Hi Powdy
On Friday night the chaps played at Joe's at Eumundi, but I had a ticket for Saturday night, at The Miami Tavern, at The Shark Bar. From the Gold Coast Highway one encounters the bistro first, and the poker machines, and the car park that might lead you to the Shark Bar (or a brick wall), on the beach side. From the beach side, the Shark Bar is nestled in a picturesque little valley, McMansions stepping up the hill in one direction, pandanus park in the corner, and a lovely park across the road, with glazed wooden benches with surfboard-shaped backs and seats, mounted on surfboard-shaped concrete slabs. A flat, besser-brick area for eating, on the far side of a toilet block with a `green' roof (the cook's herb patch, perhaps?). I couldn't see any traces of a tunnel connecting the toilets to the Bar on the other side of the road. A glorious moon above, cloaked in a plume of
cloud tapering to the horizon.
As Kevin pointed out, the Shark Bar was a bit dodge, with ads for the `Miami Beach Mermaids' outside, and similar video-stills inside alternating with photos of shark teeth, still in their owners' jaws, even during the performance. Apparently the nearest pub is the Burleigh Hotel to the south, and a Mermaid Beach pub to the north, with the bright lights of Surfers beyond, so the Tavern it is for a gig in these parts, for characters such as the bloke (not Nigel) who told me about `cigar box guitars', made by slaves even before the U.S. Civil War. See, e.g. - http://www.cigarbox nation.com/ profile/NigelMcT rustry
The Bar itself was very much, a, um, bar, consisting of a pool table area, the bar itself stretching for about half the room, and then a dance floor and the stage at the end, with couches marching down the room, opposite the bar, underneath large windows
opening onto the sea.
`Taylor' was on first; die-hard music afficionados who apparently all work at a local music shop and are dedicated to their craft. They oscillated somewhere between a heart-felt number about "Genevieve", who's been out too long – "she knows we worry so", and another one about coming on over "I'm on the floor – you get me high". Next were "The Daisycutters" . The lead singer had "charasma", thought I, as the balladeer/troubadou r. The cleanest sound of all the support bands I heard over the two nights.
The crowd at the Miami Tavern was definitely younger; twenty-somethings( ?), with a few oldies (ahem) scattered around the edges, and later up on the dance floor. Very friendly crowd. The set list was that of The Globe on Thursday night, but they were definitely looser (as Kevin notes). Enjoyed dancing to the whole set; particularly
`Massacres'. But, for me the highlight was `Phobus Grunt'.
As at The Globe, Jim was very entertaining with his electronic `saw'; an antenna-like device standing up on his keyboard. He casts spells with it, he plays it with his hat, and then he gets similar noises using his guitar neck on the keyboard. Now, it could be said that Jim is from that school of thought that keeps its powder dry. A century after `Punch' magazine noted `leaders' starting to act through `govertisements' to excite people with charisma and dynamism, rather than `rulers' possibly being expected to show diligence and honesty and just getting on with it (why doesn't Obama CARE about the oil spill?), it can be fairly said that Mr Moginie is of a calm sort, on stage.
But on `Phobus' he stalked and attacked and thumped his defenceless keyboard with great gusto, while Rob belted the cymbals such that the (quite)
sound guy had to come out and tighten `em mid-performance. The energy was electric, the emotions articulated by the music unstated and yet ubiquitous. In some interview or other Jim said the absence of a lead singer allows the music a huge field of feeling. Primeval stuff. Animating the ladies AND the solid citizens in front of the band. The Break also did an encore, with (I think), `Miserlou', `Cyclops' and `Farm' (but, short memory, it's a bit of a blur).
Loved the `Squintroesque' signature at the end of the set (and album), just like how the end of `Poets and Slaves' mirrors `A crocodile cries' on `Capricornia' . Cycles or spirals?
