APRIL ROUND UP

April was huge, busy, crazy, amazing, and everything else. 

My mental health has been spot on, black dog at bay, but my physical health has been something else! I've always had issues with my right knee, I fell over a lot as a kid, I have always been clumsy. And it was playing up more than usual, and rather than going to my Osteo, I kept on going on as I was busy and this pushed nearly every other muscle out of whack. So mid month, finally finding some free time, I hobbled along to my Osteo and let him weave his magic. I'm getting there!

I took some leave early April, and had a blast, with a while range of fun.

First up I attended the always fabulous Newcastle Writers Festival, and you can read all about it here. What a busy but wonderful few days it was.

The Monday after the festival I headed for a mini break in Sydney. I'm more a Melbourne gal, but I don't mind time in Sydney. I stayed at the lovely Hyde Park Inn. 

During my time I walked a lot, took pics, did some shopping, ate some lovely meals. But the reason I was there was to see the sublime Patti Smith at The State Theatre and to catch up with family and see the Andy Warhol exhibit at NSW Art Gallery. What a blast it was, and a nice little break.

I was home in time for a quiet period of reflection, reading and writing, and time with family to celebrate Easter.

Linda and I headed to Lizotte's to see Bob Evans, which was great.

The family also celebrated my sister's birthday at the Maryville pub, excellent meal and service, highly recommend.

And then I was back down to Sydney to see Patti Smith again, this time a spoken word concert at the Sydney Opera House with Athena, and it was glorious.

Continuing with family celebrations, Mum and Dad took me to lunch at the Sunnyside Tavern, where we had a great meal.

Jayne and I had a meal at Foghorn before catching up with Linda and others at The Towers for French Friday. The film shown was Monsieur Chocolat, based on a true story about a black clown at the turn of the century. Funny and melancholy, this was a mostly dramatic film, despite the clowning around.

I started and finsihed the month with out lovely Bibliotweeps Bookclub, reading Jasper Jones and Goodwood.

As always plenty of reading, watching, and listening.

And some pics.

APRIL REVIEWS

What I’ve Been Reading

Between A Wolf and a Dog by Georgia Blain – Another of the Stella Prize finalists, and Blain’s final work. It is the story of a family at crossroads, daughters not talking, an ex husband about to have the rug pulled out from under him at work, and a mother who has a secret health issue. How will this affect this already challenged family. Ironically, the very disease Georgia gave her main character was the disease she got herself halfway through writing the novel and of course eventually took her from us. Heart wrenching stuff and it is interesting to see how she tackled writing life imitating art. Between A Wolf and A Dog is a great read, nowhere near as sad as you would think, and never takes the ordinary route in terms of plot.

We Should All Be Feminists – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – a great essay on feminism, a short read.

Ice Beer and Other Tantalising Tips for Life by Lee Lin Chin and Chris Leben – a funny look at the SBS newsreader

A Life in Parts by Bryan Cranston – a basic, stand up autobiography, good but not great.

Russia: a journey to the heart of a land and its people by Jonathan Dimbley – a spoken word book read by the author. This was a fascinating look into modern Russia over the past 20 years from Dimbley’s foreign correspondence there. Mostly about the post war era, which hovers over every single story. Interesting but ultimately uplifting.

The Fictional Woman and Speaking Out by Tara Moss – these are two great books of essays and thoughts and some auto-biography by Tara. A formidable woman with a sharp mind, these are essential reading for any modern feminist!

Ah well, nobody’s perfect: the untold stories MOLLY with Jeff Jenkins – these are short stories, essays and incidentals that were left out of Molly’s autobiography. It kinds reeks of a cash in, especially as most of the stories I had heard before. Nonetheless a fun read.

The Martian by Andy Weir  - I loved the movie and wanted to read the book, but the spoken word copy came through so I decided to go with it. And I loved it, what a great book. It has more depth than the movie, far more suspense, and much more happen. Ultimately it is the same, so major changes, just a few extra turns on the way. Such a clever premise, being left on Mars alone accidentally. Weir is a genius!

True Pleasures: a memoir of women in Paris by Lucinda Holdforth – Lucinda looks at great Parisian women through history as she moves around the city herself. Fabulous read!

What I’ve Been Watching

Wild Tales – a great film from Argentina, with six short films within, each film having the characters in difficult circumstances and how they manage them.

The Wait – a French film starring Juliet Binoche. Binoche meets up with her son’s fiancee at a villa in Sicily. The son will arrive in a few days, but as the days go by it is obvious something is deeply wrong.

