STACKS ON

I truly do hate to say I told you so. Splendour was all you've read and heard about. Such a harsh and bitter blow to a region and community who had already suffered so much. I was the only act playing to the few stunned and shell-shocked artists, punters and crew who had arrived by midday Friday.

Rumours swirled as I began and I only confirmed that no artists would take the stage at all that day by searching through news reports on my phone during the first hour of my set. It is against my principles to abdicate during times of crisis so my between-main-stage-bands set became six-and-a-half continuous hours. I'd already gone an hour over at a charity gig in Byron the night prior. By Sunday I was on duty from 7PM til 5.30AM.

But together with my Tackle Shack fambly and Gold Bar/afterparty brother Mario Speedwagon we saw it through. We took the survivors beyond any high-water mark, singing and dancing in defiance and delight til the sun rose and the birds sang alone again.


Wednesday July the 27th ~

Despite its proximity to the Tank Stream I am expecting Swingin' at the Speakeasy to be substantively more civilised/dry tonight.

Join this remnant of mud-strewn rabble as I scrub up, don a suit and spin ancient audio for dancers young and old, from 10 til around 2, for free.


Friday July the 29th ~

Sin City Soirée is especially important to me this month as it may be the last time I see many near and dear friends for a bit of a while.

Unfortunately I kinda crucified my bad old bodyboarding shoulder (last operated on when I was 20) whilst recovering from unexpected surgery on my good right shoulder after (another) stoopid skatie fall last year. As a consequence a key tendon is almost torn off and I'm back in hospital on Monday to go through the whole damn palaver again.

I'm not exactly sure when I'll be able to resume deejaying (one-handed, as per many months in 2021) so please consider joining us to cut a rug at the incomparable Hollywood Hotel for this last hurrah between 9PM and 2AM. Of course it's always free!


Saturday July the 30th ~

My final cultural contributions pre-surgery provide a lot to look forward to however.

First I wish to thank Jonny Seymour for hosting Jack Off last week in my absence, whilst patiently enduring another impossible effort at relaying what could have been a uniquely-placed live report of the reality on the ground at a crucial juncture in Australian festival history. Sadly FBi Radio's new phone handsets remain disconnected from the desk.

Thankfully this week we've live music to feed directly into the studio mics, with Fran and Hairy from The Cannanes joining me (after about a decade of cajoling) between 3 and 5. Catch those tunes via the stream or 94.5FM, then gather at The Vic after 10 to celebrate the 30th birthday of the brilliant Chapter Records label to lap up the sound of the fantastic full band in self-effacing flight.
In between I've the unusual pleasure of kicking off the evening's entertainment at Maybe Sammy in The Rocks, (named the Best Bar in Australasia for the third year running) and a truly styling joint not dissimilar in design and colour-scheme to the beautiful Balmain Town Hall (pictured above as I sussed the PA for a future wedding today). There's no charge for entry and the new cocktail menu is sublime. I'll play from 5 til 9.

After that it's time for me to stack the chairs and put my feet up indefinitely for a while. Typing is hell when recovering from this op so I don't think I'll be able to send you a missive for a spell. Suffice to say I'll attempt to broadcast regardless of pain and I hope to get back to my sit-down gig at Palmer on Wednesdays within a fortnight. The rest will follow when it can.

Thank you for reading this far and always giving a Shit. Stay strong everyone. These are some times!