2005

2005

Mary and I saw Chris Jagger at Honeysuckle on Saturday 5 February. Chris IS the brother of Mick and looks amazingly like him and is a blues musician. We were very impressed with Chris, he was fantastic and along with the most wonderful boogie woogie piano player had us jiving away all night

In March I saw REM for the second time, again at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Mary and Amanda came along for the ride, it was sublime and stunning and that was just Michael Stipe, ha ha! This was their tour without Bill Berry, but you would never have known (poor Bill). They were tight, played every song you can imagine and then some and left us feeling happy and shiny (but no, they did not play that.....thankfully, it is the one song I can live without hearing!). Oh and some f-wit kept spilling beer down my back all night...crowds just are not what they used to be...

May took us back to Ultra Swing at the Civic, and as always a stunning night that just transports you to another time and place...sigh.

Amanda and I headed to see The Finn Brothers at the Civic on Sunday 17 July. We are both huge Crowded House and Split Enz fans and it was a great night. I do like some of Tim's solo work, but Neil is the genius and writes the perfect pop song, sometimes Tim takes over and is just a little too much, but he showed great restraint on the night and I did not get too antsy with him. It was not long after Paul Hester had committed suicide so there was a haunting tribute to him and we all shed a tear for a lost friend.

Saturday 10 September saw us back at the Civic for our annual Bell Shakespeare dose with Measure for Measure. I cannot recall this one, but I think the beginning of some less than ordinary productions.

Saturday 12 November was a historic night for Keryl and I, we saw The Goodies stage show, ok it was just Tim Brook-Taylor and Graeme Garden live. Bill Oddie was off doing his bird watching show in England, but they had a live (read pre-taped) cross to him. It was them, looking old but still feisty and funny, telling stories of making the show, amusing antecdotes and recreating a few skits and songs...yes we did do the Funky Gibbon. It was not a long show, but it was a great trip down memory lane and one I am glad we took. Bill was my favourite though, so a shame not to have seen him.

A week later we hit the Cambridge for a celebration - 20 years of The Porkers! It was a crazy night, and mostly a new crowd of people and not too many familiar faces, but we got in and kicked it up and had a blast - they played all the oldies and some new stuff, and still knew how to rock and ska it out! The Porkers are probably one of the bands I have seen the most live and that is over the 20 years, if you like ska music, they are to be seen, always fun and I have many a memory of seeing them at The Cambridge, Tatts, and The Palais amongst others.