Midnight Special – Michael Shannon, always great, is superb in this sci-fi film. Shannon and Joel Edgerton are on the run with a young boy after removing him from a cult. They meet up with his ‘mother’, Kirsten Dunst. Why is the young boy so special, and what does the government (Adam Driver) want from him. This is a subtle but fabulous film, a must see. My pick of the month

High Rise – A great movie about a concept high-rise, visioned the architect, Jeremy Irons. Everything you need is in the high-rise, and a range of people living inside are enjoying themselves in this new world. BUt things start to go terribly wrong, can Tom Hiddleson resolve these issues. Quite a strange but fascinating tale, I really enjoyed this.

Just A Sigh – Alix and Doug are on a train going to Paris, somehow their lives intertwine and they have a brief affair. This is an interesting love story, made all the more worthwhile as Doug is Gabriel Bryne and Alix is played beautifully by Emmanuelle Devos.

Captain Fantastic – love this quirky tale of Viggo Mortensen raising and home schooling his 6 extraordinary children in the bush and living off the land while his wife is in a sanitarium. When she commits suicide he must rally the children and head into the real world for her funeral. So beautifully put together and so well acted by Mortensen, this is a sheer delight.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople – Great NZ family romp with a young kid on the run with Sam Neil, his foster parent to prevent him being taken back into the state. Totally wonderful, everyone will love, and very funny.

Once Upon A Time S5 – Time travel between fairy land and real world, all you favourite characters are there. Look, this can be cheesy, but by god, it’s fun. I think it’s cleverly put together and a has a great cast.

Leftovers S2 – Finally got around to watching the second season of this. I loved the first season. A reckoning has happened and 10% of the world’s population disappeared. The series was not about why they disappeared but how those left behind coped...or didn’t. The world changes overnight and it was quite something to watch. Brilliant cast too. S2 moves us to a small town, now called Miracle, where no one disappeared. People are flocking to it in hope of answers. The Main cast move there under interesting circumstances, and interesting people and things happen, including time travel, life after death and more. Hard to describe, just watch and be spun out.

What I’ve Been Listening to

After a Time by Holly Throsby -  lovely, sweet, as you would expect.

The Best of Kate Miller-Heidke, Act One by Kate MIller-Heidke – Why have I never seen this amazing lady live, I must rectify that. This is a best of, but what I like about this is it shows you Kate’s incredible range. Brilliant!!!

PATTI SMITH: IN HER OWN WORDS

To see your hero once is more than words can say, but twice, especially in such a short period of time, I am well aware that my cup runneth over.

So I saw Patti perform live at the State Theatre earlier in April, and then headed back down to Sydney at the end of the month with my friend, A, to the Opera House for a spoken word concert. To say we were beside ourselves was an understatement.

In my previous blog about Patti and the concert, I say I love her music, but it is her words, her poetry, her lyrics, her stories that I love the most. To be able to hear her talk to us and read some of her work...how incredibly blessed were we!?!?

I scored us great seats in the third row. They were the easiest tickets I ever scored. Ticket buying online sends my anxiety sky high, but for whatever reason I didn't think this would sell quickly. Had I realised it was the ONLY spoken word concert and that it indeed sold out in 5 minutes, I am sure my anxiety would have been insane. But I had no idea and we lucked out with great tickets. Sometimes the universe works with you rather than against you!

And so the day came and we trained it to Circular Quay, a gorgeous warm and sunny day, had an early dinner and wandered through the Quay to the Opera House. 

I tell you, no matter how many times I attend events at the Opera House, it never ever gets old. The thrill of walking towards this glorious piece of architecture sends the heart skyhigh. Of being in the various theatres, watching Opera, plays, concerts, it is an experience unlike any other. It is really special. It should always be really special. So, add in such a specifically special performance. We knew we were in for something unlike we had or would ever see again.

The performance was to start at 8pm, and go for a little over an hour. Patti came on around 8.10 and it finished at 10ish. More than we expected, and it was beyond glorious.

So she arrived on stage to rapturous applause, smiling and humble. She immediately told us she was nervous. Mostly for being in the Joan Sutherland Theatre and went into her first story of the night, that she wanted to be an opera singer when she was younger, so being on this stage was immense for her.

And this is what is perfect about Patti, you look at her life and it's beyond amazing, and yet she is this humble, down to earth, nervous almost 70 year old ordinary woman. She is certainly NOT ordinary, but yet she comes across this way. I often wonder whether part of it is a bit of shtick, as it does get laughs and she seems ok with that. 

