A Quiet Week

Oh, I was out a lot but I was not well and apart from Saturday night at the Yusef concert I didn't last past the first or second acts.

At The Hanger on Wednesday night to see Mick Turner I walked in just as Ghost Notes finished and asked Cam the drummer how it went and he said 'that was twice as good as any set we've ever played' and for the rest of the night everyone is like 'did you hear Ghost Notes Wow etc'. Next on were Opals & Poole featuring Merideth ex-Rational Academy and I believe one of the Hazzards of Swimming Naked among others. Nice soft ambient melodic stuff. Gos I hate labels. Mick Turner was enjoyable but a little too relaxed for me. It seemed to meander a bit. But then I was not well and left before his last song. Annoyed now that I didn't ask someone how much were the prints on display as I quite liked a couple. At $60 I later discovered they would have been a steal.

Opals & Poole - Live @ The Hanger - 23 Jun 2010

Mick Turner - Live @ The Hanger - 23 Jun 2010

Thursday night and I Used To Skate Once Vol 6. is an Art Happening where you can pay $500 for a very nicely painted skateboard deck while listening to a variety of local bands plus Songs from Sydney. Unless you're me who didn't have $500 or the strength to last past Per Purpose. Per Purpose are really good.

Per Purpose - Live @ The Outpost - 24 Jun 2010

Almost Invisible #4 was a co-production of Incremental Records and God Hates Brisbane that over two nights features a range of local ambient/drone/noise acts of whom I saw two on the first night before I got sick etc.

The Entire Asian Population is I think one of the best ever band names. I don't even think it is wasted on two skinny white guys improvising over loud drone riffs for 20 minutes. I caught up with Ghost Notes after missing them on Wednesday night. I particularly liked the band's use of the Trumpet.

The Entire Asian Population - Live @ Browning Street Studios - 25 Jun 2010

Ghost Notes - Live @ Browning Street Studios - 25 Jun 2010

On Saturday I was all set to go to as much as I could stand of either Almost Invisible #4 night two or Vegas Kings/Undsead Apes double header when I was offered two tickets to Yusef [Cat Stevens]. So Debbie and I went to the Ent Cent and saw Yusef. We saw him when he was last out [in 1972] and he hasn't changed all that much but that is not a bad thing. There is only so much you can do with his material and the backing band he had this time complimented the music very well. I guess timeless is as good an adjective as you will get for his simple but beautiful melodies. Took me a day to edit out the coughing noises.

Support was Noxshi fronted by his son. A psychedelic blues band who would not have been too out of place supporting him in 1972 but I mean that is a good way.

Noxshi - Live @ BEC - 26 June 2010

Cat Stevens - Live @ BEC - 26 June 2010