugs squashed on the bull bars, then just sit there. Am I supposed to just pull off onto the dirt at 100kmh? And aren't these things supposed to be speed limited?
Anyway, enough whinging.
I had a 'moment' earlier, around midnight. I was driving along, The Waterboys whispering from the iPod connected to the stereo, under a near-full moon. The road was bordered by the indigo of cane fields, and the air was cool yet still scented with sugar (it's harvesting season too). I think Mannie, Sarah and Hayley were asleep (Renee is away in New Zealand), and it suddenly occurred to me that we were driving through the night to play music at a festival. Doesn't sound like much really, but there can't be too many better jobs going.
I wonder what the weekend will hold...?
Listening to 'Peace of Iona' by The Waterboys
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
A Happy Wee Dude
*IMPORTANT SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT**IMPORTANT SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT**IMPORTANT SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT*
The MaShannie is now the proud owner of a beautiful Davy Stuart mandolin.
The MaShannie is now the proud owner of a beautiful Davy Stuart mandolin.
Try getting him off the toilet *now*, Annette
Happy Birthday Mannie & a very big thank you for the gear use over the years :)
Love Paul, Sarah, Helen and Annette.
The story of how we managed to secretly have the mandolin made, shipped over then cunningly concealed within a pink ukelele will make its way to these pages soon.
Davy now has a total of five instruments in this band. A bouzouki, mandolin, Paul's new guitar & 2 bodhràns. It might be time for a sponsorship deal... :)
And we shall call it...MiniMe....
Listening to 'Mo Bheannachd Dhan Bhàillidh Ùr' by Julie Fowlis
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