I could listen to Patti read the phone book, she has a haunting, lyrical, mesmerising voice, with a quirky New Jersey turn of phrase, piano becomes piana, drawings drawlins, and so forth. She commands your quiet and attention, and bring you to your knees with her words and unique stories.

And so the show went on, consisting of Patti reading passages from her books with additional asides, some humourous, some haunting. She showed slides, mostly those stunning black and white Mapplethorpes, and talked about them. She read lyrics and poetry. She spoke of her tour and her band. She told stories of her late husband and her children. SHe was joyous.

Every now and then the guitar tech would come out and place her acoustic over her shoulder and she would play a song to us. Parred back and fragile, she said she was not used to her band not being there to hide her shortcomings. There were no shortcomings. She was amazing.

Listening to her read key passages from Just Kids (most probably my all time favourite book) was something else, there are no words to describe the thrill. Even sometimes she seemed taken aback by the good fortune in her past. She'd sort of go, yeah, that happened, in an amused tone.

My favourite story of the night came early, and was new. She took a little break between the tour ending and this event and headed to see Uluru, a longtime bucket list item. She took a touristy bus tour out at dawn, and loved it so much she booked herself in for the day time tour and then the dusk tour and again the following day the dawn one again. Just imagining this aging punk on a holiday by herself, no thrills, jumping on a bus to do such things made me smile. Her telling of the story was funny and joyous.

And the stories she handpicked from her life, were simply that, sometimes funny, sometimes melancholy, but always uplifting and joyous.

And so all good things must come to an end.

She asked us a favour, could we help her with her last piece. It's her most famous song and she felt naked and nervous singing it with only a guitar and without her fabulous band. Could we join her in song on Because the Night. 

And we did.

And for the first time that night I cried, I thought I would earlier than that, but i was so mesmerised I didn't have time to. 

We all sounded glorious in that beautiful theatre, Patti sounded glorious, it was orchestral and incredibly spiritual. 

And the song ended and off she went, smiling and as humble as when she arrived. And the entire audience walked out feeling lighter and happier than when we had headed in, despite it being over, and feeling like our souls had been fed the most incredible meal of love and history.

Patti says she will never tour again, and that is a shame. But by god we were lucky with this tour, it was unique and wonderful. I am certain there will be more books and I eagerly await the next.

An aside: prior to entering the concert, A and I participated in a short film, two young documentarians were working on about Patti. We had to say a line of lyrics or a quote of Patti's that resonated with us. They had a list of quotes on paper for those who cannot remember, I struggled but thought of a great quote from her concert earlier that month, "the guitar is the only weapon that we need."

I delivered it down the barrel, I was asked not to smile and to keep it straight. They shot head on from below, this was not going to end well. Then they asked me what I thought of Patti, I came up with something and that was that. Until the other week when the short film popped up on Facebook, I feature three times, the third quite significantly. I look tried and awful...of course. But by goodness, what a thrill!

You can see it here.

And finally, my pics are pretty poor, because despite sitting so close, the lighting was very low and she wore black against back. But better than nothing.

ADMAN: WARHOL BEFORE ART

During my recent visit to Sydney, I took time to meet family and visit the Art Gallery of NSW. We often do this, catch up in the cafe first and take in an exhibit.

The exhibit this time was Adman: Warhol Before Art, an exhibit of Andy Warhol's art and advertising prior to becoming the Pop Art star we all know him as.

I've been lucky to see much of his Pop Art over the years, specific Warhol or Pop Art exhibits here in Sydney and Melbourne and also saw much of his work in various galleries overseas, especially in New York.

But with all of that, I'd never really seen much of his earlier work.

I think a lot of people have dismissed this, but I was quite blown away by the genius of his simplicity in this exhibit.

It commences in the 50s, a classic advertising period especially in New York. Think Mad Men, the art work they needed was indeed provided by Andy during this time. His sketches and ads are fascinating. They are also stunningly beautiful. 

This exhibit features soooo much work, he always had a prolific output, but possibly moreso during this period!! The Art Gallery NSW says this is the most comprehensive exhibit of this period of his work, with over 300 pieces on display.

He mostly worked in fashion, he had a lovely signature style, his specialty for a while was shoes. Oh and how beautiful these shoes were!

