Still trying to get back into a boring old routine, after all that disruption with Madrid/Paris – but not quite managing it, what with fencing lessions, getting sick, and assorted other excuses. And there’s not much chance of that changing – with two months jam-packed with gigs scheduled. Yep – starting Friday, I have currently got 23 scheduled gigs over a 60 day period. Oh yeah.
But to warm up for all this – there was Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears. I can’t remember how I discovered these guys – but it is amazing music. I ended up taking a workmate to the gig – and normally I feel a whole heap of trepidation taking somebody along to a gig, when they haven’t heard of the band. But with this – I had no fear, for I’m pretty sure it would be impossible for anybody not to find this music infectious, happy, and just as cool as all shit. And I was right – she loved it. It was a relatively small gig, at the Jazz Cafe – which I hadn’t been to before. And now I really want to get a restaurant table for a gig there, that would be sweet. Anyway – the gig. These guys still aren’t as well-known as they will/should be – so can’t find any actual video footage, but I reckon you can tell just from the music what it would have been like. Do it – listen to them. If they aren’t being thrashed on Triple J already, they soon will be – and are a certainty to be in the top 100. The first album – Tell ‘em What Your Name Is, a must-have. The second – Scandalous – is quickly growing on me too – especially the title track.
So yeah – overall, an excellent gig, with excellent music – and has got me all excited for the remainder of the year. And in between all those gigs, I’ve got to win the fencing tournament, get my motorbike licence, and start a new job if my boss can find something for me to do (current client is kicking out all contractors – finally figured out they were going broke by paying dozens and dozens of project managers, etc – so have fishtailed, and just cancelled all projects, contracts, all travel, etc. Next year, they will try to start everything up again – and maybe realise that it’s cost them more to restart everything, then if they’d just continued – but just getting rid of the tonnes of dead-wood).