I was so struck by his use of colour, colours you just do not see anymore. There are also elements of repetition here, which we all know was used more heavily in later periods. Back then, his mother was his muse and assisted with much of his early work. He also started to play with technique and looked to invent ways of mass producing pieces. Again, things that made him him once he became more famous. He worked with design paper in terms of tracing and reproducing additional work. This may well be the first experience of this in Art generally, so he was also an inventor back then as in the 60s.

The exhibit had actual advertisements, and sketchings for these ads, mostly in flamboyant colour. But there is also a huge amount of private work, pencil sketchings and a fabulous whole notebook of male genitalia drawings in pencil.

He also added words to his advertisements in his own flourishy writing, which became another trademark.

But the most interesting thing to me with these works, was their sheer simplicity. A lot of his work is basic (which sounds like a negative thing) but so cleverly basic, you or I would never have come up with it. 

This is a well out together exhibit, which is not unexpected, but interesting in term of what is featured. There is a little bit of memorabilia and photography within it.

I guess had Andy not gone on to 'greater' things, this exhibit would not be as interesting to us, but he did and there is much to be gained in terms of his legacy and his evolution within this exhibit. 

It is on until the end of the month (28 May 2017) and if you are interested I urge you to have a look at this lovely section of history of one of the great artists of our time.

BOB EVANS AND AMY VEE

I've always enjoyed Bob Evans , especially his first two albums, Suburban Kid and Suburban Songbook. 

Bob is actually Kevin Mitchell (frontman of Jebadiah, also great). Bob is more folksy, a little quirky, and is just him and a guitar.

He tours regularly, and I often think I should see him, but never have until this opportunity came up.

Aside: the reason for the opportunity was a little unpleasant, so I will try and keep it brief. When L and I saw Martha Wainwright at Lizottes, we had the most awful experience there in terms of service. They had seated other people in our allocated seats, which is a mistake, but it was how poorly they handled that mistake and how dreadfully we were treated which made up upset. So, I wrote an email of complaint. I don't like to do such things (I am a manager and have received such things, and they sting), but I keep it nice and just really hoped no one else would have such a terrible experience. 

I love Lizottes, and have been a firm supporter and promoter of them from Day 1. It feels like home to me, so I knew this experience was not normal...but still!
Lizottes contacted me and offered us tickets and dinner to any show we liked, something I did not expect, so we chose Bob. I'd like to say they redeemed themselves, but unfortunately we experience poor service again, not as bad as our previous experience, but poor nonetheless. I do not know what is happening at my favourite place, but it is sad. The food and music are still supreme, but I hope they sort out their service very soon!

Urgh, enough of that, I hate being negative!

I read a great article about Kevin/Bob before the concert. He said he is very much upset about the female/male balance, or rather imbalance, in the music industry, especially at festivals etc. So he will only accept females as his supporting performers at gigs.

And this meant we had the lovely and talented Amy Vee on first. What a delight she is, sweet and humble, and what a voice. Just Amy and a guitar and she had the audience in the palm of her hand!

And then Bob came on, with his trademark fairy lights around his guitar, a smile on his face, a joke ever at the ready. He has really perfected what I call the perfect troubadour feel. Guitar, voice, great stories, great musicality, and humour. A lot try and a lot fail, but he nails it. You hear this in his albums, but even more so live.

His voice is stunning, better live than recorded. He was humble and lovely, messing up a song, he just went with it and made it funnier. He took some requests, and mostly played older stuff which made me happy. But all the songs, whether they were old familiars or new ones, were great, listenable, and enjoyable.

Bob is a born performer, with stories behind the songs, stories of his life at home and on the road, and stories of fellow musicians.

Despite the poor service and a bizarre moment towards the end, {when this 'woman' squeezed her way right up to the front, only to ask him to play a cover of You're the Voice by John Farkham!?! She was wearing a fitted mottled denim dress, so I guess that explains it all. He declined, looking a little exasperated. Most in the audience looked a little gobsmacked.} the night was a delight.

Great music, food, and company.

PATTI SMITH AND HER BAND PERFORM HORSES

Is there anyone on this planet cooler than Patti Smith?

Ummm, no!!!

I sat in my seat, watching the State Theatre Sydney fill up. People from all walks of life were eagerly taking their seats.

Is there anything more exciting than entering a theatre and watching it fill up prior to a gig?

NO!!!

It is my favourite thing to do, take my seat, sit back and watch, feel the anticipation rise and rise. It's palpable and the intensity is inexplicable.

The choice of music prior is always fun, and this was no exception, a lovely mix of punk and 60s. Iggy's The Passenger played, and bouncy bubbly tones of the classic added to the inferno within the theatre.

And the lights went down.

And the band started to walk out.

A huge backdrop of that famous Mapplethorpe pic, the cover of Horses, showing a gorgeous, young, and feisty Patti unfurled.

People gasped...you could actually hear that.

And then the squall really started, Patti walked on stage and boom, standing ovation. 

I burst into tears.

It was too much, and too perfect.

I sat and composed myself and they ripped into Gloria and I felt my heart and soul and stomach collide in some sort of euphoria unlike anything I have experienced in a long time...if ever.

She owned the State Theatre, unlike anyone had ever owned it.

She sounded amazing musically, the band were tight.

And it was pure joy to behold.

I had no idea what to expect, I do love her music, but really I am more of a fan of Patti Smith the person, as opposed to Patti Smith the musician. I know her music well, and know it is seminal and important. I like her voice, but know full well - like Dylan - it can be hit and miss.

I guess I really fell in love with her when I read Just Kids a few years back. A more stunning book I have yet to read. Her words spread like lyrics or poetry across the page, and the subject matter of her time in NYC with Robert Mapplethorpe in the late 60s and early 70s was delectable.

And with that book it seemed her star shone again, an aging doyen of the punk scene, an almost biblical figure, leading the world with her simplicity, her politics, her feminism, her beauty, her knowledge, and her no fucks given attitude.

"Take me now baby, here as I am"

So when the tickets went on sale, I knew I had to go. But no one was keen to come with me and I was bereft.

But it was like Patti spoke to me and told me to wake up to myself and I bought a single ticket. I'd treat myself to a few days in Sydney around the event!

And so I did.

I had forgotten what a great seat I had selected, tickets had been purchased so long ago. In that middle mezzanine section of The State Theatre, about 5 rows back in the middle on the aisle. I pretty much looked over and down at Patti.

And so, back to the concert...Gloria rang out, loud and wild, sharp and strong.

And morphed into the funky Redondo Beach, and the Jazzy Birdland, finishing up with Free Money.

Patti didn't speak much between these tracks, she was on a rhythmic roll, unlike any I had seen before!

She made a little joke about, that was Side A, now you take the record out and turn it over and pull the arm out, etc etc. Now here is Side B and boom, straight into Kimberly.

Next was the tale of Break It Up, a tribute to Jim Morrison that came to her in a dream. It was wild and romantic and crazy and sexy.

Land and Elegy followed, with the later - a tribute to Jimi Hendrix - including added names to roll-call her beloved dead including Ramones, Prince, Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain, Lou Reed and of course her beloved Fred, who she still thinks of as her boyfriend.

8 songs and my mind was blown, the band were superbly tight she was a mix of poetress, goddess, rock and roll superstar, and punk doyen. Perfection.

She talked some more and then launched into Dancing Barefoot.

More...there was going to be more...

Oh yes there was.

A dude in the audience told her that was the stage Prince did one of his final concerts from.

Patti was like, we like Prince, we know a Prince song we haven't played it in a while though...the band conferred.

She was a little nervous, better to fuck it up with love than not give it a go she said and they did a lovely hypntoic version of When Doves Cry. Yeah, some of the words/verses got mixed up, but the dead on delivery made up for that. Patti's version was well worth hearing.

From that they went straight into Lou Reed's Perfect Day, and oh how perfect it was.

Because the Night and People have the Power, and they left the stage, it was almost 2 hours. The majority of those on stage were 69/70.

Somewhere in there, they asked us to sing Happy Birthday to Iggy (Pop) for his 70th birthday. They turned their backs and a stage hand came out with a phone and taped us all...what a delight!!!!

Of course the crowd wanted more and after a few minutes of applause and shouting, the band came back out and launched into the most punk, kick arse version of My Generation you will ever hear. It was incredible, Patti on the guitar for the first time this evening, working on feedback and reverb, and breaking strings as she blasted her way through the song.

She held the guitar up and announced this is the only weapon you will ever need!

Indeed Patti, indeeed!!

They finished up with Rock and Roll Nigger, gracefully bowed and left the stage.

It was just over 2 hours worth of entertainment, front and centre.

And I was gone.

In a world where we don't have a lot of older female role models, Patti shines a light for us women wondering how we will fare in later years. There are no fucks given, she is herself and that's that. She is tender and caring, honest and still blazing trails. She believes in love and peace and goodness.

She was brilliant!!

So glad I didn't pass on this and headed down solo!